Long-term gene–culture coevolution and the human evolutionary transition

Abstract

It has been suggested that the human species may be undergoing an evolutionary transition in individuality (ETI). But there is disagreement about how to apply the ETI framework to our species, and whether culture is implicated as either cause or consequence. Long-term gene–culture coevolution (GCC) is also poorly understood. Some have argued that culture steers human evolution, while others proposed that genes hold culture on a leash. We review the literature and evidence on long-term GCC in humans and find a set of common themes. First, culture appears to hold greater adaptive potential than genetic inheritance and is probably driving human evolution. The evolutionary impact of culture occurs mainly through culturally organized groups, which have come to dominate human affairs in recent millennia. Second, 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 GCC is characterized by an evolutionary transition in inheritance (from genes to culture) which entails a transition in individuality (from genetic individual to cultural group). Thus, research on GCC should focus on the possibility of an ongoing transition in the human inheritance system.

Evolved Open-Endedness in Cultural Evolution: A New Dimension in Open-Ended Evolution Research

“…This general observation has led some researchers to claim that culture represents a "major transition" in the sense of Maynard Smith and Szathmáry (1995) and Szathmáry (2015), building off the idea that such transitions involve changes in the quality and reliability of information transition. For instance, Waring and Wood (2021) argue that human cultural groups are a new kind of evolutionary individual, suggesting that cultural selection pressures now vastly outweigh biological selection pressures in determining the course of human diversification and change.…”

Integrating cultural evolution and behavioral genetics

“…Waring et al hypothesize that the balance between cultural and genetic transmission may itself be shifting over time, with culture playing a progressively more dominant role relative to genes in influencing the distribution of human phenotypes. They call this long-term trend “cultural pre-emption” (Waring & Wood, 2021). Waring et al argue that phenotypic variance explained by culture ( V c in the Appendix model) has been increasing over human history due to the continual emergence of complex cultural-group-level adaptations across domains such as food production, medical treatment, and defense, and predict a continued decrease in heritability of relevant traits into the foreseeable future.…”

Culture is Reducing Genetic Heritability and Superseding Genetic Adaptation

“…Uchiyama et al broach this issue, showing how cultural adaptation (especially group level cultural adaptation) can change genetic heritability by intervening between genes and their effects on survival and reproductive outcomes. In a recent article, two of us explore this same dynamic from the perspective of long-term gene-culture coevolution (Waring & Wood, 2021). Here we consider the implications of the insights of Uchiyama et al on long-term geneculture coevolution.…”

“…Together, cultural preemption (or masking) and increased Vc are expected to reduce genetic heritability, this has dramatic implications for the future of human evolution (see Waring and Wood, 2021). As the response of any trait to selection depends in part on that trait's heritability, culturally mediated reductions in genetic heritability could weaken the role of genetic evolution in shaping human fitness and adaptation.…”

“…At the same time, reductions in genetic heritability and genetic adaptation in humans could pave the way for a more predominant role of culture in human evolution, creating an accelerating positive feedback (Crespi, 2004). This trend is not just a curious possibility but represents a dominant and growing mode in human gene-culture coevolution over long time scales (Waring and Wood, 2021).…”