The cultural origins of human cognition

"From an Evolutionary point of view, human cognition is a puzzle. Human beings have been a distinct species for only a very short time, but in this short time we have developed the skills needed to create complex tools and technologies, languages and other symbol systems, and complex social institutions like governments and religions.". "Many current theories of human cognition stress its biological roots, while others stress its cultural roots. Tomasello demonstrates that both of these perspectives are essential in creating a unified account of the evolution, history, and development of human cognition. He makes a powerful case that while human cognition is biologically based, this biological adaptation's key contribution is that it permits the flowering of the cultural-historical and ontogenetic processes that have actually made the varieties of human cognition what they are today."--BOOK JACKET.