The Transition

This chapter argues that, during human evolution, a new, eventually more effective strategy has emerged to tackle combinatorial dilemmas. The chapter explores the evolutionary transition of relying on cultural knowledge rather than genetic knowledge, which has fundamentally changed human evolution. It also makes two claims about the human mental architecture: first, is that there are very marked mental differences between humans and other animals and, second, is that what sets humans apart from other animals is overwhelmingly learned rather than genetically determined. The chapter proposes that social input not only contributes to the development of behavioral skills, but it also results in the acquisition of mental skills that have evolved culturally. It attempts to unravel a complex feedback that exists between cultural evolution and human cognition.