Dissertation
The evolution of knowledge specialization: Expertise, trust, and the supernatural across traditional cultures
Washington State University
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
01/2021
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7273/000001856
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/121662
Abstract
Evolutionary approaches to the acquisition and transmission of cultural knowledge are diverse, and they have motivated much theorizing among anthropologists and other social scientists. However, fewer have focused on cross-cultural and data-driven approaches to investigating specialists who invest heavily in locally useful knowledge, who will be referred to as knowledge specialists. This dissertation therefore analyzes how and why knowledge specialists acquire useful cultural knowledge, and explores how they provide services to others in their communities. Conversely, it also investigates the criteria by which others come to trust the information provided to them by a knowledgeable source, such as a specialist. The key findings in this dissertation suggest that (1) most individuals are skeptical of socially learned information when it might not stand to benefit them personally, and (2) knowledge specialists who socially supply individuals with information either effectively provide a beneficial service in exchange for payment, and/or mentor their acolytes in exchange for status and prestige. The extent to which individuals trust socially learned information is associated with external influences such as acculturation and market integration, and the extent to which knowledge specialists provide effective services vs. mentorship is associated with characteristics of their domain of expertise, such as how rare and uncertain the problems they resolve are, and whether or not their skills involve readily observable behaviors that are easy to copy. When a domain of expertise involves rare, serious, and mysterious phenomena, specialists frequently provide services to clients while invoking the supernatural and keeping their proprietary know-how a secret, whereas their clients judge specialists' services based on their effectiveness. Throughout this dissertation, this idea is developed into a hypothesis to be tested in future research, referred to as a market for specialists. In general, the findings in this dissertation speak to a broader trend in the current cultural evolutionary literature, which favors a continuing convergence of previously disparate schools of thought. Specifically, they demonstrate that the relevance of existing theoretical models of cultural transmission and knowledge specialization might depend strongly and non-randomly upon context.
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Details
- Title
- The evolution of knowledge specialization: Expertise, trust, and the supernatural across traditional cultures
- Creators
- Aaron Lightner
- Contributors
- Edward H Hagen (Advisor)Anne C Pisor (Committee Member)Luke S Premo (Committee Member)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Anthropology, Department of
- Theses and Dissertations
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University
- Number of pages
- 443
- Identifiers
- 99900606550101842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Dissertation