Cognitive Gadgets: The Cultural Evolution of Thinking

Heyes advances a strong and provocative thesis: many cognitive abilities we assume are biological adaptations -- reading, imitation, theory of mind, even the capacity for language learning -- are better understood as culturally transmitted "gadgets" assembled during development from simpler, domain-general mechanisms. Natural selection provided the starter kit (attention, associative learning, working memory); culture built the specialised tools on top. The argument challenges both the nativist tradition of Chomsky and Pinker and the more moderate gene-culture coevolution of Henrich and Tomasello. It is rigorously argued, grounded in experimental evidence, and uncomfortable for anyone who prefers tidy nature-or-nurture dichotomies. A book that changes how you think about what is innate.