Module 7 (HS3) - THE EVOLUTION OF HUMAN SOCIETIES
0. OBJECTIVES
From this module you will learn
-
Dawkins' concept of meme as a cultural analogue
of the gene
-
how biological and sociocultural evolution are
both based on the 3 fundamental processes of continuity, innovation,
and selection
-
how sociocultural selection operates both within
and between societies (intra- and inter-societal selection)
-
the meaning of The Great Paradox
-
the central role of technology in sociocultural
evolution
1. MEMES
Poet Robert Burns wrote: "For auld lang
syne ..."
Today, many people sing instead:
"For the sake of auld lang syne ..."
(This evolution may be due to the "piercing
power" of the s and k sounds of "sake" in a singing crowd)
Is this an instance of a meme, a successfull
idea-mutation spreading among human brains?
According to Richard Dawkins in The Selfish
Gene:
-
"An 'idea-meme' ... an entity that is capable
of being transmitted from one brain to another" (p. 196)
-
"Imitation, in the broad sense, is how memes can
replicate. But just as not all genes that can replicate do so successfully,
so some memes are more successful in the meme-pool than others. This
is the analogue of natural selection" (p. 194)
-
"Cultural transmission is analogous to genetic
transmission in that, although basically conservative, it can give rise
to a form of evolution" (p. 189)
In Dawkins's view the meme is a unit of imitation
analogous to the gene, a new kind of replicator.
The view of Gerhard Lenski et al. in Human
Societies is that elements of culture (similar to memes) may be selected
to the extent that they differentially affect the survival of individuals
in society (intrasocietal selection), or the survival of whole societies
(intersocietal selection).
Q - What is a meme?
Q - How is a meme transmitted?
2. BIOLOGICAL & SOCIOCULTURAL EVOLUTION
COMPARED
Viewed as an abstract process, evolution (biological
OR sociocultural) requires three mechanisms: continuity, innovation,
and selection.
1. Continuity
In biological evolution: continuity insured by
nearly invariant reproduction of DNA
In sociocultural evolution: continuity consists
of cultural inertia or conservation, dependent on mechanisms such as:
-
conscious recognition of adaptive value of an
item
(EX: delicious traditional recipes)
-
standardized behavior
(EX: driving on the right hand side of the
road)
-
cost of changing (learning a new convention)
(EX: conversion to metric system in the U.S.,
traditional musical notation, old French franc)
-
socialization & tradition
(EX: child learning the sounds of the mother
tongue during a critical period in childhood)
-
systematic nature of society, and resulting opposition
by groups adversely affected by change
NOTE: Continuity is an ESSENTIAL INGREDIENT
of evolution, not an obstacle!
Q - Which of the following
does
or does not contribute to sociocultural continuity? Socialization;
Systemic interrelation of institutions; Diffusion; Cost of changing;
Q - "Sociocultural continuity
or inertia is the main obstacle to sociocultural evolution." TRUE/FALSE?
2. Innovation
In biological evolution: innovation consists of
random
(nonpurposive) mutations
In sociocultural evolution: innovation consists
of cultural innovations, often resulting from a combination of chance
& purpose
Q - What did each of the following person discover?
(Reflect on the role of chance and of purpose in each invention/discovery.)
-
Alexander Fleming
-
Wilhelm Roentgen
-
Marie Harel
A - "Camembert cheese was invented at the
time of the French Revolution in the Auge region of Normandy. A certain
Marie Harel, who had hidden a recalcitrant priest from Brie, developed
a new cheese by combining the method used in Normandy with that used in
Brie. Marie Harel disclosed her secret to her daughter, who set herself
up in the village of Camembert near Vimoutiers (Orne) to sell the cheeses.
While passing through the region for the opening of the Paris-Granville
line, Napoleon III tasted the cheese and found it delicious. On learning
that it came from Camembert, the Emperor named it after the village.
This name was never registered and a judgment of 1926 stipulated that Camembert
could not have an appellation d'origine. This is why Camembert
is now mass-produced throughout France and even in other countries.
Towards the end of the 19th Century a certain M. Ridel invented the cylindrical
wooden box that enables the cheese to be transported. The white mould
with which Camembert is covered today was selected in 1910. (Originally,
Camembert was covered with blue mould and wrapped in straw.)" (Adapted
from Larousse Gastronomique at entry "Camembert".)
Mechanisms of cultural innovation:
-
human needs
EX: plant cultivation (see later)
-
environmental change
EX: cave dwelling
-
diffusion by contact with other societies
EX: tobacco (the fastest-diffusing item of
culture)
-
the existing store of cultural
information: the larger the number of items of information, the larger
the number of combinations of these items.
Exhibit: How the number
of different combinations depends on the number of units (HS
Table 3.1 p. 55)
NOTE (techies only): number of combinations
is given by formula n!/(n-r)!r! where n is number of units, r is number
of elements in a combination, and ! stands for "factorial". n! is
the product (n)(n-1)(n-2) ... (2)(1).
This mechanism explains
-
the multiplier effect,
as innovations are often combinations of existing items in the culture;
the multiplier effect underlies the accelerating rate of innovation over
recent human history;
Exhibit: Number
of technological innovations 1000-1900 (HS Figure 3.1 p. 59)
-
the frequent occurrence
of independent inventions and discoveries by two or more people
at about the same time
Q - "In the modern theory
of biological evolution, mutations are viewed as
-
genetic changes designed
to increase the fitness of an organism in the environment (TRUE/FALSE)?
-
genetic accidents that usually
decrease the fitness of an organism but sometimes increase it (TRUE/FALSE)?
Q - A number of important
inventions and discoveries were made independently by two or more people.
This pattern underlines the importance of what element of the innovation
process?
3. Selection
In biological evolution: natural selection consists
of differential reproduction
In sociocultural evolution: selection corresponds
to 2 mechanisms: intrasocietal and intersocietal selection
1. Intrasocietal selection
Intrasocietal selection is the selection of cultural
elements within a society; EX:
-
cars replacing horse-drawn carts
-
electronic calculators replacing slide-rules
2. Intersocietal selection
Intersocietal selection is selection between
societies, in which an entire society is destroyed following contact with
another; EX:
-
the disappearance of the hunting-gathering way
of life of the !Kung Bushmen following European settlement in Southern Africa
-
major population movements causing the displacement of
hunting and gathering populations following the invention
of farming (including settlement of Europe, the Bantu expansion in Africa,
and the Austronesian expansion in the Pacific; see later)
NOTE: intersocietal selection does not always
entail the physical elimination of the members of the society that is being
selected against, but it often has had this consequence in the course of
history (as result of disease, encroachment, or outright genocide).
Q - In sociocultural
evolution selection operates at two levels, which are ___ and ____ ?
3. OUTCOMES OF SOCIOCULTURAL EVOLUTION
1. The Great Paradox
-
on one hand, tremendous changes have occurred
in human life during the past 10,000 years
-
on the other hand, most societies have changed
very little during their entire existence. (They have experienced
stasis = absence of change)!
The Great Paradox is the result of intersocietal
selection: the expension of societies that have changed internally has
led to the elimination of more static societies in the World System.
(World System = the totality of human societies and their interrelationships.)
2. The Role of Technology in Sociocultural
Evolution
Within societies:
-
advance in subsistence technology is the precondition
for increase in size & complexity
-
technology "defines the limits of what is possible
for a society"
-
there is a self-sustaining effect of development
(positive feedback)
Among societies of the World System:
Gerhard Lenski's model of the effects of technological
advance on intersocietal selection (and hence on major population movements in
the course of human history) was proposed ca. 1970. It has recently been
independently "rediscovered" by geneticists studying the history of human
migrations (such as Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza) and by other scholars (such as
Jared Diamond in Guns, Germs and Steel), as can be seen by comparing the
diagram in the previous exhibit with the following two models:
Luigi Lucca Cavalli-Sforza's model of major population
movements in human history:
Jared Diamond's model for "the broadest patterns of
history":
3. Sociocultural Evolution
Sociocultural evolution - the process of
change & development in human societies that results from cumulative
growth in their stores of cultural information
Q - What is the Great
Paradox?
Q - What has been the
most common fate of individual societies over the past 10,000 years?
Q - Over the long course
of human history, what was the most important factor in the process of
intersocietal selection?
Last modified 21 Sep 2004
