While social learning is widespread, indiscriminate copying of others is rarely beneficial.
Theory suggests that individuals should be selective in what, when, and whom they copy, by …

Diverse lines of theoretical and empirical research are converging on the notion that human
evolution has been substantially influenced by the interaction of our cultural and genetic …

Humans are a puzzling species. On the one hand, we struggle to survive on our own in the
wild, often failing to overcome even basic challenges, like obtaining food, building shelters …

Human cooperation is highly unusual. We live in large groups composed mostly of non-
relatives. Evolutionists have proposed a number of explanations for this pattern, including …

Many animals, including humans, acquire valuable skills and knowledge by copying others.
Scientists refer to this as social learning. It is one of the most exciting and rapidly develo** …

Charles Darwin changed the course of scientific thinking by showing how evolution
accounts for the stunning diversity and biological complexity of life on earth. Recently, there …

Human behaviour is complex and multifaceted, and is studied by a broad range of
disciplines across the social and natural sciences. To mark our 5th anniversary, we asked …

Of all the things we do and say, most will never be repeated or reproduced. Once in a while,
however, an idea or a practice generates a chain of transmission that covers more distance …

Many animals exhibit social learning and behavioural traditions, but human culture exhibits
unparalleled complexity and diversity, and is unambiguously cumulative in character. These …

The scale of human cooperation is an evolutionary puzzle. All of the available evidence
suggests that the societies of our Pliocene ancestors were like those of other social …