In this chapter we discuss anthropologist Jean Molino's claim that cultural evolution seems "quite Lamarckian". In quoting Molino, I should have been much more careful in specifying that I raised the issue in the context of Molino's quote, specifically, I should have said,

"Instead, we enter into a period of rapid change that Jean Molino describes as "quite Malarkian."

Lamarckian argued that acquired characteristics could be passed down genetically to offspring. This particular argument has been rejected repeatedly over many years (see for a good summary).

However, some recent experiments continue to raise questions such as "Lamarckian Evolution is Making a Comeback" here: , particularly in regard to the behavior of epigenome response to various factors in our environment. The main resource for this article is this book: Carey, N. (2012). The Epigenetics Revolution: How Modern Biology Is Rewriting Our Understanding of Genetics, Disease, and Inheritance (1st ed.). Columbia University Press. A quick Google search will also turn up a number of recent journal articles and discussion about research that has keeps this debate alive.

Many thanks to Richard Bugg at Meyer Sound for first drawing this issue to my attention!