# Population Thinking Extends from Biology to Cultural Evolution by Dan Sperber > “Population thinking readily extends beyond biology to the study of cultural evolution (as argued by Peter Richerson, Robert Boyd, and Peter Godfrey-Smith). Cultural phenomena can be thought of as populations, the members of which share features because they influence one another even though they do not beget one another the way organisms do and are not exactly copies of one another. Here are three examples.” > **— Dan Sperber**, *2017, Edge Annual Question, “What Scientific Term Or Concept Ought To Be More Widely Known?”* ## Sources and Context - **Direct Edge response and surrounding essay:** [Population Thinking](https://www.edge.org/response-detail/27029) — Edge published this exact passage in its 2017 Annual Question collection, *WHAT SCIENTIFIC TERM OR CONCEPT OUGHT TO BE MORE WIDELY KNOWN?*. The response page preserves the surrounding argument and qualifications. - **Complete local collection index:** [[research/Edge 2017 Full Quotation Curation|Edge 2017 Full Quotation Curation]] — retained source-first record for the complete response cohort and this passage's promotion status. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Edge|Edge]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] - **Article:** [[articles/The Evolutionary Roots of Silicon Valley|Valley Roots]] - **Article:** [[articles/Digital Darwinism and the Invisible World of Machine Evolution|Digital Darwinism]] - **Article:** [[articles/We Were Never Going to Make It|Never Going to Make It!]] - **Wiki map:** [[wiki/Evolutionary Biology|Evolutionary Biology]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Evolutionary Biology|Evolutionary Biology]] - [[wiki/Cultural Evolution|Cultural Evolution]] - [[wiki/Gene-Culture Coevolution|Gene-Culture Coevolution]] - [[wiki/Technological Evolution|Technological Evolution]] ## Share on Social Media ``` “Population thinking readily extends beyond biology to the study of cultural evolution (as argued by Peter Richerson, Robert Boyd, and Peter Godfrey-Smith). Cultural phenomena can be thought of as populations, the members of which share features because they influence one another even though they do not beget one another the way organisms do and are not exactly copies of one another. Here are three examples.” — Dan Sperber, 2017, Edge Annual Question, “What Scientific Term Or Concept Ought To Be More Widely Known?” https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-dan-sperber-population-thinking-extends-biology-cultural ```