Many technologies and business practice details have changed greatly over the last few centuries. And looking at the specifics of who did what when, much of this change looks like selection and learning. That is, people tried lots of things, some of these worked, and then others copied the winning practices. The whole pattern looks much like a hard to predict random walk.
Selection is different groups trying different approaches and some of them seeming to work better than others, and then other groups copying the successful. That's not what you are describing here.
"Selection has less to do with how a society’s behaviors change as it gets rich."
Why couldn't selection explain this, too?
People have a genetically evolved hierarchy of needs. This causes youthful individuals to act youthful (to indulge needs beyond survival) to the extent that their survival needs are covered by family and community. It also causes wealthy societies to behave differently because the individuals composing them act more youthful to the extent that their survival needs are covered by their wealth.
"Bruce Charlton wrote... 'probably adaptive in modern society'"
If "adaptive" is used here in the Darwinian sense, then it it is not obvious that "to change jobs, learn new skills, move to new places and make new friends" is adaptive. Do people who do those things reproduce more on average?
Selection is different groups trying different approaches and some of them seeming to work better than others, and then other groups copying the successful. That's not what you are describing here.
"Selection has less to do with how a society’s behaviors change as it gets rich."
Why couldn't selection explain this, too?
People have a genetically evolved hierarchy of needs. This causes youthful individuals to act youthful (to indulge needs beyond survival) to the extent that their survival needs are covered by family and community. It also causes wealthy societies to behave differently because the individuals composing them act more youthful to the extent that their survival needs are covered by their wealth.
"Bruce Charlton wrote... 'probably adaptive in modern society'"
If "adaptive" is used here in the Darwinian sense, then it it is not obvious that "to change jobs, learn new skills, move to new places and make new friends" is adaptive. Do people who do those things reproduce more on average?