Amazon.co.uk Review
Everyone knows "monkey see, monkey do", but how many of us reflect on the proverb's consequences? In
The Imitation Factor: Evolution Beyond the Gene, biologist Lee Alan Dugatkin asks just how different animals can be from humans if they engage, as they seem to, in cultural transmission of behaviour. Long thought to be one of the last barriers between
Homo sapiens and the rest of the family, imitation can be found even in fish--and Dugatkin's book explores the research on the subject and its implications. His straightforward, accessible style serves him and the reader well; though there are no tough equations or metaphysical concepts to bar the way to understanding, the delicacy of behavioural research can be tricky to communicate properly. Summarising his points, he says:
The zoological work on cultural evolution reveals strange and even amazing facts about animals no matter how large or small their brains are--indeed, some just barely have what we can call a brain. The actions of a few individuals, or even just a single one, can dramatically shift the evolutionary future of a particular population fundamentally because individuals are keen copiers.
The author presents his own and others' research into imitative learning and makes a compelling case for its ubiquity. He suggests that a vast range of behavioural science is hampered by its reliance on biological (especially genetic) explanations, and that researchers would do well to sift more carefully between nature and nurture. It's an intriguing notion, and makes
The Imitation Factor well worth reading--and besides, everyone else is doing it. --
Rob Lightner
