Considerable evidence supports the assertion that cultural replication is now in the early stages of superseding
biological replication as the dominant form of complexity construction. In the modern world we find ourselves in an
ever-more challenging cultural environment that is accelerating pressures for the acquisition of ever-more cultural
information. Of course, the pressure to learn ever-more cultural information has been a feature of our species since
our emergence. This process has operated via the mechanism of the cultural ratchet (see:), but I argue that the
selection for this process is now superseding biological processes. The pressures to learn ever-more advanced cultural
information are most notably manifesting in the pressure for ever-more people requiring ever-more advanced
forms of education. We should expect this trend to continue, and in fact accelerate quite quickly throughout the
21st century along with the continued diffusion and exponential improvement in information and communication
technologies (ICT). Specifically the emergence of evermore advanced robotics and artificial intelligence systems
should replace the need for humans to do low-skill, loweducation jobs. The removal of low-skill, low-education
jobs should increase individual opportunity to explore cultural reproduction-as-vocation (e.g., music, art, science,
engineering, etc.). Artificial intelligence systems becoming embedded in operating systems and apps should also increase
our ability to do ever more complex jobs that require ever-more advanced degrees. Finally, wearable computing,
and in a decade or two brain-interface devices, should exert a strong pressure on people to acquire more and more cultural information to remain socially and economically competitive (for detailed information on a potential evolutionary
pathway see:.