Random Mutation vs. Guided Cultural Variation

The future of human evolution will not be decided by genes alone, but by meaning, choice, and culture itself. In this Part 2 of our conversation, Dr. Liane Gabora (University of British Columbia) explores how ideas evolve through creativity, cooperation, and intentional change rather than blind copying. We examine why cultures fracture, recombine, and sometimes collapse. And how concepts behave more like dynamic systems than fixed beliefs. What emerges is a vision of human evolution driven by minds in relationship, where the next phase depends less on survival and more on how we choose to think.Part 1: https://youtu.be/8mnHM7lyfOEPATREON https://www.patreon.com/c/demystifysciPARADIGM DRIFThttps://demystifysci.com/paradigm-drift-showHOMEBREW MUSIC - Check out our new album!Hard Copies (Vinyl): FREE SHIPPING https://demystifysci-shop.fourthwall.com/products/vinyl-lp-secretary-of-nature-everything-is-so-good-hereStreaming:https://secretaryofnature.bandcamp.com/album/everything-is-so-good-here00:00 Go! Culture as an Evolutionary System00:04:07 Did Culture Create Bigger Brains?00:08:58 Cumulative vs Static Culture00:11:30 Memory, Mind, and Autocatalytic Worldviews00:14:16 Creativity and the Collective Unconscious00:18:38 Why Societies Need Creators and Imitators00:22:03 Creativity Requires Social Networks00:24:07 The Personal Balance of Creation and Absorption00:27:52 When to Preserve vs When to Innovate00:31:53 Why Meme Theory Falls Short00:34:00 What Evolution Actually Requires00:41:18 Cultural Inheritance Is Chosen00:43:12 Culture Evolves Through Acquired Traits00:44:05 Two Selves: Biological and Conceptual00:47:33 Cultural Collapse and Value Wars00:48:40 Culture Can Die Without Death00:50:55 Creativity Is Not Random Mutation00:54:08 The Danger of Ranking Cultures00:55:29 Cultural Identity Hardens Into Law00:57:37 Nothing in Culture Is Permanent01:00:50 Naming, Meaning, and Cultural Fracture01:03:32 Cooperation vs Competition in Human Evolution01:06:14 Creativity Begins When Biology Is Quiet01:08:03 The Co-Evolution of Biology and Culture01:11:25 Cultural Speciation and Cross-Pollination01:15:04 Cultural Time Runs Like Geology01:18:06 Sudden vs Gradual Cultural Shifts01:19:15 Concepts Behave Like Quantum Objects01:24:33 Concepts as Tools, Not Representations01:26:21 The Guppy Effect Explained01:27:40 Concept Entanglement and Meaning01:29:42 Modeling Thought With Quantum Math01:31:03 Shared Structure of Mind and Matter01:34:16 Why Mathematics Feels Spiritual01:35:14 Reflections and Future Work#humanorigins, #complexity, #emergence, #systemsThinking, #evolutionarytheory, #humanbehavior, #language, #culture, #futureofhumanity, #thought #physicspodcast, #philosophypodcast MERCH: Rock some DemystifySci gear : https://demystifysci-shop.fourthwall.com/AMAZON: Do your shopping through this link: https://amzn.to/3YyoT98DONATE: https://bit.ly/3wkPqaDSUBSTACK: https://substack.com/@UCqV4_7i9h1_V7hY48eZZSLw@demystifysci RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/2be66934/podcast/rssMAILING LIST: https://bit.ly/3v3kz2S SOCIAL: - Discord: https://discord.gg/MJzKT8CQub- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/DemystifySci- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/DemystifySci/- Twitter: https://twitter.com/DemystifySciMUSIC: -Shilo Delay: https://g.co/kgs/oty671