[General] Culture thus means shared values and common meanings.

[LaMelange]

Hello teachers,

Greetings!

Been a long while!

My doubt today is whether the word thus needs to be within a pair of commas in the following sentence and other such sentences. I feel it is not required (unlike with the words however and moreover), but would like to know your thoughts on this. There are quite a few such sentences in the book I am working on.

Culture thus means shared values and common meanings.

Thank you. Good day!

LaMelange.

 

[Rover_KE]

What is the book you are working on? What is the context?

I wouldn't enclose 'thus' with commas.

I'd probably say 'Thus culture means ...', though many would put a comma after 'thus'.

I have changed your thread title.

Extract from the Posting Guidelines:

'Thread titles should include all or part of the word/phrase being discussed.'

 

[LaMelange]

The chapter title is "Culture and Cultural Evolution".
I do not know the book title. I was just given this chapter.
The person who has worked on the chapter has introduced such commas all over the chapter, which I felt was not required. I needed to be sure about it before I reverted all such changes to the original.

Thank you very much for your reply. Have a good day!

 

[LaMelange]

In the same chapter, I have a somewhat similar doubt regarding commas. Here are two example sentences:

1. The fourth category (adaptive processes) suggests that some behavioral patterns are better adapted to prevailing evolutionary pressures and consequently increase in relative significance compared to less adapted ones.

2. Culture limits the range of actions that people are likely to take in a particular situation, making their conduct more predictable and thereby facilitating the formation of reliable expectations.

Are these sentences OK as given, or do they absolutely need commas around the bold text?

1. The fourth category (adaptive processes) suggests that some behavioral patterns are better adapted to prevailing evolutionary pressures, and consequently, increase in relative significance compared to less adapted ones.

2. Culture limits the range of actions that people are likely to take in a particular situation, making their conduct more predictable, and thereby, facilitating the formation of reliable expectations.

--I think commas are not wrong here, but one need not insert them if the author does not use such commas. Am I right?
--Also, would a comma just before the conjunction and be OK in these two sentences?

Thanks again!

 

[Raymott]

Whose work is the chapter? Why do you need to change it?

 

[LaMelange]

The book is at the manuscript stage, and the author has written well. The editor has inserted those commas. I am going through the editor's changes, which is routine procedure. I feel the original is fine in both the sentences. That's the reason I need your help.
I have been unsure of such commas for quite a while.

 

[Raymott]

I agree with Rover, and I'd use the author's originals without commas.