Examples of adaptive vs. maladaptive cultural phenomena?

Question

anyone know of some good ones?

Answer 1

Adaptive -- using the Internet to help answer your questions in a growing variety of interactive sites, including Yahoo Answers :-)

Maladaptive -- the spreading of pedophilia on the Internet

Answer 2

Language is probably one of the most adaptive cultural phenomena in history. Some anthropologists believe that without language, we wouldn't have culture and thus advancements we see today.

Maladaptive cultural phenomena really rests upon what someone considered negative as a result. Even ethnocentricity has a function.

If anything, war could be considered maladaptive on a grand scale. Though it serves to unify opposing factions, it also often eliminates entire cultures.