Theoretical and Computational Models of Cohesion, Competition and Maladaptation in the Evolution of Human Musical Behaviour

This thesis is concerned with the evolution of musical behaviour in humans, considered on a broad theoretical level. Drawing on key theoretical developments in the evolution of human cultural behaviour, and the potential interaction between culture and biological evolution, I propose that music has evolved through a feedback process between human cultural systems and human physiology, that places its origin not in any adaptive function but in the non-functional consequences of complex dynamical systems—in particular, systems in which cultural dynamics strongly determine relative individual fitness. In the context of other approaches to the theory of the evolution of musical behaviour in humans, the primary goal of this research is to elucidate the potential for biocultural evolutionary feedback processes to lead to the cultural and biological stability of activities such as music. In the first half of the thesis, I review existing theories that are concerned with the evolution of musical behaviour and attempt to classify them according to their basic evolutionary theoretical position. I evaluate these theories in terms of broad issues in evolutionary theory and the theory of biocultural coevolution, and compare views from the natural and social sciences on the process of cultural evolution. I also review the role of computer simulation modelling in understanding the general dynamics of biocultural coevolution and emergent behaviour. In the second half of the thesis, I present a modelling framework specifically dedicated to performing multi-agent simulations concerned with the evolution of musical behaviour, and experimenting with a number of agent models. The simulations presented in this thesis demonstrate how, in the context of cultural behaviour, individual behaviour is capable of tending towards behaviours that are not functional for individuals or for groups. This presents an alternative to sexual selection as a hypothesis for the evolution of human behaviours not based on direct utility. I conclude that these simulations demonstrate how cohesive behaviour could emerge from competitive behaviour in the context of a system of stylistic interaction, and could be extended with the aim of developing a more precise formulation of the ways in which biological evolution can be effected by systems of cultural behaviour.