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Tempo and Mode in Cultural Macroevolution.

Peter Turchin1,2, Sergey Gavrilets3

  • 1Complexity Science Hub Vienna.

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|December 23, 2021
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Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Cultural evolution shows rapid change after periods of stasis, driven by inter-societal interactions. This macroevolutionary tempo and mode offers insights into social and cultural change.

Keywords:
cultural macroevolutionevolution of complex societieshistorical datainter-polity interactionsmajor evolutionary transitionswarfare

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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary science
  • Social and cultural evolution

Background:

  • Numerous mechanisms for cultural change have been proposed in evolutionary science.
  • Biological evolution offers key concepts like micro/macro-evolution and tempo/mode.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To apply micro/macro-evolutionary concepts to cultural change.
  • To analyze empirical data on past societies to understand cultural evolution.

Main Methods:

  • Utilizing data from Seshat: Global History Databank.
  • Analyzing rates of change, acceleration, and deceleration in cultural traits.
  • Examining inter-societal interactions as drivers of macroevolution.

Main Results:

  • Cultural macroevolution exhibits periods of stasis followed by rapid change.
  • Inter-polity interactions (competition, warfare, exchange, imitation) are key macroevolutionary modes.
  • These findings align with cultural multilevel selection (CMLS) theory.

Conclusions:

  • The tempo of cultural macroevolution is characterized by punctuated equilibrium.
  • Inter-societal dynamics are crucial for understanding large-scale cultural transformations.
  • Biological evolutionary frameworks provide valuable insights into cultural evolution.