ABSTRACT
The theory of evolution is widely accepted as the central theorem of biology. It explains the origins of all living forms and many, though not all, of the attributes possessed by organisms. This must include human intelligence and culture. Intelligence is defined here very broadly as the ability of individual organisms to acquire information about the world that results in adaptive behavior. This chapter presents the view that there are different forms of intelligence, each of which is predisposed for the acquisition and processing of different kinds of information and the carrying out of different skilled actions. It is also argued that all forms of intelligence can be understood as being driven by the same processes that drive biological evolution. Because human culture is an extension of human intelligence, culture too can be understood in the light of what has become known as universal Darwinism. The value of this approach, which can be traced back at least to the nineteenth century, is that it locates individual intelligence within the larger context of biological evolution on the one hand and human culture on the other. However, there is also no doubt but that this is a viewpoint that makes some contentious claims that many psychologists would challenge. It also taps into a great and ancient philosophical controversy about whether or not knowledge is innate, which can be traced back to classical Greek philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle.
