Chapter 2: Culture and Nature

psyche

a broader term for mind, encompassing emotions, desires, perceptions, and all other psycholgical processes

nature

the physical world around us, including its laws and processes

theory of evolution

proposed by charles darwin to explain how change occurs in nature

natural selection

the process whereby those members of a species that survive and reproduce most effectively are the ones that pass along their genes to futre generations

survival

living longer

reproduction

producing babies that survive long enough to also reproduce

mutation

a new or combination of genes

social brain theory

the brain eveolved to enable humans with complex social lives, not to be smarter

culture

an information-based system that includes shared ideas and common ways of doing things

social animals

animals that seek connections to others and prefer to live, work, and play with other members of their species

praxis

practical ways of doing things

relative age theory

suggests that those born early in the academic year tend to perform better than those born later

individualistic

refers to cultures in which everyone takes care of and themselves and is free to choose how they act

collectivistic

refers to cultures in which everone focuses on maintaining relationships and getting along with others

co-evolution

nature and culture changed together and shaped each other

duplex mind

the idea that the mind has two processing systems (deliberate and automatic)

automatic system

the part of the mind outside of consciousness that performs simple operations

deliberate system

the part of the mind that perform complex operations

tradeoff

a choicein which taking or maximizing one benefit requires either accepting a cost or sacrificing another benefit