Wasserman, E. A. (2021). As If By Design: How Creative Behaviors Really Evolve. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108774895

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As If By Design: How Creative Behaviors Really Evolve

Abstract

The eureka moment is a myth. It is an altogether naïve and fanciful account of human progress. Innovations emerge from a much less mysterious combination of historical, circumstantial, and accidental influences. This book explores the origin and evolution of several important behavioral innovations including the high five, the Heimlich maneuver, the butterfly stroke, the moonwalk, and the Iowa caucus. Such creations’ striking suitability to the situation and the moment appear ingeniously designed with foresight. However, more often than not, they actually arise ‘as if by design.’ Based on investigations into the histories of a wide range of innovations, Edward A. Wasserman reveals the nature of behavioral creativity. What surfaces is a fascinating web of causation involving three main factors: context, consequence, and coincidence. Focusing on the process rather than the product of innovation elevates behavior to the very center of the creative human endeavor.

Concepts Cultural evolution, Cumulative culture

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Cultural evolution (lesson plan)

Students explore the concept of cultural evolution by comparing it to genetic evolution based on a number of concepts, and explore why cultural evolution is so important in our species.

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Understanding Evolution As If By Design? The challenges and opportunities of reasoning about agency in evolutionary biology and society

Eirdosh, D. & Hanisch, S. (2022, preprint) Understanding Evolution As If By Design? The challenges and opportunities of reasoning about agency in evolutionary biology and society. OpenEvo Book Review and Commentary. http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.26643.14884/2

Darwin’s theory of evolution provided a scientific explanation for the apparent design of adaptations in the natural world. In teaching students about evolution, educators sometimes rely on a contrast between ‘Darwinian evolution’ as a process of adaptation without purpose or goals, as opposed to adaptive design in the human realm, framed as a process driven by intentions. In his 2021, Cambridge University Press book, As if By Design: How Creative Behaviors Really Evolve, psychologist Edward Wasserman complexifies this simple dichotomy by exploring a selectionist account of human innovation through a collection of vignettes documenting stories of invention. Through these simple stories, Wasserman demonstrates that the “3 C’s”; the concepts of context, consequence, and coincidence, are helpful ingredients in the creation of scientifically adequate accounts of behavioral or cultural novelties. In this review, we briefly summarize the core argument from Wasserman, and reflect on the implications for students and teachers of evolution science.

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Abstract

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Cultural evolution (lesson plan)

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