Random drift and culture change.
We show that the frequency distributions of cultural variants, in three different real-world examples--first names, archaeological pottery and applications for technology patents--follow power laws that can be explained by a simple model of random drift. We conclude that cultural and economic choices often reflect a decision process that is value-neutral; this result has far-reaching testable implications for social-science research.
AHRB Centre for the Evolutionary Analysis of Cultural Behaviour, University College London, 31-34 Gordon Square, London WC1H 0PY, UK. r.bentley@ucl.ac.uk
R Alexander
RA
Bentley
Matthew W
MW
Hahn
Stephen J
SJ
Shennan
D003198:Computer Simulation; D003468:Cultural Evolution; D003662:Decision Theory; D006801:Humans; D008420:Manufactured Materials / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D009275:Names; D010330:Patents as Topic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012942:Social Sciences; D016008:Statistical Distributions; D013269:Stochastic Processes