Biological and Social Phases of Big History and Universal Evolution: Similarities, Differences, and the Growth of Complexity

Journal of Big History. 2025. Vol. 8. No. 3. P. 1–51.

Leonid Grinin, Markov A., Korotayev A.

In this paper, Grinin et al. survey general similarities and differences between biological and social macroevolution and phases of Big History. The comparison of biological and social evolution is an important but (regrettably) understudied subject. The authors have endeavored to make a systematic comparison between biological and social evolution at different levels of analysis and in various aspects. They have formulated a considerable number of general principles and rules of evolution, and worked to develop a common terminology to describe some key processes in biological and social evolution. In particular, Grinin et al. have introduced the notion of ‘social aromorphosis’ to describe the process of widely diffused social innovation that enhances the complexity, adaptability, integrity, and interconnectedness of a society or social system. This work has convinced the authors that it might be possible to find mathematical models that can describe important features of both biological and social macroevolution. In the Appendix the authors consider a concrete mathematical model that they deem capable of describing important features of both biological and social macroevolution.

Keywords: mathematical model, population growth, biodiversity, biological evolution, positive feedback, hyperbolic growth, social evolution