Modelling Evolution

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

• Introduction Chapter 1: Basic Evolutionary ConceptsAdaptation, fitness And dandelions Chance and basketball Types and individuals Selection The original recipe Systemic advantage of a type Populations Collections of individuals Traits and types Evolutionary Processes In GeneralThe Bias Processes in Population Genetics Selection as process Selection v. Drift Chance and Lightning Discriminate v. Indiscriminate Fixation in the population via drifty discriminate sampling Expected and unexpected Expecting the unexpected Process vs. OutcomeThe Evolutionary System BibliographyChapter 2: The History of the Evolutionary Idea Pausing for Context Darwin Variation and heredity Selection What evolves Darwin’s Evolutionary Processes Fisher Evolution: Selection vs. Mutation Fisher and fitness Heredity, mutation, and genes Adaptation and Heredity Lewontin The definition of evolution by natural selection Segregation distortion and multilevel selectionIndividual fitness and group fitness Sober Evolutionary forces Fitness: Early Sober and Fisher compared The Neodynamical account Bibliography Chapter 3: Evolutionary ForcesFrom Process to Force The causal hierarchy Functions of Time and Continuity Causal variables vs. processes Force Models The three basic types of evolutionary force FormalismsSelectionBroad Selection Heredity and Evolution by Natural Selection Selection for traits and context dependence Types of Drift Bibliography Chapter 4: Multilevel SelectionIndividuality The evolutionary transitions from individual to part Fungi and biological individualsInteractions Kin Selection Multilevel selection a la Lewontin MLS 1, MLS 2, and contextual analysis Contextual analysis and mus muscula Three kinds of multilevel evolutionary models More distinctions? Yes indeed Multilevel Fitness models Multilevel Force modelsMultilevel Trait modelsBibliography Chapter 5: Cultural Evolution Challenges The specter of biologism The problem with replicators Cultural Traits Reproduction in Cultural Evolution Processes Boyd and Richerson Looking at a model: farming practices Lamarck and Technological Evolution Novelty and guided variation (in evolutionary economics) Application This could be important For example in sociologyBibliography Chapter 6: Multilevel Social EvolutionConcepts Human groups and cultural individuals Altruism in human societies An extended illustrationTurchin on the historical evolution of egalitarianism Critique An alternative, multilevel approach A model of multilevel cultural macroevolution Developing the schema Evaluating and adjusting Specifying and Analysing Bibliography