# Gene-Culture Coevolution **Domain:** Population Genetics / Cultural Evolution **Doc Type:** Canonical Concept Node **Maturity:** Developed ## Definition **Gene–culture coevolution** studies reciprocal change between genetic evolution and socially transmitted behavior. Cultural practices can alter selection pressures, while biological capacities shape which cultural practices can be acquired and sustained. ## Nexus Context Work associated with Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza and Marcus Feldman supplied formal foundations for modeling these interactions. [[articles/The Evolutionary Roots of Silicon Valley|The Evolutionary Roots of Silicon Valley]] extends the logic toward human-machine systems: technical practices alter human developmental and institutional environments, while human bodies and cultures constrain technical design. The analogy does not require machines to have genes. It requires distinct inheritance channels whose outputs recursively alter one another's selection environments. ## Continuity Context Post-biological transition may add another inheritance channel—computational state, models and archives—without eliminating biological and cultural inheritance. A valid continuity theory must specify which channel carries what and where identity claims exceed evidence. ## Sources / Provenance - Cavalli-Sforza and Feldman, _Cultural Transmission and Evolution_, 1981. - Marcus Feldman profile and publications: https://profiles.stanford.edu/marcus-feldman ## See Also [[wiki/Coevolution|Coevolution]], [[wiki/Niche Construction|Niche Construction]], [[wiki/Cultural Transmission|Cultural Transmission]], [[wiki/Human-Machine Symbiosis|Human-Machine Symbiosis]]