Knowing how cultural evolution happens also means we can harness it for the larger good, creating a more just and sustainable world.
Evolution goes beyond the genetic code and the transformation of physical form, from land-mammal to whale or dinosaur to bird. At the core of evolutionary science is a triad: variation, selection and replication, explains Binghamton University Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Biological Sciences David Sloan Wilson. You can see this triad at work in culture as well, from economics and business, to engineering and the arts, and the functioning of society at all levels.
Knowing how cultural evolution happens also means we can harness it for the larger good, creating a more just and sustainable world. That’s a topic of Multilevel cultural evolution: From new theory to practical applications, a new article by Wilson recently published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences.
The wide-ranging article explores the three hallmarks of cultural evolution: prosociality, or behaviour oriented toward the welfare of others; social control, which enforces prosocial behaviour and penalises those who behave selfishly; and symbolic thought, which relies on a flexible inventory of symbols with shared meaning.
Humans have evolved to live in small, co-operative groups, not as disconnected individuals.
To be effective however, society requires structure. Otherwise, strategies that are beneficial for the individual or small-group level become maladaptive: Self-preservation becomes self-dealing, helping friends and family becomes nepotism and cronyism, and patriotism fuels international conflict, for example.
“We have to have the global good in mind for everything we do. In some sense this has to be co-ordinated with the good of the whole,” Wilson said.
A Roadmap For Evolution
Evolutionary concepts have been misused however. Take social Darwinism for example, which is often used to justify competition and harsh social inequities such as “survival of the fittest,” a misunderstanding and misapplication of Darwinian theory. “Social engineering” also has insidious implications, Wilson notes.
“We need to ask: Is there anything about evolutionary theory that is especially dangerous in that regard? Or is it the case that anything that can be used as a tool can also be used as a weapon?” Wilson asked. “I think it’s the latter.”
These concepts become weapons when they are used as a means of control, with little to no input from the people they impact, he explained. When people decide to use evolutionary principles to shape their own actions and goals, however, these principles are largely benign.
Checks and balances are at the core of multi-level cultural evolution to avoid power imbalances, making it the opposite of social Darwinism, which portrayed social inequities as necessary and inevitable. Social Darwinism actually has little to do with Darwin or his theories, Wilson points out; it’s a stigmatising term associated with the moral justification for ruthless competition, and probably closer to the principles behind neoclassical economics.
But fields such as economics and business needn’t define themselves with the neoclassical “greed is good” ethos of Milton Freidman.
Wilson points to the work of Nobel Prize-winning economist Elinor Ostrom, who proved that groups can self-manage common-pool resources – avoiding the proverbial “tragedy of the commons” if they implement eight “core design principles.”
Wilson collaborated with Ostrom to show that the core design principles can be generalised, providing a key to successful governance for nearly all forms of co-operative activity.
“To begin with, you need to have a good, strong sense of identity and purpose; that’s the first core design principle,” Wilson says.
Other principles include:
- the equitable distribution of benefits and resources
- inclusive decision-making
- transparent behaviour
- levels of response for helpful and unhelpful behaviour
- fast and fair conflict resolution
- local autonomy and authority
- relationships with other groups
These principles not only build better workplaces, neighbourhoods and nations, they can also heal the mind.
As social mammals, our minds interpret social isolation as an emergency situation, and social support is key for the treatment of such conditions as anxiety and depression.
The tools used in therapy – particularly mindfulness – are also applicable on a societal level, encouraging adaptability and cognitive flexibility, which helps individuals recover from adverse life events. That’s true of groups as well, Wilson says.
Planting The Seed
Creating a more prosocial world grounded in equity and co-operation isn’t some unreachable pipe dream.
“There are practical applications,” said Wilson, who established the non-profit ProSocial World to plant these ideas outside of academia. “Right now, not in some far, distant future, we could be using these ideas to accomplish positive change.”
It’s important to avoid what Wilson calls the archipelago of knowledge and practice, consisting of “many islands with little communication.” Otherwise, ideas and solutions may become trapped in separate silos.
While technological changes can spread from one culture to another over decades or centuries, Wilson hopes to spark societal change more quickly. He draws upon the concept of catalysis in chemistry: Added in small amounts, a catalytic molecule hastens the rate of change, he explains.
As catalytic agents, individuals may inspire changes that would otherwise take decades or not happen at all. And this catalysis can happen in ordinary ways, by leaning into the small-group community mindset that fuels our humanity.
Consider a community garden, for example: Reaching out to different community gardens and sharing knowledge can only benefit everyone involved. And those connections don’t need to consist of dull meetings; they can involve social interactions such as parties and potlucks, which bring people together and encourage them to make connections.
“Imagine repeating that in every walk of life, in our schools or businesses, on every scale from small groups to cities,” he concludes.
