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Correction to: Human socio-cultural evolution in light of evolutionary transitions: introduction to the theme issue (2022) by Carmel <i>et al.</i>

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Human societal development: is it an evolutionary transition in individuality?

Yohay Carmel1

  • 1Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Technion, Haifa 32000, Israel.

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences
|January 23, 2023
PubMed
Summary

Human societies are increasingly functioning as a higher hierarchical level, with individuals integrating as lower units. This evolutionary transition in individuality is driven by socio-cultural-technological processes over the last 12,000 years.

Keywords:
cultural evolutioncultural inheritancehuman evolutionsocial complexitysocietal ETIsocio-cultural ETI

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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary biology
  • Archaeology
  • Sociology

Background:

  • An evolutionary transition in individuality (ETI) describes when independent organisms become lower-level units in a higher hierarchy.
  • Human societies may be undergoing a similar transition, integrating individuals into a larger collective structure.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To empirically examine the proposition that human society is evolving into a higher hierarchical level.
  • To evaluate human societal development using criteria for biological complexity and ETIs: size, inseparability, and specialization.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of archaeological and historical accounts spanning the last 12,000 years.
  • Evaluation of human societal development based on polity size, inseparability, and specialization.
  • Assessment of connectivity within polities over recent centuries.

Main Results:

  • The size of the largest human polity has increased seven orders of magnitude (hundreds to billions).
  • Inseparability became nearly complete with Mesopotamian city-states and intricate specialization (division of labor).
  • Connectivity within polities has rapidly increased in recent centuries, especially in recent decades.

Conclusions:

  • Human society is hypothesized to be undergoing an evolutionary transition in individuality.
  • This transition is driven by socio-cultural-technological processes.
  • Four testable predictions are proposed for further empirical investigation.