5.12 Social learning: Imitating success.

There is much evidence in current world history of developing societies seeking to imitate more successful countries. Neo-liberalism defined by open markets and borders has been the prevailing socio-economic ideology of recent years. Developing countries have sought to emulate successful Western economies as suggested by theories of modernism and post-industrial societies. Socio-economic success is supported by norms of behavior like the so-called puritan ethic of hard work that played a role in the development of modern capitalism. Research shows that struggling societies try to imitate the successful, or what is perceived to be success (Henrich & Gil-White, 2001). Cultures that become aware of the success of neighbors are encouraged to develop a similar society. Johnson (1976) pointed to the spread of Christianity during the Roman Empire as an example of the adaptive transmission of successful ideas and subsequent imitation. Romans accepted the new society formed by Christians since they demonstrated in actual behavior norms of mutual help and charity much needed during the health crises caused by epidemics in Europe. The spread of Christianity eventually led to state power the outcome of the desire of Romans to imitate the more successful within-cultural Christian group.

Imitation explains much of the current globalization effort. The benefits of one group can, especially in the information age, spread rapidly through neighboring societies. However, innovations are often transmitted without a clear understanding of underlying environmental or potential social problems accumulating in the world that contribute to ongoing economic and ecological crises. For example, the use of nuclear power has left thousands of tons of very dangerous material in unsafe storage in the United States and elsewhere without a consensus of where to securely deposit the contents. The desire to imitate neighbors has also brought about large scale immigration of undocumented workers seeking a way out of poverty. When long term affects of cultural imitation are taken into account imitation is not a force for cultural stability, but rather contributes to social crises the outcome of which cannot be predicted.

5.13 Religion, agriculture development and cultural evolution.

Science is a process of self-correction and that is also true for research on sociocultural evolution. Our understanding of cultural evolution is under constant review as new evidence becomes available. The famous archaeologist V. Gordon Childe invented the term Neolithic Evolution to explain the radical change that occurred when humanity left behind foraging for food and developed agriculture. From his perspective the agricultural impetus was the most important cultural trait complex in the development of humanity next to mastery of fire. Only after the revolution of agriculture and the accumulation of surplus food did the human species begin to increase in ever larger numbers as we spread over the globe. The Neolithic Revolution was in Childe’s view responsible for the advance of civilization that included the development of symbolic art and religion. In Childe's view agriculture began in the Fertile Crescent from Gaza to southern Turkey and into Iraq in the first organized state known as Sumer dating back to 4000 B.C.

However, recent research has uncovered the dawn of civilization in another remote region called Gobekli Tepe in southern Turkey. The temple complex found there dates back to 11,600 years ago, and was built by hunter gathers that were thought to live in small nomadic groups at this point in history (Mann, 2011). Childe’s ideas are called into question by the fact that these people built a massive temple complex 7000 years before the temples in Egypt. The pillars of the temple are very large up to 18 feet weighing 16 tons and would require a significant development of social structure and cooperation to move and maintain long before agricultural traits had evolved. Could it be, as the excavator Klaus Schmidt (see Mann, 2011) suggests that at this point in cultural evolution people had a need to see expressions of religious awe as an explanation for changes in the natural world? From his perspective religion occurred from these deep seated human emotions and began in response to the great unknown questions and in an effort to meet spiritual needs.

In particular religion evolved when humans moved away from seeing themselves as part of the natural world, and used symbols to imagine supernatural beings in control. These supernatural beings often resembled human beings, but could be conceptualized as belonging to another realm. Then in an effort to find expressions and respond to these feelings the temples at Gobekli Tepe were built. Agriculture followed this development in the Mann paradigm as necessary support system to maintain the level of civilization required to serve the religious sites and the associated need for permanent settlement. In reality socio-cultural evolution leading to agricultural development may have occurred in many places and in different ways. Once we step away from linear thinking it is possible to imagine different tracks, where in one place agriculture came first, in others religion was an impetus to settlement. However, it is clear that there is still much to be discovered by archeologists, and as they do discover new artifacts and gifts from the past we must reset our concepts to fit changing realities.