Cultural Evolution Process

A Cultural Evolution Process is a social evolution process for a culture (involves development, transmission, and modification of cultural information across generations and social groups without requiring genetic changes).

• AKA: Cultural Transmission Process, Cultural Adaptation Process, Sociocultural Evolution.
• Context:
  • It can typically transmit Cultural Traits through social learning mechanisms like vertical transmission, horizontal transmission, and oblique transmission.
  • It can typically enable Cultural Adaptation through high-fidelity imitation and teaching practices that preserve cultural knowledge.
  • It can typically facilitate Cumulative Cultural Evolution through the progressive incorporation of cultural innovations into a population's stock of skills and knowledge.
  • It can typically support Cultural Selection through direct bias, indirect bias, and frequency-dependent bias that determine which cultural variants spread.
  • It can typically maintain Cultural Complexity through knowledge preservation mechanisms that prevent the loss of valuable cultural knowledge.
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  • It can often interact with Biological Evolution Processes through gene-culture coevolution.
  • It can often accelerate Cultural Adaptation at rates much faster than biological adaptation.
  • It can often preserve Traditional Ecological Knowledge through ritualization and formalized instruction.
  • It can often respond to Environmental Pressures by favoring cultural traits that enhance environmental adaptation.
  • It can often create Cultural Niche Construction that modifies selection pressures on both cultural traits and genetic traits.
  • ...
  • It can range from being a Simple Cultural Evolution Process to being a Complex Cultural Evolution Process, depending on its demographic conditions.
  • It can range from being a Slow Cultural Evolution Process to being a Rapid Cultural Evolution Process, depending on its transmission mechanisms.
  • It can range from being a Localized Cultural Evolution Process to being a Globalized Cultural Evolution Process, depending on its population connectivity.
  • It can range from being a Conservative Cultural Evolution Process to being a Progressive Cultural Evolution Process, depending on its innovation acceptance rate.
  • It can range from being a Homogeneous Cultural Evolution Process to being a Heterogeneous Cultural Evolution Process, depending on its cultural diversity level.
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  • It can have Cultural Innovation Dynamics that generate novel cultural variants through deliberate invention, accidental discovery, and recombination.
  • It can have Cultural Group Selection Dynamics that favor group-beneficial cultural traits through intergroup competition.
  • It can have Digital Transmission Pathways that transform cultural transmission patterns through online platforms and digital communication.
  • It can have Cultural Transmission Fidelity that determines the error rate in cultural trait reproduction.
  • It can have Cultural Conformity Bias that reinforces majority cultural traits within a social group.
  • ...
• Examples:
  • Knowledge Transmission Cultural Evolution Processes, such as:
    • Educational System Cultural Evolution Processes, such as:
      • Greek Philosophical School Evolution Process for developing structured methods of cultural knowledge transmission from Socratic dialogue to Academy and Lyceum institutions (5th-4th centuries BCE).
      • Medieval University Evolution Process for transforming cultural theological study into formalized cultural degree-granting institutions across Europe (11th-15th centuries).
      • Scientific Method Cultural Evolution Process for refining cultural empirical verification practices from cultural natural philosophy to cultural modern scientific disciplines (16th-19th centuries).
    • Craftsmanship Knowledge Evolution Processes, such as:
      • European Guild Knowledge Evolution Process for developing increasingly specialized cultural craft training systems and cultural quality standards from the Early Middle Ages through the Renaissance.
      • Japanese Artisanal Evolution Process for refining cultural specialized knowledge transmission through cultural iemoto systems in traditional arts from Edo period to present.
      • Culinary Tradition Evolution Process for transforming cultural French cooking knowledge from cultural guild-based practice to cultural codified cuisine through cultural professional kitchen hierarchy (17th-19th centuries).
    • Indigenous Knowledge Evolution Processes, such as:
      • Aboriginal Songline Knowledge Evolution Process for maintaining and adapting cultural ecological knowledge and cultural spiritual practices through cultural oral tradition over tens of thousands of years.
      • Polynesian Navigation Knowledge Evolution Process for developing sophisticated cultural celestial navigation techniques and cultural ocean current understanding through cultural specialized navigator training (1000 BCE-1500 CE).
      • Andean Agricultural Knowledge Evolution Process for adapting cultural cultivation practices to diverse cultural microclimates through cultural communal knowledge systems (pre-Incan to present).
  • Social Practice Cultural Evolution Processes, such as:
    • Ritual Practice Evolution Processes, such as:
      • Japanese Tea Ceremony Evolution Process for developing from cultural simple tea drinking into elaborate cultural ritual practice embodying cultural wabi-sabi aesthetic and cultural Zen principles (12th-16th centuries).
      • Catholic Liturgical Evolution Process for transforming cultural early Christian worship through cultural medieval elaboration and cultural counter-reformation standardization to cultural Vatican II reforms.
      • Hindu Festival Evolution Process for adapting ancient cultural seasonal celebrations to incorporate new cultural deity worship, cultural regional variations, and cultural modern circumstances over centuries.
    • Social Norm Evolution Processes, such as:
      • Western Table Manners Evolution Process for developing from cultural medieval communal eating to cultural Renaissance courtly etiquette to cultural Victorian dining formality to cultural modern casual dining.
      • Japanese Bowing Practice Evolution Process for elaborating cultural greeting rituals that reflect changing cultural social hierarchy and cultural formality levels from cultural feudal era to cultural corporate culture.
      • Western Dating Practice Evolution Process for transforming cultural courtship rituals from cultural chaperoned visitation to cultural formal dating to cultural online matchmaking (1800s-present).
    • Legal System Evolution Processes, such as:
      • English Common Law Evolution Process for developing from cultural local customs to cultural precedent-based system through cultural judicial interpretation over centuries.
      • Islamic Jurisprudence Evolution Process for elaborating cultural legal interpretation methods through cultural fiqh development and cultural scholarly consensus (7th-10th centuries).
      • International Human Rights Law Evolution Process for expanding cultural rights concepts from cultural natural law principles to cultural binding conventions with cultural enforcement mechanisms (17th-20th centuries).
  • Belief System Cultural Evolution Processes, such as:
    • Religious Belief Evolution Processes, such as:
      • Early Christianity Evolution Process for transforming from cultural Jewish sect to cultural distinct religion through cultural theological development and cultural institutional formation (1st-4th centuries).
      • Buddhist Tradition Evolution Process for adapting cultural core teachings to diverse cultural contexts as it spread from India to East Asia, Southeast Asia, and Tibet.
      • Shinto Practice Evolution Process for developing from cultural local nature worship to cultural imperial cult to cultural modern revival in response to changing cultural Japanese social context.
    • Scientific Worldview Evolution Processes, such as:
      • Astronomical Understanding Evolution Process for shifting from cultural geocentric model to cultural heliocentric model to cultural modern cosmology through cultural observational advances and cultural theoretical revision.
      • Medical Knowledge Evolution Process for transforming from cultural humoral theory to cultural germ theory to cultural genomic medicine through changing cultural evidence standards and cultural research methods.
      • Psychological Theory Evolution Process for developing from cultural early psychoanalysis through cultural behaviorism and cultural cognitive psychology to cultural integrative approaches (1890s-present).
    • Political Ideology Evolution Processes, such as:
      • Democratic Theory Evolution Process for elaborating cultural participatory governance concepts from cultural Athenian direct democracy to cultural representative systems to cultural deliberative democracy.
      • Liberal Political Thought Evolution Process for developing from cultural classical liberalism through cultural social liberalism to cultural neoliberalism in response to changing cultural social conditions.
      • Feminist Thought Evolution Process for progressing through cultural first-wave focus on cultural legal rights to cultural second-wave emphasis on cultural social equality to cultural intersectional approaches.
  • Technological Knowledge Cultural Evolution Processes, such as:
    • Toolmaking Cultural Evolution Processes, such as:
      • Stone Tool Cultural Evolution Process for progressing from cultural simple flake tools to cultural complex bifaces to cultural pressure-flaked implements (2.6 million to 10,000 years ago).
      • Metallurgical Cultural Evolution Process for advancing from cultural copper working to cultural bronze production to cultural iron smelting (8000 BCE to 1000 BCE).
      • Digital Technology Cultural Evolution Process for developing from cultural mainframe computers to cultural personal computers to cultural mobile devices to cultural ambient computing (1950s-present).
    • Communication Technology Cultural Evolution Processes, such as:
      • Writing System Cultural Evolution Process for evolving from cultural pictographic scripts to cultural logographic systems to cultural alphabetic writing (3500 BCE to present).
      • Printing Technology Cultural Evolution Process for advancing from cultural block printing to cultural movable type to cultural digital printing (700 CE to present).
      • Telecommunication Cultural Evolution Process for developing from cultural telegraph to cultural telephone to cultural internet to cultural immersive communication (1830s to present).
  • ...
• Counter-Examples:
  • Cultural Revolution Process, which involves deliberate radical reorganization rather than gradual evolutionary change.
  • Technological Evolution Process, which proceeds through directed innovation rather than cultural transmission.
  • Cultural Diffusion Process, which involves the spread of cultural traits without necessarily involving selection or adaptation.
  • Cultural Preservation Process, which focuses on maintaining existing cultural practices rather than their evolution.
  • Individual Learning Process, which occurs within a single lifetime without social transmission.
  • Biological Evolution Process, which operates through genetic inheritance rather than cultural transmission.
• See: Cultural Evolution Theory, Cultural Transmission Mechanism, Dual Inheritance Theory, Cumulative Cultural Evolution, Cultural Innovation Process, Population Structure Effect, Memetics, Cultural Adaptation, Gene-Culture Coevolution.

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