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Niche construction is an important component of a science of intentional change

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 August 2014

Michael J. O'Brien
Michael J. O'Brien*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211. [email protected]://cladistics.coas.missouri.edu
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Abstract

Wilson and colleagues are correct that a modern theory of evolution must go beyond reliance on natural selection. Niche-construction theory, although it does not ignore selection, emphasizes the capacity of organisms to modify environmental states, often in a manner that suits their genotypes. Such matches are the dynamic products of a two-way process that involves organisms both responding to “problems” posed by their environments through selection and setting themselves new problems by changing environments through niche construction.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 37 , Issue 4 , August 2014 , pp. 432 - 433
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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