Cognitive agency in sociocultural evolution

Models of sociocultural evolution generally study the population dynamics of cultural traits given known biases in social learning. Cognitive agency, understood as the dynamics underlying a specific agent’s adoption of a given trait, is essentially irrelevant in this framework. This article argues that although implementing and instrumenting agency in computational models is fundamentally challenging, it is ultimately possible and would help us overcome major limitations in our understanding of sociocultural dynamics.Indeed, the behaviour of humans is not causally generated by a set of predefined behavioural laws, but by the situated activity of their cognitive architecture. Idealised models of biased transmission certainly help us understand specific features of population dynamics. However, they distract us from the deep intrication of the cognitive and ecological processes underlying sociocultural evolution, and erase their embodied, subjective nature.In line with the earlier “Thinking Through Other Minds” account of sociocultural evolution, this article highlights how the Active Inference framework can help us implement and instrument computational models that address these limitations. Such models would not only help ground our understanding of sociocultural evolution in the underlying cognitive dynamics, but also help solve (or frame) open questions in the study of ritual, relation between cultural transmission and innovation, as well as scales of cultural evolution.

Self-Organized Cultural Cycles and the Uncertainty of Archaeological Thought

Contributing to the issue of complex relationship between social and cultural evolution, this paper aims to analyze repetitive patterns, or cycles, in the development of material culture. Our analysis focuses on culture change associated with sociopolitical and economic stasis. The proposed toy model describes the cyclical character of the quantitative and qualitative composition of archaeological assemblages, which include hierarchically organized cultural traits. Cycles sequentially process the stages of unification, diversity, and return to unification. This complex dynamic behavior is caused by the ratio between cultural traits’ replication rate and the proportion of traits of the higher taxonomic order’s related unit. Our approach identifies a shift from conformist to anti-conformist transmission, corresponding with open and closed phases in cultural evolution in respect to the introduction of innovations. The model also describes the dependence of a probability for horizontal transmission upon orders of taxonomic hierarchy during open phases. The obtained results are indicative for gradual cultural evolution at the low orders of taxonomic hierarchy and punctuated evolution at its high orders. The similarity of the model outcomes to the patters of material culture change reflecting societal transformations enables discussions around the uncertainty of explanation in archaeology and anthropology.

Determination of Eğirdir And Its Surround in Terms of Tourism and Recreational Potantial

Eğirdir districts is rich in natural and historical environmental values and cultural traits are the important places of tourism and recreational activities. Tourism and recreational activities, which are developed in regards with the atractiveness of such places, are made of those natural and cultural environment. When events of tourism all over the world are examined, it could be observed that such activities usually take place during summer months. However, since developing residences and facilities tend to use sources more than before, they affect natural, historical and the cultural values negatively and thus corruption starts. Inspite of the fact that the district is gradually getting more intensive in terms of tourism and recreation during the four seasons, there haven’t been any serious problems yet. In the areas of these natural and cultural resources, the problems related with the use of those resources where tourism and recreational activities are concentrated can not be ignored and the purpose of this study is what can be done to prevent the spread of such problems of the district. In this study, natural and cultural traits to be developped in the district of Eğirdir have been investigated and analized in order to detect the tourism and the recreational potentials in the region.

Ontological (In)Security and the Kurdish Issue in Turkey: The Use of Security Discourse (1925‒1984)

How could one account for the discourse of security used by the Turkish state considering the Kurdish issue before 1984, when the terrorist attacks of the Partiya Karkaren Kurdistani (PKK) had not yet started, and hence there was no physical security threat against the state? This article aims to answer this question from the perspective of ontological (in)security. Based on Critical Discourse Analysis of state discourse, the article argues that the political, social and cultural traits of Kurdish identity created uncertainty in the Turkish self after the Sheikh Said rebellion in 1925. Tribal/religious structures that were influential among Kurds and the expression of Kurdishness as a distinct identity disrupted the autobiographical narratives about Turkishness, hence generating ontological insecurity for the Turkish state. To overcome this problem, the state relied on security discourse and securitized the traits of Kurdish identity, by which it felt threatened. As a result of this securitization, the state was able to legitimize the extraordinary measures taken against Kurds, such as forced resettlements. Securitization, in this sense, regenerated ontological security for the state, because the extraordinary measures served to suppress the Kurdish identity that threatened the certainty and continuity of the Turkish self.

Funeral Traditions in The Mat Lou Ethnic Culture in Lilinta Village, Raja Ampat Island

This study aims to determine the implementation of the funeral ceremony in the Mat Lou ethnic community in Lilinta Village, West Misool District, Raja Ampat Islands. This research was qualitative using the social phenomenology paradigm with a flow chart model analysis. Results of this research: The culture of Raja Ampat community, especially in Lilinta village, which is Islam as a majority, has been through a culture diffusion and transformed with the existing local culture to produce a new culture. The cultures which are still conducted in the performance of various death are Tahlilan that has differences on its implementation, lifting the corpse using Koi (beds) where the other region in Indonesia those activities are conducted using coffins, the differences in making tombstone and also bones bath (Sof Kabom) which has various myth symbols in it. Immigrants have a role in spreading culture to bring up the assimilation of new cultural traits and elements of the Lilinta community in the form of other rituals that complement the death ritual

Human cumulative culture and the exploitation of natural phenomena

Cumulative cultural evolution (CCE)—defined as the process by which beneficial modifications are culturally transmitted and progressively accumulated over time—has long been argued to underlie the unparalleled diversity and complexity of human culture. In this paper, I argue that not just any kind of cultural accumulation will give rise to human-like culture. Rather, I suggest that human CCE depends on the gradual exploitation of natural phenomena, which are features of our environment that, through the laws of physics, chemistry or biology, generate reliable effects which can be exploited for a purpose. I argue that CCE comprises two distinct processes: optimizing cultural traits that exploit a given set of natural phenomena (Type I CCE) and expanding the set of natural phenomena we exploit (Type II CCE). I argue that the most critical features of human CCE, including its open-ended dynamic, stems from Type II CCE. Throughout the paper, I contrast the two processes and discuss their respective socio-cognitive requirements. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘The emergence of collective knowledge and cumulative culture in animals, humans and machines’.

Discovery and Extraction of Cultural Traits in Intangible Cultural Heritages Based on Kansei Engineering: Taking Zhuang Brocade Weaving Techniques as an Example

Taking China’s national intangible cultural heritage (ICH) Zhuang brocade as the research object, its cultural traits were extracted through scientific methods from the perspective of Kansei Engineering. Samples were collected through desk research, expert interviews, and questionnaires for qualitative and quantitative research. The semantic differential method was adopted to analyze the vocabulary descriptions of different types of Zhuang brocade samples, and the Likert scale was used to measure the viewer’s visual perception. Eye tracker experiments were conducted to verify and further explore the cultural traits of Zhuang brocade so that the emotions in this ICH can be quantified more scientifically. Based on the heat map and data, scientific and reasonable descriptions and typical shapes best matching Zhuang brocade cultural traits were acquired. By using new technologies to interpret ICHs, this study proposed another way to extract cultural traits from ICH. The extracted Zhuang brocade cultural traits in this study could help improve the understanding of Zhuang brocade. This study could also provide certain references for the modern application and design of Zhuang brocade.

The curation of European Netflix catalogues on social media: The key role of transnational and local cultural traits

This article aims to analyse how Netflix uses social media to generate a dialogue between the local and transnational layers of television, to position its brand and curate content in domestic markets. Within the frame of transnationalism, a cross-cultural comparative study has been conducted in three different local European markets: the United Kingdom, Spain and the Nordic region. The results show the negotiation between transnationalisation and the needs of local cultural distinctiveness through language adaptation, emphasis on in-house original US flagship productions, the overrepresentation of original local content and use of cultural references at different levels.