Modelling Evolution: A New Dynamic Account

by Eugene Earnshaw-Whyte

Overview

Evolution by natural selection explains the tree of life and the complex adaptations found throughout nature. The power and versatility of evolutionary explanations have proved tempting to scientists outside of biology, but adapting evolutionary concepts to new domains has been challenging. Even within biology, there are many difficult questions and problem cases that face evolutionary theory.

Modelling Evolution offers a new, general account of evolution by natural selection that identifies the essential features of evolutionary models that transcend any particular discipline. Evolution by natural selection in its broad sense is the systemic advantage of a type, in contrast to the narrow definition using heritable variation in fitness. This account is explained, contextualised and applied to a variety of questions in both biology and the social sciences.

Offering an accessible and comprehensive account of evolution that is applicable both to biology and the broader social sciences, Modelling Evolution will appeal to students and researchers interested in fields such as biology, economics, sociology, history, and psychology.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780367360047
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	09/05/2019
Series:	History and Philosophy of Biology
Pages:	145
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Eugene Earnshaw teaches History of Western Civilization, Sociology and Critical Thinking in the Liberal Arts program, Seneca College, Toronto, Canada

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements viii

Introduction 1

1 Basic evolutionary concepts 4

Adaptation, fitness 4

And dandelions 4

Chance and basketball 6

Types and individuals 7

Selection 8

The original recipe 8

Systemic advantage of a type 11

Populations 12

Collections of individuals 12

Traits and types 13

Evolutionary processes 16

In general 16

The bias 17

Processes in population genetics 18

Selection as process 20

The environment 21

Selection vs. drift 22

Chance and lightning 22

Discriminate vs. indiscriminate 23

Fixation in the population via drifty discriminate sampling 24

Expected and unexpected 25

Expecting the unexpected 26

Process vs. outcome 27

Bibliography 29

2 The history of the evolutionary idea 31

Pausing for context 31

Darwin 32

Variation and heredity 32

Selection 33

What evolves 33

Darwin's evolutionary processes 35

Fisher 36

Evolution: selection vs. imitation 36

Fisher and fitness 38

Heredity, mutation, and genes 39

Adaptation and heredity 40

Lewontin 41

The definition of evolution by natural selection 41

Segregation distortion and multilevel selection 42

Individual fitness and group fitness 44

Sober 46

Evolutionary forces 46

Fitness: early Sober and Fisher compared 47

The neodynamical account 49

Bibliography 50

3 Evolutionary forces 52

From process to force 52

The causal hierarchy 52

Functions of time and continuity 55

Causal variables vs. processes 56

Force models 57

The three basic types of evolutionary force 58

Formalisms 59

Selection 61

Broad selection 61

Heredity and evolution by natural selection 63

The force of selection and empirical measures 65

Drift 66

Selection for traits and context dependence 66

Types of drift 67

Illustrative example 69

Bibliography 71

4 Multilevel selection 72

Individuality 72

The evolutionary transitions from individual to part 72

Fungi and biological individuals 75

Interactions 78

Kin selection 78

Multilevel selection a la Lewontin 81

MLS 1, MLS 2, and contextual analysis 83

Contextual analysis and mus muscula 86

Three kinds of multilevel evolutionary models 89

More distinctions? yes indeed 89

Multilevel fitness models 90

Multilevel force models 91

Multilevel trait models 92

Bibliography 95

5 Evolution in the social sciences 96

Challenges 96

The specter of biologism 96

The problem with replicators 98

Cultural traits 99

Reproduction in cultural evolution 100

Processes 103

Boyd and Richerson 103

Looking at a model: farming practices 107

Lamarck and technological evolution 109

Novelty and guided variation (in evolutionary economics) 110

Application 113

This could be important 113

For example in sociology 115

Bibliography 119

6 Multilevel social evolution 121

Concepts 121

Human groups and cultural individuals 121

Altruism in human societies 122

An extended illustration 124

Turchin on the historical evolution of egalitarianism 124

Critique 125

An alternative, multilevel approach 128

A model of multilevel cultural macroevolution 130

Developing the schema 130

Evaluating and adjusting 134

Specifying and analysing 136

Concluding thoughts 139

Bibliography 140

Index 141