David Sloan Wilson

Mixed feelings about this. I guess the main point of the book is that we should use evolutionary ideas to better understand humanity and to help formulate public policy. In order to get there he has to explain evolution and especially his ideas about multilevel selection. Important stuff, but not clearly explicated, especially the multilevel stuff which I understand to be pretty controversial among geneticists. Then the way he applies this stuff to things like schools, businesses, and governments has some good ideas but it feels really thin, illustrated by a few cases and a few experiments that don’t seem conclusive. I’m really very receptive to this way of thinking about things, but I don’t feel like he did a great job making his points.… (more)

Evolution provides a framework for thinking about all aspects of the human condition. A significant teaching for me is the distinction between the proximate and ultimate cause of an adaptive change. The proximate cause is an immediate response to something in the environment that turns out to be useful for survival. Kids may gather to play because it's fun (the proximate cause), but it makes them safer to be in a group, so the behavior is reinforced (the ultimate cause).

It was surprising to find out how limited the application of evolutionary principles are in academia. Surprising that each discipline is so cloistered that it is not even aware of such principles and scholars in different disciplines are parochially resistant to even considering the application of evolutionary thought to their studies.

Most thought provoking are the application of evolutionary thinking to the study of culture.… (more)