The semiotic coevolution of mind and culture

Abstract

The incompleteness thesis in cultural anthropology holds that the human mind is incomplete apart from culture, based on the rationale that the human brain and culture developed in interaction with each other, or “coevolved.” In evolutionary biology this process is known as the Baldwin effect, a form of natural selection in which individuals' innovative behavior creates novel selection pressures leading to genetic support or assimilation of that behavior. While the nature of these selection pressures is still controversial, as reflected in recent evolutionary accounts of language and tools, the Baldwin effect does not imply that evolution left the mind “unfinished” or rule out the possibility of psychic unity. Two basic approaches to the coevolution of mind and culture can be distinguished, according to how the human-made niche is defined. Informational coevolution is based on the idea that cultural artifacts and practices consist of information, such that the coevolutionary process produces cognitive mechanisms for acquiring and manipulating such information. Semiotic coevolution is based on the idea that culture consists of the meaning-making activity of the individuals who partake in it, such that the coevolutionary process produces the capacity to generate and experience such meaning. Although Evolutionary Psychology reflects the informational approach, the semiotic approach fits better with basic evolutionary principles.