Social systems {society, ecology} have evolved in colonial invertebrates, social insects, non-human mammals, and humans. Societal animals occupy territory, cooperate, communicate using 10 to 100 basic signals, recognize group members, use kinship for social structure and socialization, and divide labor. Altruism, cohesiveness, and cooperativeness decline among higher phyla, because more individualism emerges. Group behavior reduces competition, conserves energy, prevents overcrowding, and prevents food shortage. Population members typically live in small groups, to survive better.
effects
Social systems can preserve genes, because groups have better foraging and self-defense. Effects differ depending on society size. Small colonies survive better than large colonies, and individuals survive better in small colonies. Food shortages happen more often in small groups, especially in mammalian societies. Smaller groups tend to diversify habitat more. Males and females differ more in smaller groups. Polygamy, strong sexual selection, and inbreeding are typical of small groups. In small and large groups, females concentrate on food and nests, but males concentrate on females.
social change
Social organization is variable and labile. Small environment, individual-behavior, or group-behavior changes can lead to great societal changes. Individual behaviors typically change first, followed by structural changes that enhance behavior.
social factor
Quantifiable societal factors {social factor} include group size, demography, cohesiveness, communication intensity, communication networks, closedness or openness, subgroup number, subgroup isolation, specialization, behavior coordination, information-flow rate, and percentage of social behavior compared to individual behavior. For example, society demography can define available cooperative behaviors. Demography also affects adaptability.
General-systems-theory extensions {sociobiology}| can depend on the idea that organisms exist to carry and reproduce genes. To successfully transmit genes to next generations requires optimally mixing personal survival, reproduction, and altruism. Emotions evolved to preserve optimum factor balance. Societies operate using principles at levels higher than, but emerging from, individual biochemistry, structures, and processes.
Behavior {social behavior, ecology} can depend on biochemical factors, structural factors, and population parameters. Behavioral changes require at least ten generations and typically more than twice that many. Behavioral-change rate depends on how directly behavior relates to survival and how easy learning is. Societal species tend to evolve more behaviors, easier learning, and more learning abilities. Social species have traditions, tools, and play.
Societies have available-behavior ranges {behavior scale}|, because species competition forces species to occupy more than preferred ecological niches. Behavior scales are adaptations. Behaviors typically have more than one use. Behavior scales depend on population density and other group parameters. Society evolution tends to make behaviors converge.
Species have minimum allowed distance {social distance}| between two individuals. In humans, social distance is one meter.
Individual behavior changes can cause random group-behavior changes over time {social drift}.
Invertebrates {colonial invertebrate}| can have cells {zooid} that aggregate to form organisms, in which cells can specialize. Zooids act like specialized organs. In hydrozooid colonies, ectoderm cells recognize each other using cell-surface proteins from histocompatibility genes. Hydrozooid colonies have nerve-cell zooids. Colonial-invertebrate cells communicate using chemical signals. Colonial invertebrates reproduce by budding. Colonies can form within colonies.
Insect societies {social insect}| have members that share the same gene alleles. Social insects have roles, but insects can modify roles. Signals among insects communicate food sources and coordinate tasks.
Vertebrate societies {social vertebrate} are typically bands or cliques, rather than large groups. Individuals have less genetic similarity, practice less altruism, are more aggressive, have little cooperation, and have learning and traditions.
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Date Modified: 2022.0225