Culture without copying or selection

Abstract

Typical examples of cultural phenomena all exhibit a degree of similarity across time and space at the level of the population. As such, a fundamental question for any science of culture is, what ensures this stability in the first place? Here we focus on the evolutionary and stabilising role of ‘convergent transformation’, in which one item causes the production of another item whose form tends to deviate from the original in a directed, non-random way. We present a series of stochastic models of cultural evolution investigating its effects. The results show that cultural stability can emerge and be maintained by virtue of convergent transformation alone, in the absence of any form of copying or selection process. We show how high-fidelity copying and convergent transformation need not be opposing forces, and can jointly contribute to cultural stability. We finally analyse how non-random transformation and high-fidelity copying can have different evolutionary signatures at population level, and hence how their distinct effects can be distinguished in empirical records. Collectively, these results supplement existing approaches to cultural evolution based on the Darwinian analogy, while also providing formal support for other frameworks – such as Cultural Attraction Theory – that entail its further loosening. Social media summary: Culture can be produced and maintained by convergent transformation, without copying or selection involved.

Technical reasoning bolsters cumulative technological culture through convergent transformations

“…The present study extends previous findings, which have questioned the crucial role of copying mechanisms (46,47) and/or emphasized the importance of causal understanding/inductive biases (48)(49)(50) and innovative skills in CTC (51,52). In this experiment, participants with very little or randomly transformed social information managed to improve and converge toward similar outcomes compared to participants with complete information [ (13,53) see also (54,55)].…”

Cultural Evolution of Precise and Agreed‐Upon Semantic Conventions in a Multiplayer Gaming App

“…Individual players gradually made their own mappings more precise without copying the mappings they most frequently saw others using. This illustrates how cultural evolution can produce sophisticated and efficient outcomes without selection being at play (Acerbi, Charbonneau, Miton, & Scott-Phillips, 2021;Claidière et al, 2014).…”

Content biases in three phases of cultural transmission: A review

“…Further, consideration of how biases may operate differently within the distinct phases could help identify whether cultural change is being driven by cultural selection or biased (or convergent) transformation dynamics (see Acerbi, Charbonneau, Miton, & Scott-Phillips, 2021;Mesoudi, 2021). As recall can be a reconstructive process, biases in the encode-and-retrieve phase may produce biased transformation in cultural transmission, as seen in the negative transformation of ambiguous events in a transmission chain (Bebbington et al, 2017).…”