Van de Vliert Evert, Welzel Christian, Shcherbak Andrey, Fischer Ronald, Alexander Amy C
University of Groningen, The Netherlands.
Leuphana University of Lüneburg, Germany.
J Cross Cult Psychol. 2018 Aug;49(7):1048-1065. doi: 10.1177/0022022118778336. Epub 2018 Jun 11.
The roots and routes of cultural evolution are still a mystery. Here, we aim to lift a corner of that veil by illuminating the deep origins of encultured freedoms, which evolved through centuries-long processes of learning to pursue and transmit values and practices oriented toward autonomous individual choice. Analyzing a multitude of data sources, we unravel for 108 Old World countries a sequence of cultural evolution reaching from (a) ancient climates suitable for dairy farming to (b) lactose tolerance at the eve of the colonial era to (c) resources that empowered people in the early industrial era to (d) encultured freedoms today. Historically, lactose tolerance peaks under two contrasting conditions: cold winters and cool summers with steady rain versus hot summers and warm winters with extensive dry periods (Study 1). However, only the cold/wet variant of these two conditions links lactose tolerance at the eve of the colonial era to empowering resources in early industrial times, and to encultured freedoms today (Study 2). We interpret these findings as a form of gene-culture coevolution within a novel thermo-hydraulic theory of freedoms.
文化进化的根源和路径仍是一个谜。在此，我们旨在通过揭示文化自由的深层起源来揭开这层面纱的一角，文化自由是通过长达数世纪的学习过程演变而来的，这些学习过程旨在追求和传承以自主个人选择为导向的价值观和实践。通过分析大量数据源，我们梳理出108个旧世界国家的文化进化序列，从（a）适合奶牛养殖的古代气候，到（b）殖民时代前夕的乳糖耐受性，再到（c）早期工业时代赋予人们权力的资源，直至（d）如今的文化自由。从历史上看，乳糖耐受性在两种截然不同的条件下达到峰值：寒冷的冬天和凉爽的夏天且降雨稳定，以及炎热的夏天和温暖的冬天且干旱期较长（研究1）。然而，在这两种条件中，只有寒冷/湿润的变体将殖民时代前夕的乳糖耐受性与早期工业时代赋予权力的资源以及如今的文化自由联系起来（研究2）。我们将这些发现解释为在一种关于自由的全新热液理论框架内的基因 - 文化共同进化形式。
