Tim Waring, evolution researcher: “Our species is in the middle of a great evolutionary transition”

Since the first lifeform appeared on Earth, natural selection has been the driving force in the evolution of all species. However, that may no longer be the case for humans according to a theory put forward by two researchers from the University of Maine. They argue that “human evolution seems to be changing gears.”

Instead of waiting for biology to adapt our genes when we encounter an evolutionary problem, through culture we preemptively find the solution ourselves, allowing us to survive conditions that might otherwise have been fatal in the past. And this trend is accelerating, they say.

“Cultural evolution eats genetic evolution for breakfast. It’s not even close”

“Human evolution seems to be changing gears. When we learn useful skills, institutions or technologies from each other, we are inheriting adaptive cultural practices,” said Timothy M. Waring, an associate professor of economics and sustainability and lead author of the study, in a statement.

He and co-author Zachary T. Wood, a researcher in ecology and environmental sciences, came up with a novel and testable theoretical mechanism to empirical test their theory. They published their findings in the Oxford journal BioScience, and they say the evidence shows that the impact of cultural adaptation at the group level on human societies goes back millennia.

From the agricultural revolution to modern medical science and technological advances, humans have had to cooperate with one another within group-level cultural systems. These have been driving improvements in health, longevity and survival instead of genetic adaptation or a single person’s intelligence.

“On reviewing the evidence, we find that culture solves problems much more rapidly than genetic evolution. This suggests our species is in the middle of a great evolutionary transition,” said Waring.

“Ask yourself this: what matters more for your personal life outcomes, the genes you are born with, or the country where you live? Today, your well-being is determined less and less by your personal biology and more and more by the cultural systems that surround you — your community, your nation, your technologies,” Waring noted. “And the importance of culture tends to grow over the long term because culture accumulates adaptive solutions more rapidly.”

“Cultural organization makes groups more cooperative and effective. And larger, more capable groups adapt — via cultural change — more rapidly. It’s a mutually reinforcing system, and the data suggest it is accelerating,” he added.

“Cultural evolution eats genetic evolution for breakfast. It’s not even close,” said Wood.

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