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Equation 3 · Part 10 · Humanity Has Always Been a Human–Technology System

addition

x˙i=xi(fi−fˉ)+∑jMjixj−∑jMijxi,\dot{x}_i = x_i(f_i-\bar f) + \sum_j M_{ji}x_j - \sum_j M_{ij}x_i,
addition

What this part means

Add the term after the plus sign to the term or group before it.

Its job in the formula

Add the term after the plus sign to the term or group before it.

The passage around this formula

A minimal cultural-selection model can represent the frequency xix_i of a variant i as x˙i=xi(fi−fˉ)+∑jMjixj−∑jMijxi\dot{x}_i = x_i(f_i-\bar f) + \sum_j M_{ji}x_j - \sum_j M_{ij}x_i. where fif_i is context-dependent cultural fitness and MijM_{ij} represents transformation or transmission from variant i to j . The equation is illustrative, not a claim that beliefs have fixed genes or that cultural change is reducible to one replicator law. Unlike alleles, cultural variants can be intentionally modified, horizontally transmitted, blended, externally stored, and adopted because of prestige, conformity, coercion, or institutional mandate.

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Learn the underlying idea

Addition combines quantities; subtraction measures the signed difference between them. Parentheses show what is combined before the rest of the expression is evaluated.

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Sources cited in the article section

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