文化基因视角的文化群体选择  

Cultural Group Selection from the Perspective of Cultural Genes

作　　者：马思腾 刘业进[1] Ma Siteng;Liu Yejin

机构地区：[1]首都经济贸易大学城市经济与公共管理学院,100070

出　　处：《南方经济》2024年第7期12-26,共15页South China Journal of Economics

摘　　要：“基因—文化共同进化理论”,特别是利用“文化基因视角”解释文化演化中群体选择的复苏,最常见、最重要的文化基因就是新制度经济所说的“制度”。但当前学术界远未就文化演化理论中的选择单位/复制者、互动者和性状群体等重要概念达成共识,因此,深入研究文化演化的基础并不牢固。文章认为,相较于“谜米”,复制者更适合作为文化演化的选择单位,它是文化中可复制、可传递的片段,具有非物质特征,其概念与约翰·塞尔和哈耶克所指“社会科学事实”接近;复制者可分三类:Ⅰ类复制者为制度性事实(如惯例、法律),Ⅱ类复制者为人设计的产物(如设计汽车的知识),Ⅲ类复制者为人的行为但不是人设计的产物(如道德规则);复制者搭载在互动者上;互动者具有物质特征,即文化群体;具有不同表型的文化群体即“性状群体”。结合普莱斯方程,通过对信念、价值观、态度等决定文化群体表型适应度至关重要的复制者展开分析,可以理解复制者、互动者、复制者适应度和群体选择之间复杂的因果关系,解释文化群体选择的工作机制,即复制者决定性状群体的表型相对适应性优势,分析哪类复制者能够被采纳,哪类复制者最终会被消除。由此解释语言、道德、货币、分立的财产权等塑造人类合作秩序核心制度的起源。The"gene-culture coevolution theory",particularly through the"cultural gene perspective,"has sparked renewed interest in explaining group selection within the context of cultural evolution.Central to this discussion is the notion that the most prevalent and significant cultural genes are the"institutions"as described in new institutional economics.Despite this resurgence of interest,academia has not yet reached a consensus on several pivotal concepts in cultural evolution theory,such as the units or replicators of selection,interactors,and trait groups.This lack of agreement undermines the robustness of foundational research in cultural evolution.This text contends that,in contrast to the concept of"memes,"replicators are better suited as the units of selection in cultural evolution.Replicators are fragments of culture that are both replicable and transmittable,characterized by their non-material nature.This concept closely aligns with the"social science facts"referred to by scholars like John Searle and Friedrich Hayek.Replicators can be divided into three distinct categories:Type I replicators,which are institutional facts(such as conventions and laws);Type II replicators,which are human-designed products(such as the knowledge required to design an automobile);and Type III replicators,which are human behaviors not directly designed by humans(such as moral rules).Replicators are carried by interactors,which possess material characteristics and are essentially cultural groups.These cultural groups,which exhibit different phenotypes,are referred to as"trait groups."To understand the complex causal relationships between replicators,interactors,replicator fitness,and group selection,it is useful to apply the Price equation.This equation helps analyze how beliefs,values,attitudes,and other crucial replicators determine the phenotypic fitness of cultural groups.By utilizing this analytical framework,we can explore the intricate mechanisms of cultural group selection.Specifically,this framework allows us to investigate

关 键 词：文化演化 性状群体 群体选择 文化基因视角 

分 类 号：C912[经济管理]