Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-14T05:09:17.204Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Cultural group selection is plausible, but the predictions of its hypotheses should be tested with real-world data

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2016

Peter Turchin  and
Thomas E. Currie
Peter Turchin
Affiliation:
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269. peter.turchin@uconn.eduhttp://cliodynamics.info
Thomas E. Currie
Affiliation:
Centre for Ecology & Conservation, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Cornwall, TR10 9FE, United Kingdom. T.Currie@exeter.ac.ukhttp://biosciences.exeter.ac.uk/staff/index.php?web_id=Thomas_Currie
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The evidence compiled in the target article demonstrates that the assumptions of cultural group selection (CGS) theory are often met, and it is therefore a useful framework for generating plausible hypotheses. However, more can be said about how we can test the predictions of CGS hypotheses against competing explanations using historical, archaeological, and anthropological data.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 39 , 2016 , e55
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bellah, R. N. (2011) Religion in human evolution: From the Paleolithic to the Axial Age. Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Carballo, D. M., Roscoe, P. & Feinman, G. M. (2014) Cooperation and collective action in the cultural evolution of complex societies. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 21:98–133.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carneiro, R. L. (1970) A theory of the origin of the state. Science 169:733–38.Google Scholar
Johnson, A. W. & Earle, T. (2000) The evolution of human societies: From foraging group to agrarian state, 2nd edition. Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Lakatos, I. (1978) The methodology of scientific research programmes. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Maynard Smith, J. & Szathmáry, E. (1995) The major transitions in evolution. W. H. Freeman/Spectrum.Google Scholar
Turchin, P., Brennan, R., Currie, T., Feeney, K., Francois, P., Hoyer, D., Manning, J., Marciniak, A., Mullins, D., Palmisano, A., Peregrine, P., Turner, E. A. L., Whitehouse, H. (2015). Seshat: The Global History Databank. Cliodynamics 6:77–107.Google Scholar
Turchin, P., Currie, T. E., Turner, E. A. L. & Gavrilets, S. (2013) War, space, and the evolution of Old World complex societies. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 110:16384–89.Google Scholar