Who you interact with and who you copy (the network structure) sets the scale at which cultures can be selected for or against. High modularity (tight clusters with few cross ties) supports group‑level selection of adaptive norms; lower modularity and larger cross‑cluster networks shrink cultural variety and can allow maladaptive norms to spread.
— If modern communications and institutions have enlarged interaction scales and reduced modularity, that shift could explain recent norm drift and rising instability in politics, law, and prestige hierarchies.
Robin Hanson
2026.04.19
100% relevant
Hanson's claim that 'modularity' and the rise of larger coordination scales over the last few centuries have likely reduced effective cultural variety and weakened group selection.
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