Abstract
In this chapter, Bowen and Glesson consider the problems of organization and communication, as well as those mytholiminal problems that arise from the characteristic human search for meaning and transcendence. Settlement systems enable, facilitate, and intensify the social interaction necessary for cultural evolution to occur. And yet changes in material systems, living systems, and social systems continue to create ubiquitous problems in human settlements. Humans must solve problems that are rooted in both material and non-material goals in order to adapt to changes within their environments. Sometimes they do so through the use of rationality and conscious purpose, and sometimes through rote application of the routines that are built into cultures and institutions. Yet human problem-solving activities almost invariably produce unintended consequences.
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Bowen, W.M., Gleeson, R.E. (2019). Human Problem-Solving. In: The Evolution of Human Settlements. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95034-1_7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95034-1_7
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