Cultural and Biological evolution

Ridley's summary of Darwinism; Replication, Variation, and Selection prompts a thought. If this is a proper summary of the process of biology, what are the correspondents in terms of culture?

My nominees. For Replication, it would be communication in all its forms, spoken and written as well as art and music. Communication permits the handing down from generation to generation a body of knowledge and wisdom which facilitates survival.

For Variation, I think the analog would be trade or exchange. New goods and new ideas disrupt the status quo and are introduced at a faster rate than if everything had to be invented here.

For Selection, perhaps the analog is Freedom. Freedom expands the range of influencers on survival from a small number of leaders to the maximum of the population. All those independent forces of decision-making are actually forces of selection. One of the consequences of moving from a system of narrow, centralized decision-making to a system of broad inclusive decision-making is that predictability goes down and surprises (innovation) goes up. Totalitarian regimes (centralized decision-making) can be extremely brutal just as laissez-faire systems of decision-making (where everyone gets to decide). The difference is not in the brutality of decision-making. All decision-making disappoints or harms someone. The difference is in the effectiveness in terms of long term survival.