evolutionary theory baesd on sociology?
461946
There is a theory (largely discredited) called Social Darwinism, that was published in the 19th century. The basic idea of social darwinism was an extention of darwinian theory to socioeconomics. For example, if I have more money than you, I must be, somehow, genetically superior so as to come into the condition of having more money. Such ideas were used to justify racism and imperialism during the time.
978981
In biology, evolution is the change in the heritable traits of a population over successive generations, as determined by shifts in the allele frequencies of genes. Over time, this process can result in speciation, the development of new species from existing ones.
1080750
* Biology: Evolution by natural selection — Cell theory\n    * Chemistry: Atomic theory — Kinetic theory of gases\n    * Climatology: Global warming\n    * Computer science: Algorithmic information theory — Computation theory\n    * Economics: Decision theory\n    * Engineering: Circuit theory — Control theory — Signal theory - Systems theory\n    * Games: Rational choice theory — Game theory\n    * Geology: Continental drift — Plate tectonics\n    * Humanities: Critical theory\n    * Literature: Literary theory\n    * Mathematics: Catastrophe theory — Category theory — Chaos theory — Graph theory — Number theory — Probability theory — Set theory\n    * Music: Music theory\n    * Philosophy: Proof theory — Speculative reason — Theory of truth - Type theory - Value theory — Virtue theory\n    * Physics: Theory of relativity — Special relativity — General relativity - Quantum field theory — Acoustic theory — Antenna theory\n    * Planetary science: Giant impact theory\n    * Sociology: Social theory — Critical social theory\n    * Statistics : Extreme value theory
994229
It's very difficult to apply one to the other. One studies the behavior of groups and the other studies that of individuals.\n\nOf course, Marx tried to do it. Clearly, his ideas have been debunked.\n\nI was a "sociologist" until taking a great microeconomics course \nat my university. The professor's depth and knowledge converted me. People act individually in groups only to pursue their own interests. They don't "groupthink" as some sociologists would have you believe.
251702
Genetics. And Darwins theory.
461069
Each step in evolution, even cultural evolution, has to be an improvement over the one before, or it won't last.\n\nI think that the evolution of culture shows that when people cooperate, they all do better.\n\nI think it was Desmond Morris who wrote that the huge amount of learning that human children have to do to live in a culture was made possible by their extremely slow rate of growth before sexual maturity (about 12-18 years), compared to other primates.  And often our culture stretches this out even further, causing a lot of tension between the generations.\n\nIn highly complex cultures like ours, children are often 20 years old or older before they have finished their education and are ready to be fully responsible adults.  In less complex societies, you might see that a child of 12 or 13 has learned enough to become a member of adult society.
1138218
I will have to support Evolution! Let me give you a definition of Evolution!\nBiological evolution, simply put, is descent with modification. This definition encompasses small-scale evolution (changes in gene frequency in a population from one generation to the next) and large-scale evolution (the descent of different species from a common ancestor over many generations).\nDocumentation of ancestor-descendant relationships among organisms also comes from the fields of biogeography, taxonomy, anatomy, embryology and, most recently, genetics — particularly DNA analysis.\nThe fossil record remains first and foremost among the databases that document changes in past life on Earth. Fossils provide the dimension of time to the study of life. Some of the most basic observations about fossils and the rock record were made long before Darwin formulated his theory of “descent with modification.” The fossil record clearly shows changes in life through almost any sequence of sedimentary rock layers. Successive rock layers contain different groups or assemblages of fossil species.\n{We have now more than enough fossils to determine for sure that humans didn’t appear on this planet in the genetic form they are today!\nWE HAVE MORE THAN ENOUGH EVIDENCE THAT THERE WAS AT LEAST ANOTHER SPECIES WHICH LIVED WITH US!! And I am talking about Neanderthal man who was not our ancestor but a different Human than us!!! (Did God experiment with human species?) We even have proof that at a certain point in time 3 human species shared the planet! (Homo sapiens, Homo Erectus, Homo Neanderthals)}\nOf course I want comment the stupid argument why all the apes didn’t evolve to humans. Ok I will comment!!\n(We share a recent common ancestor with chimpanzees and gorillas; we have many anatomical, genetic, biochemical, and even behavioral similarities with these African great apes. We are less similar to the Asian apes--orangutans and gibbons--and even less similar to monkeys, because we share common ancestors with these groups in the more distant past. \n! By the way why God decided to create 5 different species of primates and 280 different species of monkeys?)\nAs a conclusion Evolution is not a theory but a proven fact (In scientific terms, "theory" does not mean "guess" or "hunch" as it does in everyday usage. Scientific theories are explanations of natural phenomena built up logically from testable observations and hypotheses. Biological evolution is the best scientific explanation we have for the enormous range of observations about the living world.) Creation is a Hebrew Myth and unfortunately is not a fact but a myth!!!!
829191
Society is evolving, some generations are getting better, some worse.\n\nOver time natural selection will take over, the people who do "better"  will continue, those who do not will fade away.
406068
There are many branches of evolutionary thought and many theories that add to it.\n\nEvolutionary psychology looks at the reason we think as stemming from our evolutionary history.  \n\nMemetics looks at the evolution of thought and ideas.\n\nNatural selection is a correlary to evolution... it explains some of the reasons for how genetic drift occurs.\n\nThere are also theories that tie parasites and also viruses to mutation, thereby affecting genetic code and natural selection.
203965
"The Chicago School is a Positivist School, applying scientific techniques to the collection and deductive analysis of data to explain different types of individual and social phenomena. It has focused on human behaviour as determined by social structures and physical environmental factors, rather than genetic and personal characteristics. Biologists and anthropologists have accepted the theory of evolution as demonstrating that animals adapt to their environments. As applied to humans who are considered responsible for their own destinies, the School believed that the natural environment which the community inhabits is a major factor in shaping human behaviour, and that the city functions as a microcosm. The work of Clements (1916) was particularly influential. ...an individual is born, grows, matures, and dies, but the community which the individual inhabited continues to grow and exhibit properties which are greater than the sum of the properties of the parts."\n\n"The School is perhaps best known for the Subculture Theories of Thrasher, Frazier, and Sutherland, and for applying the principles of ecology to develop the Social Disorganisation Theory which refers to consequences of the failure of:\n    * social institutions or social organisations including the family, schools, church, political institutions, policing, business, etc. in identified communities and/or neighbourhoods, or in society at large; and\n    * social relationships that traditionally encourage co-operation between people."
1056139
sociology is the study of society and its culture. As a result, all social policy will have a baring on sociology but will often be based on the sociological theory favoured by the government of the day (we seem to have a government obsessed by Hayek's neo liberallism at the moment.)
254303
No, the psychological phenomena are also in accordance with Darwin's theory. The theory of natural selection states that the fit variety shall survive, and the unfit shall become extinct.  Thus, only the psychologically compatible will be able to survive, and the psychologicaly distracted will be removed.  This is what happens.. the mentally ill don't develop enough in society, and are eliminated.  The result is a psychologically more compatible species of homo sapiens.
642511
Evolution is a scientific theory that explains the origin of the diversity of species (note that it does not, and is not intended to explain the origin of life). The basic idea of evolution is that mutations result in genetic diversity in a population, and consequently different traits, and different selective pressures favor certain traits over others. In a diverse population, some individuals are better suited to the environment than others, and the individuals that are better suited are more likely to survive to reproduce and thus pass their genes on to the next generation. Consequently, the next generation will have more of the "good" genes and fewer of the "bad" genes than the generation before it. Because the environment is constantly changing, the definition of "good" and "bad" genes is also constantly changing. Something that used to be an advantage can become a disadvantage, and vice versa. More often, however, neutral traits will become either good or bad. Changes in environment can include not only changes in weather or resources, but also competition from other species.\n\nAs the environmental pressures change, the population of organisms changes with it. Over time, the little changes start to add up, and eventually the population will be so different from the ancestral state that it will be considered a different species. The diversity of species results from splitting of populations. If a population is separated by some geographical or reproductive barrier, the two subpopulations will likely evolve in different ways, to become two separate species. Eventually the two species may be reunited, but they will no longer be able to interbreed. Instead, they will compete with each other, and likely diverge even more.\n\nThe theory of evolution is supported by considerable scientific evidence, and is accepted by the vast majority of the scientific community. It is the ONLY scientific theory currently in existence that explains the diversity of species. Some people claim that "intelligent design" is an alternative theory for the origin of species. However, intelligent design is not a theory in the scientific sense. It is not supported by scientific evidence and can never be tested experimentally (not because we don't have the tools yet, but because it is theoretically impossible). Intelligent design provides an alternative to science, not an alternative scientific theory.\n\nScience is not about finding a single piece of evidence to conclusively prove a theory. It's about constructing theories to fit the existing evidence and gathering new evidence that supports or refutes existing theories. Evolution is supported by a preponderance of evidence. While no one point conclusively proves it, when all the evidence is considered in the context of existing scientific knowledge evolution is a well substantiated theory. Intelligent design is not.  What follows are brief explanations of some of the evidence that supports the theory of evolution.\n\n1. Vestigial structures\n\nOne example of a vestigial structure in humans is the appendix. It has no function. Removing it is harmful only in so far as any surgery is associated with certain risks (so I wouldn't have it removed just for fun, but it's because of the surgery not the absence of the appendix). An appendix is found in several mammals. In humans it is small and has no known function. In rabbits and many other herbivores it is large and is used in the digestion of cellulose.\n\nAnother example of a vestigial structure is the hipbones of snakes. Snakes evolved from quadrupeds, and some species still retain not on pelvises, but tiny protrusions of bone in a location that corresponds to the location of the legs in other quadrupeds.\n\n2. Microevolution can be observed in both a controlled laboratory setting and in nature.\n\nCreationists will tell you that microevolution does not prove macroevolution.  This is true.
700698
The idea of evolution was not started by Darwin ... it actually goes back to the Greeks.  What Darwin's theory of natural selection did was provide the *mechanism* by which evolution occurred.\n\nIt consists of three basic observations:\n(1) Variation: All individuals within a species are NOT identical.  They vary in many different ways ... some are shorter, some taller.  Some are faster, some slower.  Some are hairier, some less hairy. etc.\n(2) Competition:  More offspring are born than can possibly survive to propagate.  If this were not true, then the world would be overwhelmed with overpopulation (of all species) within a few years.  This means that some will survive to pass on their genes, others will not.\n(3) Inheritance:  Every individual passes characteristics on to its offspring.  (Darwin did not know the mechanism for this inheritance ... what we now call "genetics", but it was clear that the offspring of a hairy individual, had a better chance of being hairy itself.)\n\nPutting these three things together, we realize that any characteristic, that is part of normal variation, that produces a slight advantage, will tend to get passed on through inheritance into offspring.  Therefore, advantageous characteristics will get passed on more within a species.\n\nOne important thing that a lot of people miss when you hear "survival of the fittest" ... it's not just survival ... it is SURVIVAL TO PROCREATE.  I.e. it doesn't matter if you survive if you don't have offspring.  E.g., a peacock's feathers don't help it survive, but it helps it to procreate (it attracts the ladies), and that is all that matters.\n\nAgain, the idea of *evolution* ... that organisms change over time ... is much bigger than the theory of natural selection.  Darwin's theory merely provides the missing piece of information of HOW that change occurs.
1155653
lets see....your on a web site that asks questions of other humans so we can learn, understand, sometimes roll our eyes at the stupidity and rationalize our place within our social setting/ group...right? \nthat's sociology......the  mundane that links us together as a social group. every "thinking" animal uses it to survive and as a precursor to evolution.
96013
study of whole societies: the branch of sociology concerned with the study and analysis of societies in their entirety
423840
That was a very good answer- But the question is so broad and important nobody would have space to give it the space it deserves.  There is an absolutely fantastic book called "Guns, germs, and steel" that goes into the differential evolution of cultures and societies, and gives this a very good treatment, plus it's written very well and easy to read- My 12 yr old boy read and understood it very well, and even enjoyed it (not as much as "The day my butt exploded" but there ya go"