First International School On Mind, Brain And Education
2005 July 16-20
Summer Institute on
Mind, Brain and Education
Directors: Antonio M. Battro and Kurt W. Fischer
Program officer: María Lourdes Majdalani
Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies, University of Tokyo. JAPAN
Human education from the evolutionary point of view
Education can be regarded as one of the systems passing cultural information, or "memes," to the next generation. Biological evolution itself has the similar function, in terms of genetical information. Evolutionary biology is not always welcome by pedagogy because of the aroma of biological/genetical determinism. The recent development of evolutionary biology, however, has revealed that this framework is not adequate. Any phenotype of human beings is product of complex interaction between genetical and environmental conditions. We humans are the outcome of both of genes and memes. Evolutionary biology, hence, should be considered as complement, not hostile, to cultural-social education.