Oct 21, 2019
Phrases such as "social constructivism" and "relativism"
signal the importance of symbolic meaning systems in human life.
Taken to extremes, they have been used to undermine the authority
of science and even to deny the existence of objective knowledge,
paving the way for today's epidemic of "fake news". Against this
background, evolutionary science can establish a sensible middle
ground that recognizes the importance of symbolic thought in human
cultural evolution and provides a disciplined way to scientifically
understand it.
Lynette Shaw holds a PhD in Sociology and is Assistant
Professor of Complex Systems at the University of
Michigan. She joins David to discuss "this view of social
constructivism” and more, including the micro to macro link of
culture, the social construction of digital
currencies, automatic sense making, human symbolic thought as
niche construction, and the need for common ground
between different academic disciplines.
Links from the
Episode