All for one and one for all: proverbs, prosociality, and the evolution of cultural norms

Abstract

Proverbs have a deep history and wide cultural use. The simplicity and metaphorical nature of proverbs obfuscates the importance of these pithy statements of wisdom in cultural evolution. This systematic and exploratory study looks at the part that proverbs play within the context of evolutionary group behaviours across cultures. The data for the exploration came from the most well-known proverbs in six countries and an International Database of Proverb Types, the Matti Kuusi database. These data were systematically collected and analysed, mapping each candidate proverb against one or more of nine behaviours. The chosen proverbs formed the data for analysis in the three study streams. Stream one used the Matti Kussi database of proverbs as the data feed to explore the cultural overlap of proverbs that reflect behaviour across six world regions. Stream two performed a similar task but used proverb data from the most commonly known proverbs (paremiological minimum) of six countries. A third temporal stream used proverb data from the first two streams to explore if proverb frequency changes during times of conflict, specifically World War Two. The results of stream two showed compelling evidence of cross-cultural use of proverbs that map to behaviours. The results from stream one were less compelling; however, this may be due to the unverified data from the Matti Kuusi database, as opposed to the more systematically verified data from the paremiological minimum. Stream three needs to be explored further as the analysis is highly qualitative, with results that open more questions than answers. Future, more quantitative work that explores the temporal aspects of proverbs within a cultural evolution frame, would provide another dimension to the work. As the proverbs tell us:
“The truth will out.” “Many hands make light work.”