Version 1
: Received: 14 December 2023 / Approved: 15 December 2023 / Online: 15 December 2023 (14:58:11 CET)
How to cite:
Yucheng, W. From Cognitive Evolution to Cultural Evolution to Explain the Sustainable Development of Science: A Problem and Its Plausible Solution. Preprints2023, 2023121172. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202312.1172.v1
Yucheng, W. From Cognitive Evolution to Cultural Evolution to Explain the Sustainable Development of Science: A Problem and Its Plausible Solution. Preprints 2023, 2023121172. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202312.1172.v1
Yucheng, W. From Cognitive Evolution to Cultural Evolution to Explain the Sustainable Development of Science: A Problem and Its Plausible Solution. Preprints2023, 2023121172. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202312.1172.v1
APA Style
Yucheng, W. (2023). From Cognitive Evolution to Cultural Evolution to Explain the Sustainable Development of Science: A Problem and Its Plausible Solution. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202312.1172.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Yucheng, W. 2023 "From Cognitive Evolution to Cultural Evolution to Explain the Sustainable Development of Science: A Problem and Its Plausible Solution" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202312.1172.v1
Abstract
From the perspective of human cognitive evolution to analyze the origin and sustained development of science, there is a puzzle, because the driving force behind cognitive evolution is natural selection, which favors biological traits improving individual adaptation rather than seeking the truth. Some scholars argue that cultural evolution provides an explanation for the development (or progress) of science, wherein scientific beliefs can be transmitted intergenerationally within the scientific community, thus continually converging toward truth. However, this explanation has ecological validity problem. Research on cultural learning strategies suggests that when choosing beliefs for imitation learning, people tend to consider contextual and content factors rather than the truth value of beliefs. On the other hand, due to the absence of universally accepted criterion for theory selection recognized by all scientists, the best theory choice always fails. I will develop a minimum model for the best theory choice to defend the scientific progress's cultural evolution approach. The criterion for the best theory choice is the mark of a scientific school's establishment and the demarcation line with each other. As a scientific school's member, a scientist could select the best theory as his/her learning model according to the school's criterion. Hence, it is plausible for the approach to explain scientific progress. Finally, my model will show a scientific school is a driver to improve the local scientific progress, and the competition between schools promotes global scientific progress. The school's size and the scientific reasoning diversity decide a result of the competition.
Keywords
Scienctific Progress; Cultural Evolution; Theory Choices; Cultural Learning Strategies; Scientific School
Subject
Arts and Humanities, Philosophy
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
