The Dance of Innovation: Infrastructure, Social Oscillation, and the Evolution of Societies (Evolutionary Analysis in the Social Sciences)

Few of us, amidst our daily chores and responsibilities, consider how mundane infrastructures--from electrical grids to sewage systems--have developed over millennia in ways that enable everything we cherish, from democracy to technological innovation to individual liberty. But what drives the evolution of this infrastructure? And why is infrastructure so critical to human flourishing? In this book, the most innovative and interdisciplinary study of cultural evolution ever produced, new concepts are explored, new histories are brought into contact and new ground-breaking insights are defended. What makes creativity unique in human societies is not only our capacity to generate and modify our diverse individual intuitions about the social and physical world, but also our capacity to form and leave groups fluidly in a dancing rhythm of oscillation across the expanse of history. This book walks the reader carefully through these processes, with clear concepts and an approachable writing style Few of us, amidst our daily chores and responsibilities, consider how mundane infrastructure—from electrical grids to sewage systems—have developed over millennia in ways that enable everything we cherish, from democracy to technological innovation to individual liberty. But what drives the evolution of this infrastructure? And why is infrastructure so critical to human flourishing? In this book, the most innovative and interdisciplinary study of cultural evolution ever produced, new concepts are explored, new histories are brought into contact, and new groundbreaking insights are defended. What makes creativity unique in human societies is not only our capacity to generate and modify our diverse individual intuitions about the social and physical world, but also our capacity to form and leave groups fluidly in a dancing rhythm of oscillation across the expanse of history. This book walks the reader carefully through these processes, with clear concepts and an approachable writing style. Cover 1 Endorsements 2 Half Title 4 Series Page 5 Title Page 6 Copyright Page 7 Table of Contents 8 Introduction 9 1. Humans’ Genetic Unity and Ape Ancestry 12 2. Fission–Fusion as the Central Sustaining Mechanism of Organismality, Part 1 63 3. Fission–Fusion as the Central Sustaining Mechanism of Organismality, Part 2 77 4. Intuitive Information-Processing 112 5. On the Important Distinction between Tools and Infrastructure 152 6. The Tools and Infrastructure of Fossil Fuel Societies 180 7. Cities Drive the Metabolism of Societies 208 8. An“Oscillation-Infrastructural” Theory of Cultural Evolution 229 References 260 Index 292 1 Humans' Genetic Unity and Ape Ancestry; "2 Fission–Fusion as the Central Sustaining Mechanism of Organismality,Part 1"; "3 Fission–Fusion as the Central Sustaining Mechanism of Organismality,Part 2"; 4 Intuitive Information-Processing; 5 On the Important Distinction between Tools and Infrastructure; 6 The Tools and Infrastructure of Fossil Fuel Societies; 7 Cities Drive the Metabolism of Societies; 8 An “Oscillation-Infrastructural” Theory of Cultural Evolution 1 Humans' Genetic Unity and Ape Ancestry,2 Fission–Fusion as the Central Sustaining Mechanism of Organismality, Part 1,3 Fission–Fusion as the Central Sustaining Mechanism of Organismality, Part 2,4 Intuitive Information-Processing,5 On the Important Distinction between Tools and Infrastructure,6 The Tools and Infrastructure of Fossil Fuel Societies,7 Cities Drive the Metabolism of Societies,8 An “Oscillation-Infrastructural” Theory of Cultural Evolution "Few of us consider how mundane infrastructures-from electrical grids to sewage systems-have developed over millennia in ways that enable democracy, technological innovation, to individual liberty itself. But what drives the evolution of this infrastructure? And why is infrastructure so critical to human flourishing?"-- Provided by publisher