Cultural Evolution : How Darwinian Theory Can Explain Human Culture and Synthesize the Social Sciences

Charles Darwin changed the course of scientific thinking by showing how evolution accounts for the stunning diversity and biological complexity of life on earth. Recently, there has also been increased interest in the social sciences in how Darwinian theory can explain human culture. Covering a wide range of topics, including fads, public policy, the spread of religion, and herd behavior in markets, Alex Mesoudi shows that human culture is itself an evolutionary process that exhibits the key Darwinian mechanisms of variation, competition, and inheritance. This cross-disciplinary volume focuses on the ways cultural phenomena can be studied scientifically—from theoretical modeling to lab experiments, archaeological fieldwork to ethnographic studies—and shows how apparently disparate methods can complement one another to the mutual benefit of the various social science disciplines. Along the way, the book reveals how new insights arise from looking at culture from an evolutionary angle. Cultural Evolution provides a thought-provoking argument that Darwinian evolutionary theory can both unify different branches of inquiry and enhance understanding of human behavior. Front Cover ......Page 1 Title Page ......Page 4 Copyright ......Page 5 Contents......Page 6 Preface......Page 8 Acknowledgments......Page 16 1. A Cultural Species......Page 18 What Is Culture?......Page 19 How Important Is Culture?......Page 21 Culture, Environment, or Genes?......Page 28 Problems with How Culture Is Studied......Page 34 Conclusion: Culture Is important, But Inadequately Studied......Page 39 2. Cultural Evolution......Page 42 Does Cultural Change Exhibit Darwin’s Three Preconditions?......Page 44 Further Parallels......Page 51 Darwinian versus Spencerian Theories of Cultural Evolution......Page 54 Darwinian versus Neo-Darwinian Theories of Cultural Evolution......Page 57 Bridging the Micro-Macro Divide......Page 64 Conclusion: A Darwinian Theory of Culture Can Synthesize the Social Sciences......Page 70 3. Cultural Microevolution......Page 72 Cultural Transmission......Page 75 Guided Variation (or Lamarckian Inheritance)......Page 80 Cultural Selection......Page 81 Cultural Drift......Page 93 Natural Selection......Page 96 Cultural Migration......Page 98 Conclusion: A Quantitative Theory of Darwinian Cultural Evolution......Page 99 4. Cultural Macroevolution I: Archaeology and Anthropology......Page 102 Phylogenetics: Reconstructing the Tree of Life (and Culture)......Page 103 Drift and Demography in Cultural Macroevolution......Page 120 Conclusions: Evolutionary Insights into Culture’s Distant Past......Page 126 5. Cultural Macroevolution II: Language and History......Page 128 Language Evolution: Descending the Tower of Babel......Page 129 Manuscript Evolution......Page 136 Population Ecology Meets History: The Rise and Fall of Empires......Page 139 Objections to Cultural Evolutionary Analyses of History......Page 147 Conclusions: Linking Microand Macro-......Page 150 Simulating Biological Evolution in the Lab......Page 152 From E. Coli to Culture......Page 155 Conclusions: The Bene. ts of Lab Experiments......Page 176 7. Evolutionary Ethnography: Cultural Evolution in the Field......Page 178 Studying Biological Evolution in the Field......Page 179 Studying Cultural Evolution in the Field......Page 180 From the Forest to the Lab: Observing Scientists in Their Natural Habitat......Page 188 Conclusions: The Bene. ts of Field Studies......Page 192 8. Evolutionary Economics: Cultural Evolution in the Marketplace......Page 194 Evolutionary Economics: Challenging the Myth of Perfect Foresight......Page 195 Behavioral Economics: Challenging the Myth of Pure Self-Interest......Page 201 Conclusions: Cultural Evolution Explains Economic Phenomena Better Than Standard Economic Theory......Page 205 9. Culture in Nonhuman Species......Page 206 Social Learning Is Widespread and Adaptive......Page 209 From Social Learning to Cultural Traditions......Page 210 From Cultural Traditions to Cumulative Cultural Evolution......Page 213 Conclusions: Other Species Have Culture, But Not Cultural Evolution......Page 220 10. Toward an Evolutionary Synthesis for the Social Sciences......Page 222 Advantages of Evolutionary Methods......Page 223 Toward a Synthesis......Page 227 Practical Benefits......Page 236 Conclusions......Page 237 chapter one......Page 238 chapter two......Page 240 chapter three......Page 244 chapter four......Page 247 chapter five......Page 248 chapter six......Page 249 chapter seven......Page 250 chapter eight......Page 251 chapter nine......Page 252 chapter ten......Page 253 Works Cited......Page 256 Index......Page 274 A Cultural Species -- Cultural Evolution -- Cultural Microevolution -- Cultural Macroevolution I: Archaeology And Anthropology -- Cultural Macroevolution Ii: Language And History -- Evolutionary Experiments: Cultural Evolution In The Lab -- Evolutionary Ethnography: Cultural Evolution In The Field -- Evolutionary Economics: Cultural Evolution In The Marketplace -- Culture In Nonhuman Species -- Toward An Evolutionary Synthesis For The Social Sciences. Alex Mesoudi. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Covering a range of topics, including fads, public policy, the spread of religion, and herd behavior in markets, this title shows that human culture is itself an evolutionary process that exhibits the key Darwinian mechanisms of variation, competition, and inheritance. It focuses on the ways cultural phenomena can be studied scientifically.