Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comment
. 2014 Jun;37(3):266-7.
doi: 10.1017/S0140525X1300294X.

Cultural evolution and emergent group-level traits through social heterosis

Peter Nonacs  1 , Karen M Kapheim  2
Affiliations
Free article
Comment

Cultural evolution and emergent group-level traits through social heterosis

Peter Nonacs et al. Behav Brain Sci. 2014 Jun.
Free article

Abstract

Smaldino proposes emergent properties of human groups, arising when individuals display both differentiation and organization, constitute a novel unit of cultural selection not addressed by current evolutionary theory. We propose existing theoretical frameworks for maintenance of genetic diversity - social heterosis and social genomes - can similarly explain the appearance and maintenance of human cultural diversity (i.e., group-level traits) and collaborative interdependence.

PubMed Disclaimer

Comment in

  • Group-level traits emerge.
    Smaldino PE. Smaldino PE. Behav Brain Sci. 2014 Jun;37(3):281-95. doi: 10.1017/s0140525x13003531. Behav Brain Sci. 2014. PMID: 25101360

Comment on