Overview

From emails to social media, from instant messaging to political memes, the way we produce and transmit culture is radically changing. Understanding the consequences of the massive diffusion of digital media is of the utmost importance, both from the intellectual and the social point of view. 'Cultural Evolution in the Digital Age' proposes that a specific discipline - cultural evolution - provides an excellent framework to analyse our digital age. Cultural evolution is a vibrant, interdisciplinary, and increasingly productive scientific framework that aims to provide a naturalistic and quantitative explanation of culture. In the book the author shows how cultural evolution offers both a sophisticated view of human behaviour, grounded in cognitive science and evolutionary theory, and a strong quantitative and experimental methodology. The book examines in depth various topics that directly originate from the application of cultural evolution research to digital media. Is online social influence radically different from previous forms of social influence? Do digital media amplify the effects of popularity and celebrity influence? What are the psychological forces that favour the spread of online misinformation? What are the effects of the hyper-availability of information online on cultural cumulation? The cultural evolutionary perspective provides novel insights, and a relatively encouraging take on the overall effects of our online activities on our culture.Cultural Evolution is an area of rapidly growing interest, and this timely book will be important reading for students and researchers in the fields of psychology, anthropology, cognitive science, and the media.

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9780198835943

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Unlike alarmist writers on this topic, Acerbi adopts a cultural evolution approach, asserting that the changes to society have been much more of an evolution than a revolution. Acerbi advocates for a moderate approach to understanding the impact of digital media. Taking the long view provides a more accurate assessment than alarmist reactions. As the author maintains, many characteristics attributed to digital media have been overstated: changes to people's relationships with others, celebrities' online influence, and the existence of echo chambers and individuals isolating themselves from diversity of thought. He writes, the negative effects of our daily interactions with digital media may have been overestimated, ... for what we know now, there are many positive effects that we just take for granted (p. 214). Acerbi's book is filled with hope; it is not a Pollyanna assessment of the digital world but a balanced view. * Choice *

"Unlike alarmist writers on this topic, Acerbi adopts a cultural evolution approach, asserting that the changes to society have been much more of an evolution than a revolution. Acerbi advocates for a moderate approach to understanding the impact of digital media. Taking the ""long view"" provides a more accurate assessment than alarmist reactions. As the author maintains, many characteristics attributed to digital media have been overstated: changes to people's relationships with others, celebrities' online influence, and the existence of echo chambers and individuals isolating themselves from diversity of thought. He writes, ""the negative effects of our daily interactions with digital media may have been overestimated, ... for what we know now, there are many positive effects that we just take for granted"" (p. 214). Acerbi's book is filled with hope; it is not a Pollyanna assessment of the digital world but a balanced view. * Choice *"

Author Information

Alberto Acerbi, Lecturer at the Centre for Culture and Evolution, Department of Psychology, Brunel University London.

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