Mentalizing may have evolved for cultural learning rather than for social manipulation

Evidence

However, another possibility is that mentalizing first evolved in our lineage, or perhaps was re-tasked away from trickery, deception, and manipulation, so that we could better learn from others by more effectively inferring our models’ underlying goals, strategies and preferences for the purpose of copying them. Mentalizing also may help us teach more effectively, since good teaching requires us to assess what learners need to know. These expectations flow from the cultural intelligence hypothesis . 29 In my psychology laboratory at UBC, our team has sought to allow these two hypotheses to face off against each other. — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success, 191

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the reader’s framework on social-learning biases in that it reinterprets a core cognition (theory of mind) as serving cultural transmission rather than Machiavellian exploitation. — connects to: Some researchers hold mentalizing evolved for manipulation, not cooperation — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success: How Culture…, 190; Selective social learning yields group-level cultural accumulation beyond any individual’s knowledge — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success: How Culture…, 198; Observational learning enables cumulative cultural evolution of behaviors no individual could invent alone — Joe Henrich and Robert Boyd, The Evolution of Conformist…, 19 (+7 more)

Broader Connections

• Human cumulative culture emerges from evolved domain-specific cognitive adaptations for social learning #corroborates (0.82) — Joe Henrich and Robert Boyd, The Evolution of Conformist…, 16
• Culture is a genetically evolved consequence of social learning adaptations. #corroborates (0.80) — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success, 139
• Natural selection built cultural learning that can overwrite innate preferences #expands (0.78) — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success, 365
• Observational learning enables cumulative cultural evolution of behaviors no individual could invent alone #expands (0.76) — Joe Henrich and Robert Boyd, The Evolution of Conformist…, 19
• Selective social learning yields group-level cultural accumulation beyond any individual’s knowledge #expands (0.75) — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success, 198
• Cultural learning instincts emerge in infants and operate automatically and unconsciously #expands (0.72) — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success, 141
• Cultural evolution can spread maladaptive behaviors that destroy social cooperation #complicates (0.71) — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 447