Humans were evolutionarily selected for learnability, not behavioral fixedness

Evidence

The rapid pace of social change causes even thornier problems for the biologically deterministic view. People have changed little genetically over the past millennium, but they have changed markedly in their beliefs, mores, social and occupational roles, cohabitating arrangements, family practices, and styles of behavior even within the past decades through rapid cultural and technological evolution. Dobzhansky (1972) has argued eloquently over the years that humans are a generalist species that was selected for learnability and malleability of behavior, not for behavioral fixedness. — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 178 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Human intelligence is a regular epoch in world history, not a freak accident — Theodor W. Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Dialectic of Enlightenment, 199; Social learning is toddlers’ only cognitive edge over great apes. — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success: How Culture…, 78; Demonstrating learning does not disprove genetic natural selection. — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success: How Culture…, 1131 (+11 more)

Broader Connections

• Human evolution selected for learnability and behavioral malleability, not fixedness #corroborates (0.98)
• Humans were selected for behavioral malleability, not fixedness #corroborates (0.93) — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 178