{"id":1087,"date":"2008-03-15T21:29:54","date_gmt":"2008-03-16T01:29:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/s265039441.onlinehome.us\/philpaine\/?p=1087"},"modified":"2018-08-14T17:51:28","modified_gmt":"2018-08-14T21:51:28","slug":"saturday-march-15-2008-barking-up-the-wrong-tree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/?p=1087","title":{"rendered":"Saturday, March 15, 2008 \u2014 Barking Up the Wrong Tree"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"http<\/a>Read any his\u00adto\u00adry book, and chances are you\u2019ll encounter pre\u00adsump\u00adtions, explic\u00adit or implic\u00adit, about some\u00adthing called \u201ccul\u00adtur\u00adal evo\u00adlu\u00adtion\u201d. His\u00adto\u00adri\u00adans have long felt that his\u00adtor\u00adi\u00adcal events were tak\u00ading place with\u00adin the frame\u00adwork of some kind of process or process\u00ades which should be described using ter\u00admi\u00adnol\u00ado\u00adgy bor\u00adrowed from the bio\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal sci\u00adences. Soci\u00adeties, we are told, \u201cevolve\u201d in the same sense that equ\u00adus<\/em> \u201cevolved\u2019 from eohip\u00adpus<\/em>. <\/span><\/p>\n

But soci\u00adeties are not bio\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal organ\u00adisms, and they are not species. More\u00adover, the term \u201csoci\u00adety\u201d does not cor\u00adre\u00adspond to any real thing with which either organ\u00adism or species form cred\u00adi\u00adble analo\u00adgies. Organ\u00adic evo\u00adlu\u00adtion is not an apt, or rel\u00ade\u00advant anal\u00ado\u00adgy to apply to human cul\u00adtures. Those who seek to describe human his\u00adto\u00adry as a par\u00adal\u00adlel to bio\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal evo\u00adlu\u00adtion are pro\u00adfound\u00adly mis\u00adun\u00adder\u00adstand\u00ading both.<\/span><\/p>\n

A species is defined, bio\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly, as the sum total of indi\u00advid\u00adual organ\u00adisms which are suf\u00adfi\u00adcient\u00adly close, genet\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly, to be able to suc\u00adcess\u00adful\u00adly repro\u00adduce. While there may be prac\u00adti\u00adcal dif\u00adfi\u00adcul\u00adties in deter\u00admin\u00ading how and where this lim\u00adit\u00ading fac\u00adtor applies in giv\u00aden cas\u00ades (these are called \u201cspecies prob\u00adlems\u201d in biol\u00ado\u00adgy), all cas\u00ades are ulti\u00admate\u00adly sup\u00adposed to be deter\u00admined by the same test, in the same frame of ref\u00ader\u00adence. In this sense, \u201cspecies\u201d is a rea\u00adson\u00adably objec\u00adtive and con\u00adsis\u00adtent con\u00adcept in biol\u00ado\u00adgy. When we say that Odobe\u00adnus ros\u00admarus<\/em> [Wal\u00adrus] is a species and that Acer sac\u00adcha\u00adrum<\/em> [Sug\u00adar Maple] is a species, we are defin\u00ading each by the same standards.<\/span><\/p>\n

The terms \u201csoci\u00adety\u201d and \u201ccul\u00adture\u201d, how\u00adev\u00ader, are not defined by any reg\u00adu\u00adlar and con\u00adsis\u00adtent prin\u00adci\u00adple. They do not refer to any\u00adthing that is agreed upon by his\u00adto\u00adri\u00adans, and when his\u00adto\u00adri\u00adans talk about \u201ccul\u00adtur\u00adal evo\u00adlu\u00adtion\u201d, they could be refer\u00adring to almost any arbi\u00adtrary con\u00adglom\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion of indi\u00advid\u00adual human beings, rei\u00adfied into a hypo\u00adthet\u00adi\u00adcal iden\u00adti\u00adty. They may be apply\u00ading their hypo\u00adthet\u00adi\u00adcal tem\u00adplate to who\u00adev\u00ader hap\u00adpens to be in some arbi\u00adtrar\u00adi\u00adly defined geo\u00adgraph\u00adi\u00adcal area, or to some peo\u00adple who speak the same lan\u00adguage, or to peo\u00adple who are sub\u00adject to a par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar set of laws, or to peo\u00adple who are relat\u00aded by puta\u00adtive kin\u00adship, or who are mobile but trav\u00adel\u00ading togeth\u00ader, or any neb\u00adu\u00adlous assem\u00adbly of these ele\u00adments. There is no agreed upon prin\u00adci\u00adple defin\u00ading a soci\u00adety or a cul\u00adture. The sub\u00addi\u00advi\u00adsions of the human race being dis\u00adcussed are not made by any coher\u00adent prin\u00adci\u00adple, and there is no con\u00adsis\u00adtent test or val\u00adue involved. This alone makes talk\u00ading about \u201ccul\u00adtur\u00adal evo\u00adlu\u00adtion\u201d noth\u00ading more than a vague anal\u00ado\u00adgy to bio\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal evo\u00adlu\u00adtion, and a dubi\u00adous one, at that.<\/span><\/p>\n

The bio\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal term \u201cevo\u00adlu\u00adtion\u201d refers to the emer\u00adgence of new species by the process of nat\u00adur\u00adal selec\u00adtion. It is under\u00adstand\u00adable that, from a casu\u00adal expo\u00adsure to this con\u00adcept, there might arise some con\u00adfu\u00adsion as to just what is hap\u00adpen\u00ading. It\u2019s easy to mis\u00adin\u00adter\u00adpret ref\u00ader\u00adences to the \u201cevo\u00adlu\u00adtion of species\u201d to mean that a species, as a whole unit com\u00adpris\u00ading numer\u00adous indi\u00advid\u00adu\u00adals, under\u00adgoes a col\u00adlec\u00adtive trans\u00adfor\u00adma\u00adtion, as if all giraffes, at one peri\u00adod hav\u00ading short necks, simul\u00adta\u00adne\u00adous\u00adly begat giraffes with long necks. This is not what biol\u00ado\u00adgists mean when they say that a species evolves. In fact, what hap\u00adpens is that all the indi\u00advid\u00adu\u00adals in a new species are the descen\u00addants a sin\u00adgle indi\u00advid\u00adual, which muta\u00adtion has dif\u00adfer\u00aden\u00adti\u00adat\u00aded and iso\u00adlat\u00aded from its co-specifics. Oth\u00ader indi\u00advid\u00adu\u00adals either leave no prog\u00ade\u00adny, or con\u00adtin\u00adue with their own life his\u00adto\u00adries. The new species is not a trans\u00adfor\u00adma\u00adtion of them. Biol\u00ado\u00adgists under\u00adstand that the whole species of equ\u00adus<\/em> did not evolve from the whole species of eohip\u00adpus<\/em>, but from one sin\u00adgle indi\u00advid\u00adual eohip\u00adpus<\/em>. Nat\u00adur\u00adal selec\u00adtion is a process that acts on indi\u00advid\u00adual organ\u00adisms. It\u2019s actions are reflect\u00aded on the lev\u00adel of species, and on the ecol\u00ado\u00adgy as a whole, by the pres\u00adence, absence, occu\u00adpa\u00adtion of eco\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal nich\u00ades, and num\u00adbers of indi\u00advid\u00adu\u00adals, but the process of nat\u00adur\u00adal selec\u00adtion does not act direct\u00adly upon species as collectivities.<\/span><\/p>\n

Once this is clear\u00adly under\u00adstood, then it becomes obvi\u00adous that bio\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal evo\u00adlu\u00adtion is not an apt metaphor for any\u00adthing that hap\u00adpens in human his\u00adto\u00adry. Frank\u00adish Soci\u00adety did not \u201cevolve\u201d because one Roman Cit\u00adi\u00adzen in Gaul was born with a muta\u00adtion that made her dif\u00adfer\u00adent enough from oth\u00ader Gauls that all her descen\u00addants became a dif\u00adfer\u00adent species, Franks, who ulti\u00admate\u00adly occu\u00adpied the same eco\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal niche as Roman Gauls. The changes that took place in that area, over time, are not in any way anal\u00ado\u00adgous to the process of nat\u00adur\u00adal selec\u00adtion oper\u00adat\u00ading on organ\u00adisms to cre\u00adate dif\u00adfer\u00aden\u00adtial speciation.<\/span><\/p>\n

The full breadth of this mis\u00adun\u00adder\u00adstand\u00ading is vis\u00adi\u00adble when his\u00adto\u00adri\u00adans talk about \u201cstages\u201d in social evo\u00adlu\u00adtion. The idea of \u201cstages\u201d in his\u00adto\u00adry long pre\u00addates our knowl\u00adedge of bio\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal evo\u00adlu\u00adtion. It was, in fact, a well estab\u00adlished con\u00adven\u00adtion in Antiq\u00adui\u00adty, and in Medieval Euro\u00adpean the\u00adol\u00ado\u00adgy, Among many medieval thinkers, escha\u00adtol\u00adogy and prophe\u00adcy com\u00adbined with the idea of a three\u00adfold pro\u00adgres\u00adsion of ages \u2014an \u201cAge of Lead\u201d , an \u201cAge of Sil\u00adver\u201d and an \u201cAge of Gold\u201d \u2014 to divide time into blocks, each with its own enig\u00admat\u00adic essence, and sep\u00ada\u00adrat\u00aded by trans\u00adfor\u00adma\u00adtion\u00adal events. Joachim of Fiore (c. 1135 \u2013 March 30, 1202) espoused an elab\u00ado\u00adrate sys\u00adtem of this sort. In the nine\u00adteenth cen\u00adtu\u00adry, this kind of think\u00ading, based large\u00adly on sym\u00adbol\u00adism, tau\u00adtol\u00adogy, and mag\u00adic, rather than on the study of his\u00adto\u00adry, was per\u00adpet\u00adu\u00adat\u00aded, with lit\u00adtle change, by Hegel and Marx, and all their sad derivatives.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some\u00adhow, this mys\u00adti\u00adcal atti\u00adtude became sta\u00adpled to pop\u00adu\u00adlar mis\u00adun\u00adder\u00adstand\u00adings of bio\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal evo\u00adlu\u00adtion. But the mis\u00adun\u00adder\u00adstand\u00adings were pro\u00adfound, and the resul\u00adtant notion of cul\u00adtur\u00adal evo\u00adlu\u00adtion bore lit\u00adtle rela\u00adtion to what biol\u00ado\u00adgists were dis\u00adcov\u00ader\u00ading. Darwin\u2019s insight was that the sta\u00adtis\u00adti\u00adcal process of nat\u00adur\u00adal selec\u00adtion could account for the process of spe\u00adci\u00ada\u00adtion, thus solv\u00ading one of the two key puz\u00adzles that con\u00adfront\u00aded biol\u00ado\u00adgists. The oth\u00ader key puz\u00adzle, how char\u00adac\u00adter\u00adis\u00adtics and muta\u00adtions trans\u00adferred from one gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion to the next, was solved by Gre\u00adgor Mendel. Togeth\u00ader, these two insights form the basis of our under\u00adstand\u00ading of bio\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal evo\u00adlu\u00adtion. Both have become con\u00adsid\u00ader\u00adably elab\u00ado\u00adrat\u00aded and refined, so that they are now described in terms that sound quite dif\u00adfer\u00adent from those employed by Dar\u00adwin and Mendel. But Mendel\u2019s genet\u00adics is still embed\u00added inside our cur\u00adrent under\u00adstand\u00ading of the genet\u00adic code, and Darwin\u2019s prin\u00adci\u00adple of nat\u00adur\u00adal selec\u00adtion is still embed\u00added in mod\u00adern dis\u00adcus\u00adsions of \u201cpunc\u00adtu\u00adat\u00aded equi\u00adlib\u00adri\u00adum\u201d, and so forth. None of this sci\u00adence is depen\u00addent on describ\u00ading a fixed sequence of \u201cstages\u201d, none of it involves tele\u00ado\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal think\u00ading, and none of it is applic\u00ada\u00adble to arbi\u00adtrary groups anal\u00ado\u00adgous to human soci\u00adeties. Even some the\u00ado\u00adret\u00adi\u00adcal attempts to describe \u201cgroup selec\u00adtion\u201d, in cer\u00adtain con\u00adtexts, are not thus applic\u00ada\u00adble. How\u00adev\u00ader, since pop\u00adu\u00adlar mis\u00adun\u00adder\u00adstand\u00adings of bio\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal evo\u00adlu\u00adtion in the Vic\u00adto\u00adri\u00adan era con\u00adfused spe\u00adci\u00ada\u00adtion with a suc\u00adces\u00adsion of \u201cstages\u201d, his\u00adtor\u00adi\u00adcal pseu\u00addo-evo\u00adlu\u00adtion became pri\u00admar\u00adi\u00adly pre\u00adoc\u00adcu\u00adpied with sup\u00adposed stages built into the his\u00adto\u00adry of societies.<\/span><\/p>\n

What seems to have hap\u00adpened to his\u00adto\u00adri\u00adans is that they gar\u00adbled tra\u00addi\u00adtion\u00adal, pre-sci\u00aden\u00adtif\u00adic notions of his\u00adtor\u00adi\u00adcal stages and des\u00adtinies with pop\u00adu\u00adlar mis\u00adun\u00adder\u00adstand\u00adings of biol\u00ado\u00adgy, and con\u00adclud\u00aded that his\u00adto\u00adry could be under\u00adstood as a process that was anal\u00ado\u00adgous to bio\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal evo\u00adlu\u00adtion. As often hap\u00adpens with mis\u00adused analo\u00adgies, its users quick\u00adly for\u00adgot that they had intro\u00adduced it as an anal\u00ado\u00adgy, and pro\u00adceed\u00aded to behave as if they actu\u00adal\u00adly were engaged in a sci\u00aden\u00adtif\u00adic search for a process of \u201csocial evo\u00adlu\u00adtion\u201d that is as objec\u00adtive\u00adly real as what biol\u00ado\u00adgists mean when they say \u201cevo\u00adlu\u00adtion\u201d. This error was per\u00adpet\u00adu\u00adat\u00aded by com\u00admit\u00adting to a spe\u00adcial ter\u00admi\u00adnol\u00ado\u00adgy bor\u00adrowed from biol\u00ado\u00adgy, and appear\u00ading to mim\u00adic its sci\u00aden\u00adtif\u00adic pre\u00adci\u00adsion. Soon the ques\u00adtion ceased to be \u201chow should we best describe his\u00adtor\u00adi\u00adcal events?\u201d and became \u201chow do we describe the process of social evo\u00adlu\u00adtion?\u201d. The valid\u00adi\u00adty of the tem\u00adplate and ter\u00admi\u00adnol\u00ado\u00adgy was accept\u00aded with\u00adout debate.<\/span><\/p>\n

Because the anal\u00ado\u00adgy is inap\u00adpro\u00adpri\u00adate, any seri\u00adous exam\u00adi\u00adna\u00adtion of actu\u00adal his\u00adtor\u00adi\u00adcal events very quick\u00adly devi\u00adates from the hypo\u00adthet\u00adi\u00adcal process\u00ades imag\u00adined by any the\u00ado\u00adry of social evo\u00adlu\u00adtion. In recent years, there have been a num\u00adber of schol\u00adars who have con\u00adfront\u00aded these incon\u00adsis\u00adten\u00adcies with var\u00adi\u00adous strate\u00adgies. Some, like Igor Diakonoff, respond\u00aded by cre\u00adat\u00ading more baro\u00adque\u00adly con\u00advo\u00adlut\u00aded ver\u00adsions of tra\u00addi\u00adtion\u00adal social evo\u00adlu\u00adtion\u00adary schemes, adding more \u201cstages\u201d, and qual\u00adi\u00adfy\u00ading their direc\u00adtion\u00adal\u00adi\u00adty, just as pre-Coper\u00adni\u00adcans added more epicy\u00adcles and ret\u00adro\u00adgrade motions to their helio\u00adcen\u00adtric scheme. Oth\u00aders, like the cur\u00adrent gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion of Amer\u00adi\u00adcan archae\u00adol\u00ado\u00adgists, who have been con\u00adfront\u00aded with the amaz\u00ading vari\u00adety of cul\u00adtur\u00adal con\u00adfig\u00adu\u00adra\u00adtions in the New World, sought to cre\u00adate \u201cdual-pro\u00adces\u00adsion\u00adal\u201d evo\u00adlu\u00adtion\u00adary mod\u00adels, \u201caction-ori\u00adent\u00aded\u201d mod\u00adels, and oth\u00ader attempts to make the anal\u00ado\u00adgy more sen\u00adsi\u00adble. Some of these schol\u00adars have a bet\u00adter sci\u00aden\u00adtif\u00adic grasp of what bio\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal evo\u00adlu\u00adtion actu\u00adal\u00adly is, and they have been the ones most trou\u00adbled by the con\u00adfus\u00ading nature of the idea of cul\u00adtur\u00adal evo\u00adlu\u00adtion. Robert McCormick Adams seems to be a jaguar pac\u00ading in a cage, test\u00ading the strength of the bars every lit\u00adtle while. Kent V. Flan\u00adnery, a high\u00adly respect\u00aded schol\u00adar, has writ\u00adten that \u201cbio\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal evo\u00adlu\u00adtion is an imper\u00adfect anal\u00ado\u00adgy for social evo\u00adlu\u00adtion\u201d, but his own the\u00ado\u00adret\u00adi\u00adcal frame\u00adwork reveals that he has not tak\u00aden all the nec\u00ades\u00adsary steps to put an end to the con\u00adfu\u00adsion. He has tak\u00aden the first nec\u00ades\u00adsary step, which is to remem\u00adber that the con\u00adcept of \u201ccul\u00adtur\u00adal evo\u00adlu\u00adtion\u201d is noth\u00ading but an anal\u00ado\u00adgy. He has pro\u00adceed\u00aded half-way through the next nec\u00ades\u00adsary step, which is to rec\u00adog\u00adnize that it is not an apt anal\u00ado\u00adgy. But he has not yet tak\u00aden the third nec\u00ades\u00adsary step, which is to rec\u00adog\u00adnize that the anal\u00ado\u00adgy is not only inapt, but com\u00adplete\u00adly irrel\u00ade\u00advant, and that his\u00adto\u00adry and soci\u00adety need not be, and indeed should not be described in terms of any kind of anal\u00ado\u00adgy to bio\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal evo\u00adlu\u00adtion at all. We do not need new and sub\u00adtler tech\u00adniques to bark up the wrong tree.\u2026 we need to change trees.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Read any his\u00adto\u00adry book, and chances are you\u2019ll encounter pre\u00adsump\u00adtions, explic\u00adit or implic\u00adit, about some\u00adthing called \u201ccul\u00adtur\u00adal evo\u00adlu\u00adtion\u201d. His\u00adto\u00adri\u00adans have long felt that his\u00adtor\u00adi\u00adcal events were tak\u00ading place with\u00adin the frame\u00adwork of some kind of process or process\u00ades which should be \u2026<\/p>\n

Read more \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1087","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-blog","category-as-blog-2008"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1087","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1087"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1087\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8645,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1087\/revisions\/8645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1087"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1087"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1087"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}