Culmulative Cultural Evolution - A Flawed Concept

David R. Wood 

Abstract: The concept of cumulative cultural evolution (CCE) is fundamentally flawed. The second process of evolution is enacted via imagination at the individual level. This process utilizes an artificial genome within our mind when conceiving a new idea. Homo sapiens has expanded the artificial genome available to each of us, but this does not amount to a cumulative process practically. It is the artificial variation of organisms expanding their genome within the context of natural reproduction. The concept of evolution already includes progressive accumulation making the word cumulative redundant. The concept of culture is also improperly defined. The concept of culture is really the ancient Latin definition of cultivation which meant – evolution. So, the word culture is also redundant. The concept of culture produced by modern academics is also improperly defined on its own terms. The concept they attempt to describe is an artificial species – the artificial segregation of homo sapiens based on distinct artificial structural and behavioral adaptations. This makes the concept of CCE to be practically defined as “evolution evolution evolution” which is nonsensical. The conceptual pattern of a culture is also improperly defined thus making a clear case for Alex Mesoudi’s proposed Darwinian synthesis of the social sciences.