ABSTRACT
Whereas the "natural" ecological-evolutionary dynamics are more difficult than commonly considered already, the even greater challenge of and for sustainability is "not managing the resources but managing the people". Discourses on ways to bring a transformation to sustainability about have so far focused on "the" solution, located either on the material side of politics and economics, and of techno-science, or on the cognitive/mental side of world views, ethics, and philosophy. As anthropological research shows, the human condition is characterized by a distinct confluence of unity and diversity within and between human beings and cultures. The basis even of cognitive characteristics can be founded in people's evolutionary history to a large extent, and therefore a universal feature inscribed into people's genes. The perceptions and interpretations which situate people in the world, one way of interpreting culture, obviously modify the forms which the practical fulfillment of basic needs takes.
