Center for Neuropolicy, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2012 Mar 5;367(1589):633-9. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2011.0307.
Although culture is usually thought of as the collection of knowledge and traditions that are transmitted outside of biology, evidence continues to accumulate showing how biology and culture are inseparably intertwined. Cultural conflict will occur only when the beliefs and traditions of one cultural group represent a challenge to individuals of another. Such a challenge will elicit brain processes involved in cognitive decision-making, emotional activation and physiological arousal associated with the outbreak, conduct and resolution of conflict. Key targets to understand bio-cultural differences include primitive drives-how the brain responds to likes and dislikes, how it discounts the future, and how this relates to reproductive behaviour-but also higher level functions, such as how the mind represents and values the surrounding physical and social environment. Future cultural wars, while they may bear familiar labels of religion and politics, will ultimately be fought over control of our biology and our environment.
虽然文化通常被认为是在生物学之外传递的知识和传统的集合，但越来越多的证据表明，生物学和文化是不可分割地交织在一起的。只有当一个文化群体的信仰和传统对另一个文化群体的个体构成挑战时，才会发生文化冲突。这种挑战将引发与冲突的爆发、行为和解决相关的认知决策、情绪激活和生理唤醒的大脑过程。理解生物文化差异的关键目标包括原始驱动力——大脑对喜欢和不喜欢的反应方式，它如何对未来进行折扣，以及这与生殖行为的关系——但也包括更高层次的功能，如大脑如何代表和重视周围的物理和社会环境。未来的文化战争，虽然可能带有宗教和政治的熟悉标签，但最终将是为了控制我们的生物学和环境而展开的。
