Now, let’s take a look at the evolution of society and species systems.

Sociocultural Evolution is important to factor into your designs. This is the study of sociobiology and cultural evolution. If you don’t understand how society might change, then it's harder to create more useful details in your designs. You need a good understanding of what characters need to survive or need to move onto the next stage of their lives.

Societies often become more complex over time. Scientists have likened the steps of societal evolution to the same as biological evolution. Scientists in this field often look for any recurring patterns or processes in the way societies change over time. There have also been studies looking into if different societies have different patterns, and are strictly unique.

There is also evidence to suggest that extremely evolved societies can also come crashing down quickly, and decrease in complexity. However, this is dependent on how big and frequent the crashes are , and how large the societal patterns are as well. The larger a society is, the more unstable it becomes. The smaller it is, the less advancements, but less social conflict occurs.

The way scientists can trace and understand the hierarchical and political spectrum of a society, is by tracing the language of cultures, and any sister languages of it. If you are studying an archaeological dig, you can’t study how people in that time would interact or exchange information. Simply because they are all dead.

By looking for patterns in different languages, scientists can see when different languages branched out with each other, combined, or when they disappeared. That in turn can trace cultural lineages, locations, and regions. There are some flaws in this thinking though, so this method isn’t always accurate. Base letters and symbols can evolve and be used in different languages, even if they both have never been combined before. Words can also be borrowed from other societies without having a common origin.

So if you are creating a futuristic world, you will have to make sure language is incorporated in some way. It will not only be used as a way to communicate, but also to age the scene. As well as set the political tone.

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Societies evolve non-linearly. They have ups and downs, and information is lost and gained. Understanding how they were formed and how they grew can help you build a world from a hierarchical perspective, and make it more believable. So let’s take a brief history lesson.

Hopefully you can see how some of these theories might be useful when planning your environments.

In the 18th century, theories on the evolution of humans in relation to the environment started to occur. Montesquieu, a French Author and historian observed how climate changed the characteristics of humans and played an important role in cultural movement. He also noticed that the more humans evolved, the less governed they were by their environment.

Erasmus Darwin’s (1731-1802) theory called The Temple of Nature (which was subtitled ‘the Origin of Society’) was the next big discovery on the cultural front. This man was Charles Darwin's grandfather, and just like himself, was very interested in biology.

His theory suggested that society functioned the same way as his own view on biological evolution. His theories were that over time all organisms became more complex over time, and shared a single ancestor.

Then there was Robert Chambers (1802-1871), who was described as a Scottish Evolutionary Thinker. His theories are now considered wildly inaccurate, but they are fun to take a look at. He believed that everything evolved by the same mechanism, and goes towards higher order structure. He believed that everything evolved through different classes, and there was a hierarchy to societal life. That all animals have the lowest form they could exist in, and they would gradually change into their highest form. He also created his own laws of creation around this theory, and stated that every species was preordained.

In the mid-19th century, Darwin's evolution was revisited. Scholars around this time period started to revisit past cultures and compare them to their current one. They concluded that societal growth paralleled the evolution of the human species. Scientists around this time also started observing other species of animals for cultural hierarchy. As well as for principles of development and structure and fundamental principles of organization.

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There were also many other theories to say that society evolved through economic trade and transactions. And the economic driven culture shaped our direct behavior. There were also wilder theories that there were stages of society. And these stages were driven by supernatural beings. And all matter was created in patterns from obscure forces. Auguste Comte, known as "the father of sociology", spread these theories wildly.

Lester Frank Ward (1841–1913),the "father" of American sociology rejected a lot of theories about society. He believed that society evolved through “survival of the fittest”, and humans creating goals for themselves, as they were the only intelligent creature in the Universe. (This is not true.)
He believed that the evolutionary processes have four stages:
Cosmogenesis, creation and evolution of the world.
Biogenesis. The Creation of Life.
Anthropogenesis, Development of humanity.
Sociogenesis, The evolutionary process to optimize human happiness and individual self-actualization.

As you can see, easily into the 19th century, it was still accepted that there were mystical forces that helped humans evolve, and that was combined with science. People wanted to believe that change was happening for a reason. Now those methods are discredited. You can also see how biased evolution theory was toward humans, and considered us far superior than any other animal.

A lot of early theories of evolution helped build a huge foundation of racism in science, which has had lasting impacts on society and the scientific community to this day. Such as theories like Social Darwinism, and of social evolution. These theories encouraged the picking and choosing of genes, and what would be the final being that humans would evolve into. Which took many scholars down some dark roads. However, now in the 20th century we are doing better to include other cultures when looking at history. We know a lot of these theories are wildly unacceptable, and science as a whole is trying to be better.

In the 1920s and 30s, V. Gordon Childe, an Australian archaeologist, introduced the idea of cultural evolutionism. He showcased the ways that African and Asian cultures moved into Europe, and other regions of the world. He was also able to prove that these cultures belonged in the current scientific theories by showcasing tools and technology they had built over time. And they were no lesser than European culture. By developing chronologies of European and other cultures he showed that each culture diverged from each other because it needed to fulfill different needs. He also noticed that when cultures combine, they often merge ideas, technology, and form one mega-culture.


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Neoevolutionism started to pick up in the 1930s as well. This was a theory that followed the evolution of societies by drawing on Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. It attempted to prove how evolution started through showcasing ideas through archaeology, paleontology, and historiography. While also trying to remove any basis, and moral beliefs. It also introduces ideas that social changes don’t happen only through intentional decisions , rather from accidents. It also factors in the “What if” elements of if history was written differently. Some other ideas to emerge from this is that some cultures skip developmental stages , and progress faster than others.

Some Neo Evolutionists such as Leslie White believed that society changed around its technology. The more advanced the technology, the more energy it would consume. As well as its environment . He also stated that you could measure how advanced a society would become based on its energy consumption.

Julian Steward believed that following the path of Neoevolutionism, you could also say that species evolved through their environment. That political systems, ideologies and religion all formed around how species adapted to it. He also suggested that all these factors push society in many different directions all at once.

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Now there are a lot more theories on evolution and civilization in general. But these are some ideas to get you started. So let’s wrap up what we can learn from this:

There are many different ways of interpreting how societies interact, and one of the best ways is through language.
Internal factors such as politics, racism, and religion can shape the directions in which societies grow.
Societies can change and focus on technology, survival, and overall growth.
The larger a society gets, the more complex its patterns and systems become.
Every interacting culture has a significant change on how they both adapt and trade technology.
Languages can evolve through cultures, and share aspects.
Environments can also impact how nations and species develop over time.

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So when modeling a concept, think about what group of species will live in it. As well as how they might treat each other. If you need a great example of cultural evolution and society can be shown through environments , take a look at District 9.

District 9 is my favorite film. When you watch it, you can feel the love put into it. And VFX wise, the images hold up. And that film was released 13 years ago. Feel old yet?

But the details you see in the on set pieces and VFX are brilliantly crafted. Within the first 30 seconds you fully understand you are set in a slum in South Africa. In another version of Apartheid. In the plot of the film, they never stated directly, but the way the background is presented you understand the situation immediately. As well as the status of the aliens, and how they are treated vs humans. It’s the perfect example of how technology can be “shared” between civilizations, and how societies can clash.

Often if two different nations don’t get along, weapons or tools will be created to control the other. If you are designing an environment that contains this concept, then you need to think about how you should represent those tools in the scenes. Should they be focused on to add tension? Or should they be hidden to add another layer of emotion to the scene?

If you are representing a cohesive and happy culture, you will most likely be designing a more supportive environment. This might be less weapons, more open spaces, culturally accepting advertisements, and cleanliness. The one thing to remember is that there is often a common trope in science fiction surrounding happy environments. They have to be clean to the point where they are almost devoid of character. Healthy science fiction doesn’t mean that it has to be boring. Showcase why the characters are happy, their quirks,and items that matter to them. If they prefer a messy environment over a tidy one, or even like to personalize their workspaces. As well as which parts of their motivation drive the plot.

A science fiction environment doesn’t have to be beautiful. Don’t think about modeling until you truly have decided who should be living in your world. Once you’ve decided on the pieces of technology you would like to showcase, and how they might look in the future., then think about the 3D side.