# Children Inherit Traditions as Readily as Genes by Peter Richerson > “In his Sketch on an infant Darwin described how readily children learn from their caregivers. The inheritance of traditions, customs, and language is relatively easy to observe with the tools of a 19th Century naturalist compared to intricacies of genetic inheritance, which is still yielding fundamental secrets to the high tech tools of molecular biology. Recent work on the mechanisms underlying imitation and teaching has begun to reveal the more deeply hidden cognitive components of these processes and the results underpin Darwin's phenomenological account of tradition acquisition and evolution.” > **— Peter Richerson**, *2014, Edge Annual Question, “What Scientific Idea Is Ready For Retirement?”* ## Sources and Context - **Direct Edge response and surrounding essay:** [Human Nature](https://www.edge.org/response-detail/25404) — Edge published this exact passage in its 2014 Annual Question collection, *WHAT SCIENTIFIC IDEA IS READY FOR RETIREMENT?*. The response page preserves the surrounding argument and qualifications. - **Complete local collection index:** [[research/Edge 2014 Full Quotation Curation|Edge 2014 Full Quotation Curation]] — retained source-first record for the complete response cohort and this passage's promotion status. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Edge|Edge]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] - **Article:** [[articles/The Evolutionary Roots of Silicon Valley|Valley Roots]] - **Article:** [[articles/Digital Darwinism and the Invisible World of Machine Evolution|Digital Darwinism]] - **Article:** [[articles/We Were Never Going to Make It|Never Going to Make It!]] - **Wiki map:** [[wiki/Evolutionary Biology|Evolutionary Biology]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Evolutionary Biology|Evolutionary Biology]] - [[wiki/Epigenetic|Epigenetic]] - [[wiki/Epigenetic Modification|Epigenetic Modification]] - [[wiki/Genetic Recombination|Genetic Recombination]] ## Share on Social Media ``` “In his Sketch on an infant Darwin described how readily children learn from their caregivers. The inheritance of traditions, customs, and language is relatively easy to observe with the tools of a 19th Century naturalist compared to intricacies of genetic inheritance, which is still yielding fundamental secrets to the high tech tools of molecular biology. Recent work on the mechanisms underlying imitation and teaching has begun to reveal the more deeply hidden cognitive components of these processes and the results underpin Darwin's phenomenological account of tradition acquisition and evolution.” — Peter Richerson, 2014, Edge Annual Question, “What Scientific Idea Is Ready For Retirement?” https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-peter-richerson-children-inherit-traditions-readily-genes ```