There may be a selection effect in that cultures with guns are more likely to persist, but that’s different from saying that selection pressures play a really important role in designing the particular features of a culture.
That’s what I’m saying—selection pressures are important in determining cultural features, because those features in turn determine a culture’s viability. The global-level organization of a culture—including its moral code, political organization, and other important social structures—are key considerations in what makes a culture healthy or stable, and thus competitive in an arena of limited resources. Keep in mind, I think these ideas lend themselves more easily to ancient history, in which the boundaries between cultures were so much clearer, rather than the globalized cultures of our modern world.
A lot of these ideas come from Jared Diamond’s fascinating Guns, Germs, and Steel, which talks in depth about cultural evolution throughout human history.
There may be a selection effect in that cultures with guns are more likely to persist, but that’s different from saying that selection pressures play a really important role in designing the particular features of a culture.
That’s what I’m saying—selection pressures are important in determining cultural features, because those features in turn determine a culture’s viability. The global-level organization of a culture—including its moral code, political organization, and other important social structures—are key considerations in what makes a culture healthy or stable, and thus competitive in an arena of limited resources. Keep in mind, I think these ideas lend themselves more easily to ancient history, in which the boundaries between cultures were so much clearer, rather than the globalized cultures of our modern world.
A lot of these ideas come from Jared Diamond’s fascinating Guns, Germs, and Steel, which talks in depth about cultural evolution throughout human history.