Abstract

The theory of evolution settled at what was thought to be its definitive form after the affiliation of Darwin’s theory with the new science of genetics. This historical event explains not only the success but also the vulnerability of evolutionary theory. The close affinity with genetics helped to provide the tools required for managing phylogenetic evolution, which was controlled by the molecular machinery of the genome, localized in most cells of each individual. This setup worked well for organizing the basics of Darwinism but it faltered when applied to the evolution of culture. This is so because, as I argue in this article, under the given conditions the active support of a system of similar complexity as the genome would be required. At some point in the process of evolution the large brains of primates may have begun experimenting with phenotypic equivalents of genomic functions like memory, adaptation, fitness, processing information, and organizing replication. In this way the brain may have weakened its ties to the genome and by exploiting its new status have become, so to speak, for the phenotype what the genome is for the genotype, thus preparing the stage on which the complexity of human behavior might unfold