The key to cultural innovation lies in the group dynamic rather than in the individual mind.
Vaesen infers unique properties of mind from the appearance of specific cultural innovation--a correlation without causal direction. Shifts in habitat, population density, and group dynamics are the only independently verifiable incentives for changes in cultural practices. The transition from Acheulean to Late Stone Age technologies requires that we consider how population and social dynamics affect cultural innovation and mental function.
College of Staten Island, City University of New York, Staten Island, NY 10314, USA. soniaragir@gmail.com
Sonia
S
Ragir
Patricia J
PJ
Brooks
D000818:Animals; D003071:Cognition; D006801:Humans; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D013672:Technology; D053001:Tool Use Behavior