Fire-making skill is so dependent on social transmission that groups can lose it

Evidence

No luck? Unless you’ve had training—that is, received cultural transmission—it’s very unlikely you were successful. Our bodies have been shaped by fire and cooking, but we have to learn from others how to make fire and cook. Making fire is so “unnatural” and technically difficult that some foraging populations have actually lost the ability to make fire. These include the Andaman Islanders (off the coast of Malaysia), Sirionó (Amazonia), Northern Aché, and perhaps Tasmanians. Now, to be clear, these populations couldn’t have survived without fire; they retained fire but lost the ability to start new fires on demand. When one band’s fire was inadvertently extinguished, say during a fierce storm, they had to head off to locate another band whose fire had not gone out (hopefully). — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success, 227

Categorization

• XREF: Relates to general argument that cultural transmission underlies core subsistence competencies, relevant across Henrich’s framework of cumulative culture. — connects to: Sustaining and transporting fire demands culturally transmitted skill — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success: How Culture…, 228; Removing older members erodes socially transmitted knowledge that groups depend on — Almo Farina, Soundscape Ecology: Principles,…, 2222; A group’s social interconnectedness outweighs individual intelligence in producing innovation — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success: How Culture…, 694 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Sustaining and transporting fire demands culturally transmitted skill #expands (0.95) — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success, 228
• Random loss of skilled elders can erase a group’s entire complex tool repertoire #exemplifies (0.92) — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success, 685
• Removing older members erodes socially transmitted knowledge that groups depend on #corroborates (0.86) — Almo Farina, Soundscape Ecology, 2222
• Cultural evolution can spread maladaptive behaviors that destroy social cooperation #expands (0.78) — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 447
• A group’s social interconnectedness outweighs individual intelligence in producing innovation #expands (0.75) — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success, 694