Cultural evolution

Résumé

Cultural evolution is an evolutionary theory of social change. It follows from the definition of culture as "information capable of affecting individuals' behavior that they acquire from other members of their species through teaching, imitation and other forms of social transmission". Cultural evolution is the change of this information over time. Cultural evolution, historically also known as sociocultural evolution, was originally developed in the 19th century by anthropologists stemming from Charles Darwin's research on evolution. Today, cultural evolution has become the basis for a growing field of scientific research in the social sciences, including anthropology, economics, psychology, and organizational studies. Previously, it was believed that social change resulted from biological adaptations; anthropologists now commonly accept that social changes arise in consequence of a combination of social, evolutionary, and biological influences. There have been a number of different

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_evolution

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This course gives an introduction to the fundamental concepts and methods of the Digital Humanities, both from a theoretical and applied point of view. The course introduces the Digital Humanities circle of processing and interpretation, from data acquisition to new understandings.

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NAD(+) homeostasis in health and disease

Johan Auwerx, Dina Hofer, Elena Katsyuba, Mario Romani

The conceptual evolution of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD(+)) from being seen as a simple metabolic cofactor to a pivotal cosubstrate for proteins regulating metabolism and longevity, including the sirtuin family of protein deacylases, has led to a new wave of scientific interest in NAD(+). NAD(+) levels decline during ageing, and alterations in NAD(+) homeostasis can be found in virtually all age-related diseases, including neurodegeneration, diabetes and cancer. In preclinical settings, various strategies to increase NAD(+) levels have shown beneficial effects, thus starting a competitive race to discover marketable NAD(+) boosters to improve healthspan and lifespan. Here, we review the basics of NAD(+) biochemistry and metabolism, and its roles in health and disease, and we discuss current challenges and the future translational potential of NAD(+) research.

NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP2020

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Computational models in the debate over language learnability

Frédéric Kaplan

Computational models have played a central role in the debate over language learnability. This article discusses how they have been used in different stances, from generative views to more recently introduced explanatory frameworks based on embodiment, cognitive development and cultural evolution. By digging into the details of certain specific models, we show how they organize, transform and rephrase defining questions about what makes language learning possible for children. Finally, we present a tentative synthesis to recast the debate using the notion of learning bias.

2008

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Language Evolution as a Darwinian Process: Computational Studies

Frédéric Kaplan

This paper presents computational experiments that illustrate how one can precisely conceptualize language evolution as a Darwinian process. We show that there is potentially a wide diversity of replicating units and replication mechanisms involved in language evolution. Computational experiments allow us to study systemic properties coming out of populations of linguistic replicators: linguistic replicators can adapt to specific external environments; they evolve under the pressure of the cognitive constraints of their hosts, as well as under the functional pressure of communication for which they are used; one can observe neutral drift; coalitions of replicators may appear, forming higher level groups which can themselves become subject to competion and selection.

2007

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