Abstract
In the first part of this article we survey general similarities and differences
between biological and social macroevolution. In the second (and main) part,
we consider a concrete mathematical model capable of describing important
features of both biological and social macroevolution. In mathematical models
of historical macrodynamics, a hyperbolic pattern of world population growth
arises from non-linear, second-order positive feedback between demographic
growth and technological development. Based on diverse paleontological data
and an analogy with macrosociological models, we suggest that the hyperbolic
character of biodiversity growth can be similarly accounted for by non-linear,
second-order positive feedback between diversity growth and the complexity of
community structure. We discuss how such positive feedback mechanisms can
be modelled mathematically.