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Douglas Jones. Modes of Interaction and Social Glue. A Commentary on Harvey Whitehouse
March 24, 2013
Whitehouse convincingly argues for a distinction between two kinds of social glue – identity fusion and social identification. In his earlier work he related these to two memory systems, semantic and episodic (Whitehouse 2000). Here I take a different tack by briefly reviewing two modes of social interaction familiar to linguists and sociologists – the […]
Karl Frost. Ritual Theories, the Sacred, and Social Control. A Commentary on Harvey Whitehouse
March 22, 2013
I am quite enthusiastic about Whitehouse’s research program, an impressive body of empirical work in a variety of cultural contexts and using multiple methods, exploring diverging modes of religiosity and ritual practice and their implications for social structure. I’m delighted to have been asked to respond to his post. I find Whitehouse’s divergent modes hypothesis […]
Jonathan Lanman. Two Stars and a (Fourth) Wish: Ritual Theory and the Challenges of Fusing Humanity. A Commentary on Harvey Whitehouse
March 18, 2013
There is much to admire in Whitehouse’s ambitious programme of research. There is the testing of a theory that offers greater precision in describing and explaining social cohesion. There is the formulation of an account of psychological kinship that can serve as a reminder that cultural and evolutionary approaches can work together to produce compelling insights. […]
Gordon Ingram and Karolina Prochownik: The Notion of “Identity Fusion” Raises More Questions Than It Answers. A Commentary on Harvey Whitehouse
March 16, 2013
In his target article Whitehouse describes a fascinating and extremely worthwhile program of research. We understand that this research is in its early stages, and so we are not too concerned that at the moment, his exposition of it raises many more questions for us than it answers. We offer up these questions, not really […]
William Swann: How can social glue foster cooperation rather than competition? A commentary on Harvey Whitehouse
March 14, 2013
In an audaciously ambitious article, Whitehouse proposes a solution to three of the world’s perennial problems: (a) predicting, preventing, and resolving civil wars; (b) channeling social cohesion for the collective good; and (c) mobilizing a global response to economic inequality and environmental threat. The solution, he contends, is to buttress our understanding of something he […]
Harvey Whitehouse. Three Wishes for the World
March 12, 2013
If you had three wishes to change the world, what would they be? Perhaps you would like to put an end to war? Reverse global warming? Or eliminate extreme poverty? The key to solving all these problems is glue. It doesn’t come in a tube. It’s a very special adhesive – the kind that holds […]
Bryan Vila: A Criminologist Comments on ‘Canaries in a Coal Mine’
December 18, 2012
Hello Peter, I’ve read the blog post and think it’s an interesting and well-presented idea. But before the evolutionary-ecologist/criminologist/historian in me could accept this as plausible, I’d want to account for three sets of causal forces. Here they are, in rough: I. Theoretical construct: Opportunity/Routine Activity: Any type of criminal act will tend to increase […]
David Sloan Wilson. Reply to Comments on “Human Cultures are Primarily Adaptive at the Group Level”
October 22, 2012
Thanks to Peter Turchin and Michael Hochberg for creating and managing the Social Evolution Forum, which has become an excellent arena for high-level discussion. Thanks also to my colleagues who took the time to write commentaries and to readers who responded with their comments. In addition to this general reply, I have also provided comments […]
Joseph Bulbulia, Simon Greenhill, and Russell Gray. First Shots Fired For The Phylogenetic Revolution in Religious Studies: a Commentary on David Sloan Wilson
October 18, 2012
Wilson’s target article illustrates how evolutionary hypotheses are advancing the science of complex cultural systems. We agree. The following extends the conversation to consider the benefits of evolutionary methods. We restrict our review to computational phylogenetic methods as these are being used to test evolutionary hypotheses about religions. Why cultural phylogenetics? Offspring resemble their parents […]
Stephen K. Sanderson. A Commentary on David Sloan Wilson
October 12, 2012
David Sloan Wilson has been perhaps the strongest advocate for group selection for several decades now. The article under consideration here is an attempt to show that human cultures have been created by and evolve by a form of group selection, presumably cultural group selection. I am afraid that I don’t find anything in this […]
Matthew R. Zimmerman. Should the Consensus be Essentialist and Adaptationist? A Comment on David Sloan Wilson
October 10, 2012
Wilson describes a growing consensus concerning the role of culture in human evolution. While not everyone is yet a member (he excepts advocates of memetics and evoked culture), I am heartened by much of what Wilson describes. I readily join this consensus when it holds that cultural inheritance is an important tool that has allowed […]
Mark Pagel. Adapted, Yes, but for Whom or What? A Commentary on David Sloan Wilson
October 7, 2012
David Sloan Wilson’s essay Human Cultures are Primarily Adaptive at the Group Level is helpful in calling attention to the fundamental role that the human social group has played throughout our evolutionary history. But Sloan Wilson is mistaken, in my view, in seeming to use the phrase “primarily adaptive at the group level” to mean […]
Martin Hewson. Consensus and Dissensus on Cultural Evolution: A Commentary on David Sloan Wilson
October 5, 2012
David Sloan Wilson detects signs of an emergent consensus around a broad notion of evolution which encompasses both genetic and cultural history and which recognizes as driving forces selection among groups, individuals, and genes. I hope so. Movement in that direction would be welcome. The comprehensiveness of Wilson’s view of evolution is highly attractive. For […]
David Sloan Wilson: Human Cultures are Primarily Adaptive at the Group Level
October 2, 2012
The question of whether a given trait qualifies as an adaptation must be answered on a case-by-case basis. Nevertheless, a strong case can be made for species as primarily adapted to their environments. A similar argument can be made for human cultures as primarily adapted to their environments at the group level. The reason that […]
Joe Anoatubby: Cycles of violence in the United States
August 8, 2012
I’ve always made argument with my colleagues and students that there are indeed cyclical patterns in US History. I also believe that part of that phenomenon is related to the reality that younger generations lose touch with the implications of violence and political upheaval as witnessed by those generations that did experience them and who […]
Michael Hochberg. Pinker redux: We need data
July 18, 2012
The Pinker essay has generated a lot of commentary on different websites. This can only be a good thing, insofar as channels for reactions remain open. The Social Evolution Forum is committed to this. Needless to say, there is a tinge of hegemony in various essays on the Edge website. How can two individuals, who are […]
Zoey Reeve and Dominic Johnson: Identity (con)fusion: Social Groups and the Stickiness of Social Glue. A Commentary on Harvey Whitehouse
March 26, 2013
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Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has. —Margaret Mead Harvey Whitehouse argues that we will be better able to resolve major challenges of the 21st century—civil wars, collective action, poverty, and environmental change—if we understand the “social glue” that binds […]