Our species has the peculiar ability to accumulate cultural innovations over multiple
generations, a phenomenon termed ‘cumulative cultural evolution’ (CCE). Recent
years have seen a proliferation of empirical and theoretical work exploring the interplay between demography and CCE. This has generated intense discussion about
whether ...
Our species has the peculiar ability to accumulate cultural innovations over multiple
generations, a phenomenon termed ‘cumulative cultural evolution’ (CCE). Recent
years have seen a proliferation of empirical and theoretical work exploring the interplay between demography and CCE. This has generated intense discussion about
whether demographic models can help explain historical patterns of cultural
changes. Here, we synthesize empirical and theoretical studies from multiple fields
to highlight how both population size and structure can shape the pool of cultural
information that individuals can build upon to innovate, present the potential pathways through which humans’ unique social structure might promote CCE, and discuss whether humans’ social networks might partly result from selection pressures
linked to our extensive reliance on culturally accumulated knowledge.
