Advantage of Culture for the Hominid Species

The Advantage of Culture for the Hominid Species

Culture is the transmission of acquired knowledge and beliefs passed down through generations. In other words it is a continuation of tradition, the continual practice of three main implements. The passing down of how to make tools for the necessary survival of the species, a belief system or worldview, and most important their method of communication. These three main adaptations are what gave the hominid species the advantage to be successful in the natural world. Eventually becoming the dominant species of the land until present times. This essay will focus on these three examples of how culture is an advantageous tool, for surviving in a hostile world that the hominid species has experienced for thousands of years.

The most important aspect of culture for the successful adaptation of hominids is language. The form of communication of the species is key to their very survival and transmission of that which has been learned. Whether that is verbal or non verbal communication. In the case of most great apes, in particularly non-verbal communication is mostly used. By non-verbal I refer to a form of communication that is limited to mainly body language and a limited number of vocalized signals. While verbal communication is the use of a developed set of symbols that is vocalized through a language. "We communicate when we transmit information about ourselves to others and receive such information from them" (Kottak p.226). An example of transmission of culture through non-verbal communication can be the passing down of tool usage, in specific with chimpanzees. They have learned to use rocks to crack open nuts and use thin sticks to poke into termite mounds. Such experience is passed down by non-verbal communication from one individual to the next by simple observation. And this tradition of tool usage is passed down by non-verbal communication. Another example of this could be the communication that homo sapien sapien (modern humans) have, which is language. The knowledge of where to find water, game, how to survive the winters, droughts, and how to travel through the land is all learned through language. Whether that is in the form the oral tradition of story telling, song, or even dance of music. For example, the Australian Aborigines have a method for knowing how to travel across their land. Through songs, drawings, and paintings they are able to pass the knowledge of how to travel through the land, where to find water, certain animals and even other tribes. Hence, language is the most important non biological adaptation that hominids have evolved to becoming more successful with each improvement in their communication skills.

Another example of culture as an adaptation by hominids is tool making and the transmission of it throughout the generations. A tool is anything that can be used to create an advantage or make a task easier to complete. "Although humans employ tools much more than any other animal does, tools use also turns up among several nonhuman species..."(Kottak p.26). Although tool usage is not constricted