Of thoughts and things: how a new model of evolution explains the coevolution of culture and technologyOf thoughts and things: how a new model of evolution explains the coevolution of culture and technologyR. Koppl

I develop a bioeconomic theory of social institutions that helps to explain the coevolution of ideas, social institutions, and technology. The theory is “bioeconomic” because it traces economic institutions to their biological origins and foundations. The theory draws on a new model of evolution that uses the notion of combination to take Darwinism in new directions. I explain this new model and apply it to the problem of coevolution in economics and other social sciences. The new model builds in part on Brian Arthur’s theory of the “combinatorial evolution” of technology and Stuart Kauffman’s theory of the “adjacent possible.” Central to this new model of evolution is a simple combinatorial equation called the “TAP equation,” where “TAP” stands for “theory of the adjacent possible.” The new model is yielding fruit in a variety of fields including economics.