The role of culture in long-term human evolution

Abstract

It has been suggested that the human species may be undergoing an evolutionary transition in individuality (ETI). I argue that the ETI model is incomplete because it ignores the role of culture in human evolution. I argue that culture is not just a major force in human evolution, but the single most dominant historically. Moreover, culture appears to hold greater adaptive potential than genetic inheritance and may be driving long-term human evolution. The evolutionary impact of culture occurs mainly through culturally organized groups, which have come to dominate human affairs in recent millennia. Moreover, the role of culture appears to be growing, increasingly bypassing genetic evolution and weakening genetic adaptive potential. Taken together, these findings suggest that human long-term gene-culture coevolution is characterized by an evolutionary transition in inheritance (from genes to culture) which entails a transition in individuality (from genetic individual to cultural group) as a consequence. I propose that human evolution is more completely characterized by an evolutionary transition in both inheritance and individuality (ETII), from the genetic evolution of individual humans to the cultural evolution of human groups. I detail predictions for the future of human evolution, and lay out an ethical strategy for research and implementation.