What is social evolution?

Question

In layman's terms

Answer 1

Uh, you don't give any context or details, so all I can say is, societies change over time; this process could be called social evolution.

Answer 2

It could mean: 1) the idea that human societies can be classified by how fast they are advancing away from a more primitive state to a more civilized or advanced one; or maybe 2) the idea that human societies have grown more diverse over time to fit different ecological niches, a process that  plays a significant role in fostering other kinds of social change.

The first idea is pseudo-science, because there is no way to evaluate a society's rate of "progress" without using value judgments that are specific to our own society. What does it mean to be civilized? What does it mean for one society to be more advanced than another? There's just no way you can answer that question without dragging in your own cultural prejudices about what kind of society is desirable or not.

I think the second idea of social evolution is legitimate, though, as long as you don't take it too far.

P.S. I tried to edit for clarity - sorry, I'm not sure how to explain it more simply.