Niche Construction

Distributive cognition has a great number of causes reflected in both human and animal behaviours. These behaviours are all examples of niche construction. This essay will deal more closely with the causes of distributive cognition in human beings which can be considered examples of niche construction. In studying these causes of distributive cognition we can look more closely at epistemic actions and non-communicative use of language which are displayed in human beings. In understanding distributive cognition we need to realise that the theories regarding distributive cognition must be consistent with what we know about we know about evolution and must involve the sorts of things of things that can evolve and it is this reason that directly relates it to niche construction. Niche construction can be seen in human seen clearly in how the in attaining a more effective metabolic system a niche is constructed in the brain by it getting larger. In addition I will look at a case of niche construction in human beings which is not a case of distributive cognition, such as in the development of the sickle-cell allele in humans when they make arrangements to grow yams.

Firstly, we need to understand what distributive cognition is. Distributive cognition can develop in each individual from our biological and social inheritance. It is characterised by genes that are constrained by physiological design, which in turn constrains cognition. Therefore we can see why distributive cognition could evolve in the ancestors of our species. Most of our mental cognition can only work at a certain speed and therefore it is more beneficial for us to adopt strategies that donÐ'ÐŽÐ'¦t necessarily aim for what we want (i.e. our goals) but rather makes goals more attainable given our limitations in attaining the final goal. This is how distributive cognition can be seen as linking with niche construction, since distributive cognition does not only depend on natural selection and genetic inheritance but also on niche construction. But, before we get into how the two are related, letÐ'ÐŽÐ'¦s understand what niche construction is. According to Jones (1997), niche construction can be described as the same processes that he refers to as Ð'ÐŽÐ'Ґecosystem engineeringÐ'ÐŽÐ'¦. In human beings this can often be seen in the development or evolution of their metabolic processes, activities or choices, this consequently leads them to chose, modify and partly create their own niches. Most cases of niche construction do not involve the building of artefacts, but merely the selection or modification of habitats (Odling-Smee, 1988).

Now letÐ'ÐŽÐ'¦s properly understand how the two processes are related. It only makes sense that the theories of distributive cognition must be consistent with what we know about we know about evolution. This means that distributive cognition must involve the sort of things that can evolve such as with niche construction. Some aspects of distributive cognition can more clearly be understood in the evolutionary context. And distributive cognition itself can be seen as an example of niche construction, in that distributive cognition too can be seen as modifying environments and creating niches. With distributive cognition information is passed through the environment and is thus referred to as environmental selection. Examples of this cognition are epistemic actions and non-communicative use of language which often in turn results in niche construction in human beings.

The example of distributive cognition in human beings that is also a case of niche construction is the development of the human brain in facilitating more efficient metabolic processes. This example explains the evolution of the human brain and how selection through the environment leads it to consequently get larger. It is estimated that the metabolic rate of the human body is about one ninth of the rate of the metabolic rate of the human brain. However even though the brain metabolic rate is so much higher than the human metabolic rate there is no basal metabolic rate in human beings which would pay for the increased metabolic rate of the brain. It was figured out by Aiello and Wheeler (1995) that this was the case since the human gut and the gastro-intestinal tract would require fewer energetic resources than the brain. They then came up with the notion that there was a reduction of our ancestorÐ'ÐŽÐ'¦s guts size because they increased their brain capacity to improve their diets in proportion to the loss of the size in their guts (Aiello and Wheeler, 1995). They suggest that this modification occurred in two stages. The first with the increased eating behaviours of meat consumption and the second the cultural invention of cooking and consequently the externalisation of part of the digestive process. This can be viewed as Ð'ÐŽÐ'ҐinventiveÐ'ÐŽÐ'¦ niche construction since the brain evolves to maintain the traits the human body chooses to adopt, i.e. meat consumption. Niche construction can be the direct reason for the Ð'ÐŽÐ'Ґbig brainÐ'ÐŽÐ'¦ being adaptive.

This example can be seen as both an example of niche construction and distributive cognition. It is a distributive cognition in that it uses the environment to create change to best suit the final goal, which is known as environmental selection. The process of eating meat it thought through, showing the element of cognition, and the brain adapts to facilitate the change in the reduction of the human gut. It is an epistemic action in that it makes use of adaptive actions which arenÐ'ÐŽÐ'¦t responsible for reaching the final goal, but make the final goal more attainable, thus establishing that it is indeed distributive cognition. The ultimate goal

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