ABSTRACT
Evidence supporting the idea that communication is the mechanism that drives evolution is clear and compelling, yet an evolutionary framework for the study of human communication has been missing in the social sciences until now. To understand how human beings became such exceptional communicators, we must reach back much farther in history and broaden the scope of analysis way beyond what the traditional approaches in the humanities and social sciences consider. This book introduces evolutionary communication as a fruitful perspective for the study of human communication; positions the evolutionary approach in relation to the main traditions of theory and research in communication studies, including rhetoric, media studies, social science, critical theory, and cultural studies; describes how the communication approach builds on neo-Darwinian and epigenetic theories of evolution; and explains why evolutionary communication can serve as a comprehensive and inspiring perspective for the study of human communication. The book’s contents include the basics of how communication forms the foundation of evolutionary processes; the reasons why we communicate-to survive, reproduce, and express ourselves; how we communicate-through spoken and written language, technology, and media; and finally, what we communicate-culture, information, ideology, religion, morality, identity, and community.
