Cultural variation can persist without social learning through locally complementary solution sets.

Evidence

Second, the same environmental problems may have multiple solutions, and, consequently, the specific histories of different cultures may have led to divergent evolutionary trajectories—different solutions for the same problem. This process can maintain similarities among individuals within groups and differences between groups because individuals who deviate from the common behaviors in some dimension are worse off, because their rare behavior does not complement those of the rest of the culture. In this way, cultural variation is maintained in much the same way that natural selection maintains many different kinds of eyes in the animal kingdom. — Joe Henrich and Robert Boyd, The Evolution of Conformist…, 100

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Adaptive culture often arises without individual designers even noticing. — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success: How Culture…, 138; Cultural accumulation locks groups into local optima because traits are integrated; Cultural evolution can lock groups into maladaptive equilibria, not just prosocial ones (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Cultural accumulation locks groups into local optima because traits are integrated #complicates (0.78)
• Human cumulative culture emerges from evolved domain-specific cognitive adaptations for social learning #complicates (0.76) — Joe Henrich and Robert Boyd, The Evolution of Conformist…, 16
• Cultural evolution can lock groups into maladaptive equilibria, not just prosocial ones #complicates (0.74)