The division between nature and culture is deeply rooted in our way of thinking. But paradoxically nature has its own cultural history, its traditions of teaching and learning. The diversity of life forms is often explained on a purely biological and genetic basis. But life does not proceed independently of other influences, and organisms are not genetically directed automatons.
In his new book, Markus Lindholm shows how life on Earth is not just evolving passively, but also evolving actively. This makes a dramatic difference, for it means that organisms take an active part in their own development and in directing the course of evolution.
This central theme is illustrated by a wide selection of exciting examples from nature, in a book which opens up the possibility that it is not just biology and genes which can shape culture, but that culture can also influence biology and genes.