COMPLEXITY EXPLAINED: 15. Evolution of Cultural Complexity
Man invented language to satisfy his deep need to complain, opined Lily Tomlin. On a more serious note, the evolution of language, speech, and culture are believed to be some of the causative factors for the rapid evolution of the size and capacity of the human brain. The emergence of human language has been a major milestone in the relentless evolution of complexity on our planet, and has also played a role in the evolution of human consciousness. Apart from the emergence and evolution of language, I also discuss memetics and econophysics in this article.
15.1 Introduction
A mostly Lamarckian process whereby evolution of a transformational nature proceeds via the passage of acquired characters, cultural evolution, like the stellar evolution before it, involves no DNA chemistry and perhaps less selectivity than biological evolution. Culture enables animals to transmit survival kits to their offspring by nongenetic routes; the information gets passed on behaviourally, from brain to brain, from generation to generation, the upshot being that cultural evolution acts much faster than biological evolution.
Eric Chaisson, Cosmic Evolution
According to Richard Dawkins (1989), ‘most of what is unusual about man can be summed up in one word: “culture”.’ Of course, one must make a distinction between ‘culture’ and ’society.’ ‘A society refers to an actual group of people and how they order their social relations. A culture . . . refers to a body of socially transmitted information’ (Barkhow 1989). The term ‘culture’ encompasses ‘all ideas, concepts and skills that are available to us in society. It includes science and mathematics, carpentry and engineering designs, literature and viticulture, systems of musical notation, advertisements and philosophical theories - in short, the collective product of human activities and thought’ (Distin 2005).
