Flexible learning, rather than inveterate innovation or copying, drives cumulative knowledge gain

Elena Miu; Ned Gulley; Kevin N. Laland; Luke Rendell

doi:10.1126/sciadv.aaz0286

Flexible learning, rather than inveterate innovation or copying, drives cumulative knowledge gain

Elena Miu^*, Ned Gulley, Kevin N. Laland, Luke Rendell

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Human technology is characterized by cumulative cultural knowledge gain, yet researchers have limited knowledge of the mix of copying and innovation that maximizes progress. Here, we analyze a unique large-scale dataset originating from collaborative online programming competitions to investigate, in a setting of real-world complexity, how individual differences in innovation, social-information use, and performance generate technological progress. We find that cumulative knowledge gain is primarily driven by pragmatists, willing to copy, innovate, explore, and take risks flexibly, rather than by pure innovators or habitual copiers. Our study also reveals a key role for prestige in information transfer.

Original language	English
Article number	eaaz0286
Number of pages	10
Journal	Science Advances
Volume	6
Issue number	23
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aaz0286
Publication status	Published - 5 Jun 2020

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10.1126/sciadv.aaz0286Licence: CC BY

Mui_2020_SA_Flexible_CC
Copyright © 2020 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 (CC BY). This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution license, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Final published version, 685 KBLicence: CC BY

Exploring the Evolutionary Foundations: Exploring the Evolutionary Foundations of Cultural Complexity Creativity and Trust
Lala, K. (PI)
1/09/13 → 30/05/16
Project: Standard

Cite this

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title = "Flexible learning, rather than inveterate innovation or copying, drives cumulative knowledge gain",

abstract = "Human technology is characterized by cumulative cultural knowledge gain, yet researchers have limited knowledge of the mix of copying and innovation that maximizes progress. Here, we analyze a unique large-scale dataset originating from collaborative online programming competitions to investigate, in a setting of real-world complexity, how individual differences in innovation, social-information use, and performance generate technological progress. We find that cumulative knowledge gain is primarily driven by pragmatists, willing to copy, innovate, explore, and take risks flexibly, rather than by pure innovators or habitual copiers. Our study also reveals a key role for prestige in information transfer.",

author = "Elena Miu and Ned Gulley and Laland, {Kevin N.} and Luke Rendell",

note = "E.M. was supported by John Templeton Foundation Grant #40128 “Exploring the Evolutionary Foundations of Cultural Complexity, Creativity, and Trust” and the University of St Andrews School of Biology. L.R. was supported by the Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland (MASTs) pooling initiative funded by the Scottish Funding Council (grant reference HR09011).",

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doi = "10.1126/sciadv.aaz0286",

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N2 - Human technology is characterized by cumulative cultural knowledge gain, yet researchers have limited knowledge of the mix of copying and innovation that maximizes progress. Here, we analyze a unique large-scale dataset originating from collaborative online programming competitions to investigate, in a setting of real-world complexity, how individual differences in innovation, social-information use, and performance generate technological progress. We find that cumulative knowledge gain is primarily driven by pragmatists, willing to copy, innovate, explore, and take risks flexibly, rather than by pure innovators or habitual copiers. Our study also reveals a key role for prestige in information transfer.

AB - Human technology is characterized by cumulative cultural knowledge gain, yet researchers have limited knowledge of the mix of copying and innovation that maximizes progress. Here, we analyze a unique large-scale dataset originating from collaborative online programming competitions to investigate, in a setting of real-world complexity, how individual differences in innovation, social-information use, and performance generate technological progress. We find that cumulative knowledge gain is primarily driven by pragmatists, willing to copy, innovate, explore, and take risks flexibly, rather than by pure innovators or habitual copiers. Our study also reveals a key role for prestige in information transfer.

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Flexible learning, rather than inveterate innovation or copying, drives cumulative knowledge gain

Abstract

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Exploring the Evolutionary Foundations: Exploring the Evolutionary Foundations of Cultural Complexity Creativity and Trust

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