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Biological and Social Phases of Big History and Complexity Growth
In the first half of this chapter, Grinin et al. survey general similarities and differences between biological and social macroevolution. They undertake a systematic comparison between biological and social evolution at different levels of analysis and in various aspects, formulating a considerable number of general principles and rules of evolution, and working to develop a common terminology to describe some key processes in biological and social evolution. In the second half, they consider a specific mathematical model capable of describing important features of both biological and social macroevolution. In mathematical models of historical macrodynamics, a hyperbolic pattern of wor ldpopulation growth arises from nonlinear, second-order positive feedback between demographic growth and technological development. Based on diverse paleontological data and an analogy with macrosociological models, Grinin et al. suggest that the hyperbolic character of biodiversity growth can be similarly accounted for by nonlinear, second-order positive feedback between biodiversity growth and the complexity of community structure. They further discuss how such positive feedback mechanisms can be modeled mathematically.
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