Related papers: Conjugate Distribution Laws in Cultural Evolution …
Statistical learning relies upon data sampled from a distribution, and we usually do not care what actually generated it in the first place. From the point of view of causal modeling, the structure of each distribution is induced by…
We consider a branching model in discrete time where each individual has a trait in some general state space. Both the reproduction law and the trait inherited by the offsprings may depend on the trait of the mother and the environment. We…
Despite substantial research efforts evaluating how well large language models~(LLMs) handle global cultural diversity, the mechanisms behind their cultural knowledge acquisition, particularly in multilingual settings, remain unclear. We…
It is well-known that population structure is a catalyst for the evolution of cooperation since individuals can reciprocate with their neighbors through local interactions defined by network structures. Previous research typically relies on…
This paper reviews and clarifies five misunderstandings about cultural evolution identified by Henrich, Boyd, and Richerson (2008). First, cultural representations are neither discrete nor continuous; they are distributed across neurons…
The ways in which natural selection can allow the proliferation of cooperative behavior have long been seen as a central problem in evolutionary biology. Most of the literature has focused on interactions between pairs of individuals and on…
The spread of new ideas, behaviors or technologies has been extensively studied using epidemic models. Here we consider a model of diffusion where the individuals' behavior is the result of a strategic choice. We study a simple coordination…
There are both benefits and drawbacks to cultural diversity. It can lead to friction and exacerbate differences. However, as with biological diversity, cultural diversity is valuable in times of upheaval; if a previously effective solution…
A protocol for distributed estimation of discrete distributions is proposed. Each agent begins with a single sample from the distribution, and the goal is to learn the empirical distribution of the samples. The protocol is based on a simple…
Rogers' diffusion of innovations theory asserts that cultural similarity among individuals plays a crucial role in the acceptance of an innovation in a community. However, most studies on the diffusion of innovations have relied on…
In recent times there has been a surge of interest in seeking out patterns in the aggregate behavior of socio-economic systems. One such domain is the emergence of statistical regularities in the evolution of collective choice from…
Models of strategy evolution on static networks help us understand how population structure can promote the spread of traits like cooperation. One key mechanism is the formation of altruistic spatial clusters, where neighbors of a…
Understanding the statistical dynamics of growth and inequality is a fundamental challenge to ecology and society. Recent analyses of wealth and income dynamics in contemporary societies show that economic inequality is very dynamic and…
In many indigenous societies, people are categorised into several cultural groups, or clans, within which they believe to share ancestors. Clan attributions provide certain rules for marriage and descent. Such rules between clans constitute…
Studying the history of music may provide a glimpse into the development of human creativity as we examine the evolutionary and revolutionary trends in music and genres. First, a musical influence metric was created to construct a directed…
The historical interplay between societies are governed by many factors, including in particular spreading of languages, religion and other symbolic traits. Cultural development, in turn, is coupled to emergence and maintenance of…
Culture evolves following a process that is akin to biological evolution, although with some significant differences. At the same time culture has often a collective good value for human groups. This paper studies culture in an evolutionary…
This note presents a simple overlapping-generations (OLG) model of the transmission of a trait, such as a culture. Initially, some fraction of agents carry the trait. In each time period, young agents are "born" and are influenced by some…
We consider a recent innovative theory by Chastain et al. on the role of sex in evolution [PNAS'14]. In short, the theory suggests that the evolutionary process of gene recombination implements the celebrated multiplicative weights updates…
Evolution occurs in populations of reproducing individuals. It is well known that population structure can affect evolutionary dynamics. Traditionally, natural selection is studied between mutants that differ in reproductive rate, but are…