Cultural invasions

Between them, stasis and invasions explain most of the jerky progress observed in the fossil record.

This post is about cultural invasions.

Superficially, the abrupt starts and stops of creatures in the fossil record does not suggest gradualistic Darwinian evolution. What is responsible for it?

The main answer is that it is the result of invasions. Intermediate fossils are not seen because there weren't any. Rather than one species evolving into another one, new species displace other species by invading their territories.

The new species were still the result of standard gradualistic Darwinian evolution. The speciation is often far from the resulting invasion. Also, speciation often takes place on islands, where fossil preservation is less likely because islands are often small, and they are often eroded into the ocean.

Cultural invasions take place too. For example:

• The English language is widely spoken in America and Australia - where it was not originally a native language.

• The decimal system displacing roman numerals and other counting systems.

• The Gregorian calendar has also become widely accepted internationally.

On a smaller scale, Barbie has successfully invaded islamic cultures - largely displacing the native "sara" doll. Hamburgers, Windows and Hollywood have also been widely imported.

Cultural invasions sometimes correspond to actual organic invasions - as took place when the English first invaded America. However, cuture can also propagate itself independenly from the genes of the people that transmit it. To help protect native cultures from cultural imperialism - and avoid Americanization - various organisations practicing cultural protectionism have been established. These promote cultural diversity in many parts of the world.

The fact that stasis and invasions also exist in the cultural realm should help to illuminate and understand these phenomena.