Cross-culturally two widely observed forms of social structure are individualism (open societies) and ascribed hierarchies (closed societies). Associated with these two types of social structure are a wide range of recurrent concomitant features. It is proposed that these two forms of social structure are common, in part, because they are associated with modular forms of understanding that lend intuitive support to them. In particular, it is proposed that individualistic open societies are associated with a folk-physics mode of construal whereas closed societies are associated with a folk-biological mode of construal. These distinctions are illustrated with the European Enlightenment as a hypothesized transition from closed to open societies.

跨文化的两种社会结构形式是个人主义（开放社会）和归属等级制度（封闭社会）。与这两种类型的社会结构相关的是各种各样的经常性伴随特征。有人提出这两种形式的社会结构是共同的，部分原因是它们与模块化的理解形式相关联，从而为它们提供了直观的支持。特别是，有人提出，个人主义的开放社会与建构的民间物理学模式有关，而封闭的社会与建构的民间生物学模式有关。这些区别在欧洲启蒙运动中得到了说明，是从封闭社会向开放社会的假定过渡。