Every now and then I succumb to a sociological impulse, this time provoked by an article in Wired magazine - Culture Evolves Slowly, Falls Apart Quickly.

Evolution is apparently directed, linear, characterized by increasing levels of hierarchy. It begins with egalitarian bands, proceeds to egalitarian tribes, on to clustering into chiefdoms, thence to hereditary leaders and finally "united into states with bureaucracies and administrative offices". I don't know whether to cringe or laugh.

The authors go on to talk of  how "Political evolution, like biological evolution, tends to proceed through small steps rather than through major jumps in ‘design space,’ I'm not a biologist, yet even I have heard of punctuated evolution. Rather amusing I suppose; it is Wired after all.  The world is full of improbable animals, why not some improbable journalism.

By way of contrast you might compare this report on the same work from Nature.