Stochasticity in cultural evolution: a revolution yet to happen

Area of Science:

• Anthropology
• Archaeology
• Cultural Evolution

Background:

• Cultural evolution research has expanded significantly over the past 40 years.
• Studies focus on how individual interactions shape group-level patterns and cultural trait diversity.
• Current models often overlook the role of chance, focusing primarily on deterministic processes like transmission biases.

Purpose of the Study:

• To highlight the limited discussion of stochasticity in cultural evolution compared to other evolutionary sciences.
• To explore ideological and methodological reasons for this oversight.
• To advocate for a "stochastic revolution" in cultural evolution research.

Main Methods:

• Comparative analysis of stochasticity discussions in cultural evolution versus ecology and population genetics.
• Speculative analysis of ideological and methodological barriers.
• Critique of genetically-inspired stochastic models for cultural data.

Main Results:

• Stochasticity has received minimal attention in cultural evolution research.
• Ideological and methodological factors contribute to this gap.
• Existing stochastic models from other fields are inadequate for cultural evolution.

Conclusions:

• Cultural evolution would benefit from a systematic approach to stochastic processes.
• New stochastic models must be specifically developed for cultural data.
• Adopting "copy-pasted" models from population genetics is insufficient.