通过文化手段积累知识、或者说通过与同代和异代的个人交流信息而积累知识,这样的能力乃是适应新环境的一种强有力的机制,可以名之为文化的适应。文化适应的属性介于仅涉及个人的生理适应和整个居民体的遗传适应之间。文化适应的速度可以几乎象生理适应那样快,这是由于在外在刺激之下,居民体的全部成员同时作出反应而发生这种变化;但也可以 The accumulation of knowledge through cultural means, or the accumulation of knowledge through the exchange of information with individuals of the same generation and different generations, is a powerful mechanism for adapting to the new milieu and can be called a cultural adaptation. The attribute of cultural adaptation lies between the physiological adaptation involving only one individual and the genetic adaptation of the entire population. The rate of cultural adaptation can be almost as fast as that of physiological adaptation due to the change that occurs when all members of the population react simultaneously under external stimuli; however, it is also possible