Theory 14/Culture
Song Spreads Against Innovation
The claim
Whale song revolutions occur when the ratio of population connectedness to innovation rate falls below a threshold, so a well-connected ocean transmits novelty quickly and a fragmented one preserves old songs.
01Mechanism
Songs spread through contact; the ratio determines whether a new variant reaches the population before the old one is replaced locally.
02Predictions
- P1Song turnover should track the ratio.
- P2Population size alone should mispredict.
03Refutation
Turnover tracking population size would remove connectedness.
04Why it resists the grid
Cultural evolution without a genetic substrate, in a population whose contacts are only partly observable.