38 - David Sloan Wilson - The Evolutionary View of Life

2:07 Evolutionary theory as a comprehensive way of looking at life 7:20 Evolutionary theory and English literature 11:52 Gene-centric evolutionary theory versus the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis 15:50 Looking at learning and management from an evolutionary standpoint: Toyota 17:07 How a knowledge of evolution can influence public policy 25:40 An evolutionary view of psychotherapy 27:00 Multi-level selection theory. Application to cancer therapies. 28:20 How chicken farming illustrates group level selection theory 33:37 The problem of good—how did altruism evolve? 36:54 Water striders 41:11 How these ideas apply to introverts and extroverts and business school hirings 42:41 How they apply to Battlestar Galactica 44:37 The neighbourhood project 48:25 Systems of meaning 50:15 Measuring prosociality among schoolchildren: what influences it? How to increase it? 54:03 Response from more gene-based evolutionary theorists; social science and humanities scholars who have adopted evolutionary approaches 57:10 Equivalence 58:35 Replicators versus vehicles 1:02:14 Applying these principles to our own lives: success and the morality of the cancer cell David’s book This View of Life: Completing the Darwinian Revolution (2019) can be found here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/246844/this-view-of-life-by-david-sloan-wilson/9781101870204/. For more about David’s work see: https://www.religiousstudiesproject.com/persons/david-sloan-wilson/ And https://evolution-institute.org/profile/david-sloan-wilson/ And https://www.prosocial.world/ Find David’s other books here: https://www.amazon.com/David-Sloan-Wilson/e/B001H6MNP6%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share, esp. The Neighbourhood Project: Using Evolution to Improve My City, One Block at a Time (2012): https://www.amazon.com/Neighborhood-Project-Using-Evolution-Improve/dp/0316037672 Follow David on Letter.Wiki: https://letter.wiki/DavidSloanWilson/conversations Follow David on Twitter: @David_S_Wilson Further Notes I discuss Sloan Wilson’s ideas and correspondence with Massimo Pigliucci here: https://areomagazine.com/2019/07/10/human-cultural-evolution-a-letter-exchange/ For the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis see: https://extendedevolutionarysynthesis.com/ Steven C. Hayes and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT): https://stevenchayes.com/category/acceptance-and-commitment-therapy/ For Omar Tonsi Eldakar’s work on waterstriders see https://phys.org/news/2009-11-mom-nice-guys-girls.html Susan Cain, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking (2012). See also: https://www.quietrev.com/ Battlestar Galactica: https://www.syfy.com/battlestargalactica For a critical view, see Jerry Coyne: https://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2012/03/09/david-sloan-wilson-loses-it-again/ See David Sloan Wilson on social constructivism: https://evolution-institute.org/saving-social-constructivism/ Richard Dawkins: The Selfish Gene (1976)