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David Sloan Wilson

is President of ProSocial World and This View of Life Editor-in-Chief

This View of Life Editor in Chief, President of Evolution Institute
Professor of Biology and Anthropology at Binghamton University

David Sloan Wilson is president of ProSocial World and SUNY Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Biology and Anthropology at Binghamton University. He applies evolutionary theory to all aspects of humanity in addition to the rest of life, through Prosocial World and in his own research and writing.  A complete archive of his work is available at www.David SloanWilson.world. His most recent books include his first novel, Atlas Hugged: The Autobiography of John Galt III, and a memoir, A Life Informed by Evolution.

Authored by

David Sloan Wilson

March 2, 2023

Advice to an Aspiring Economist: Introduction

This series of essays is a catalyst for change in the economics profession and how it is taught to the next generation of economists.

Economy
Read
January 30, 2023

A New Economic Paradigm for People and Planet

Business
Economy
Read
December 8, 2022

Cultural Immune Systems as Parts of Cultural Superorganisms

When the concept of 'organism' is expanded to include groups as organisms, the concepts of both “mental” and “immunity” can be seen in a new light.

Biology
Read
November 30, 2022

The Nordic Third Way: A Conversation with Nina Witoszek and Atle Midttun

The Nordic nations are identified as exemplars of good governance, which avoid the excesses of both centralized planning and laissez-faire capitalism.

Business
Economy
Politics
Read
November 17, 2022

Ten Thousand Years of the Third Way: A Conversation with Peter Turchin

Our emergence as a species and the last ten thousand years of human history demonstrates how positive cultural change has taken place.

Business
Economy
History
Read
October 31, 2022

Introducing the ProSocial Commons Book Club

The only thing more pleasurable and instructive than reading a good book on your own is being able to discuss it with others!

ProSocial
Read
October 26, 2022

What Happened to Selfish Genes?

Dawkins himself calls Agren's book "the most thorough reading of the relevant literature that I have ever encountered...he gets it right."

Webinar
Read
October 25, 2022

Hylo: Prosocial Coordination for a Thriving Planet

Technologies are products of the culture in which they emerge, and they guide the emergence of new cultures.

Webinar
Read
October 25, 2022

Evolution of Responses to Homelessness to Reach Functional Zero

Rosanne Haggerty has been working with others to end homelessness since 1990.

Webinar
Read
October 24, 2022

Introducing the ProSocial Commons: The Next Generation

The ProSocial Commons is for anyone who wants to further our mission to "consciously evolve a world that works for all.”

ProSocial
Read
October 23, 2022

Building a Caring Democracy: Four Cornerstones

Systems scientist, cultural historian, and futurist Riane Eisler will address the urgent question of why despite some forward movement, there have been so many regressions to authoritarianism, violence, and domination worldwide.

Webinar
Read
October 20, 2022

Moving Beyond Naïve Theories of Environmental Property Rights

By understanding diversity, we are better equipped to engage with it without dismissing it and to learn from the advantages of different approaches in time and place.

Webinar
Read
October 14, 2022

Envisioning Economies and Cultures Inspired by Living Systems

Imagine an economy that is regenerative and adaptive, one that evolves along with the social organism it supports.

Webinar
Read
October 12, 2022

Identifying the Principles of an Ecological Civilization

Redirecting humanity’s trajectory will require transformation at a foundational level.

Webinar
Read
October 10, 2022

What Happened to Selfish Genes? with J. Arvid Agren

Podcast
Read
October 3, 2022

Living Design: A Novel Interdisciplinary, Interbeing Approach to Regenerating Communities, Organizations, and Ecosystems

An online lecture and in-depth discussion with Tamsin Woolley-Barker. Friday, October 7 at 6pm EST

Webinar
Read
September 29, 2022

Evolution, Complexity, and the Third Way of Development: A Conversation with Scott Peters

There is an alternative way to promote development so governments and other agencies can produce positive social change.

Business
Economy
Read
September 19, 2022

Accounting for Values: An Evolutionary Perspective on Resources

How can organizations and people account for the things they truly value?

Webinar
Read
September 15, 2022

The Third Way of Entrepreneurship in the Internet Age: A Conversation with Tim O’Reilly

The Internet represents the ideal model to understand The Third Way alternative to laissez-faire and centralized planning.

Business
Economy
Read
September 8, 2022

Urban Planning and the Third Way: A Conversation with Daniel T. O’Brien

Smart cities allow a comparison of laissez-faire, centralized planning, and the Third Way of entrepreneurship and all other forms of positive social change.

Business
Economy
Read
August 11, 2022

The Role of the Market in the Third Way of Entrepreneurship: A Conversation with Peter Boettke

Markets have a role to play, but they must be structured so that the cultural evolutionary process is managed to achieve whole-system goals.

Business
Economy
Politics
Read
July 28, 2022

The Third Way of Entrepreneurship and the Art of Public Policy: A Conversation with David Colander

There are many sectors of the economy where for-benefit corporations are a better structure than either for-profit corporations and not-for-profit corporations as currently structured.

Economy
Politics
Read
July 21, 2022

Socialism, Capitalism, and the Third Way of National Governance: A Conversation with Geoffrey Hodgson

The failure of laissez-faire and centralized planning, revealing the need for the Third Way of entrepreneurship and all other forms of positive social change, should exist at all scales of governance.

Politics
Read
July 14, 2022

Pragmatism as the Third Way of Entrepreneurship: A Conversation with Trygve Throntveit

Positive systemic change must be the target of selection. Alternative social practices must be oriented toward the target of selection.

Economy
History
Philosophy
Politics
Read
July 7, 2022

Why We Experiment

Words such as “science” and “experiment” mean different things to different people. Here is what we mean by these two words and how our organization, ProSocial World, puts them into action.

Commentaries
Read
June 30, 2022

Evolution, Complexity, and the Third Way of Entrepreneurship

A modern understanding of human cultural evolution reveals the conventional laissez-faire view of entrepreneurship as too simple.

Business
Culture
Economy
Read
June 16, 2022

Truth and Reconciliation for Group Selection: 8. Anatomy of a Model

Biology
Read
June 7, 2022

The Vienna Circle and Pragmatist Clubs: Variations to Select from for Evolutionary Philosophy

What’s needed is a modern framework for completing the Darwinian revolution for philosophy and all other human-related disciplines.

Philosophy
Read
May 20, 2022

Truth and Reconciliation for Group Selection: 7. If You Make A Mess, Should You Clean It Up?

The only way to recover the simplicity is by cleaning up the mess that was made by falsely rejecting group selection in the 1960s.

Biology
Read
April 26, 2022

Truth and Reconciliation for Group Selection: 6. Individualism

Individualism is the mistaken belief that individuals are somehow a privileged level of the biological hierarchy.

Biology
Read
April 18, 2022

Truth and Reconciliation for Group Selection: 5. The Patriotic History of Individual Selection Theory

Biology
Read
April 4, 2022

Evaluating Narratives of Conscious Evolution

Biology
Culture
Psychology
Read
March 22, 2022

Spirituality, Science, and Action: A Conversation Between David Sloan Wilson and Brother Phap Linh

Spirituality often seems like the opposite of action, but some of the most committed forms of activism come from spiritual leaders.

Religion
Read
March 16, 2022

Constructing ProSocial Environments: The Parable of the Turtle

Nearly every group on earth can benefit from implementing the Core Design Principles and understanding them for what they are.

ProSocial
Read
March 9, 2022

Truth and Reconciliation for Group Selection: 4. The Great Reckoning

By the 1960s, everything that evolved by natural selection was interpreted as a variety of self-interest.

Biology
Read
February 24, 2022

Truth and Reconciliation for Group Selection: 3. Naïve Group Selectionism

Pre-Darwinian notions did not come to an abrupt halt with the advent of Darwin's theory. They linger on.

Biology
Read
February 21, 2022

Conscious Cultural Evolution Takes Root in Latin America

A new project in Latin America draws upon an unexpected source of insight: Darwin’s theory of evolution.

Opportunities
Read
February 15, 2022

Truth and Reconciliation for Group Selection: 2. The Original Problem

Darwin observed that groups of prosocial individuals will survive and reproduce better than groups of antisocial individuals.

Biology
Read
February 12, 2022

Introducing the ProSocial Commons

ProSocial World is excited to introduce a new experimental support and engagement group called the ProSocial Commons.

ProSocial
Read
February 8, 2022

Truth and Reconciliation for Group Selection

A prologue for the Twelfth Anniversary Edition.

Biology
Read
February 8, 2022

Truth and Reconciliation for Group Selection: 1. Why It Is Needed

What happens when science doesn't work as it should? Such is the case for the controversy over group selection.

Biology
Read
January 5, 2022

The Six Legacies of Edward O. Wilson

Edward O. Wilson, who passed away at the age of 92 on December 26, 2021, is widely recognized as a giant of the Arts and Sciences.

Biology
History
Read
October 4, 2021

Stewarding the Cultural Evolution of Complex Systems: The Case of Regenerative Agriculture

A conversation with Prof. Nicholas R. Jordan, founder of Forever Green which is one of the most ambitious efforts to transition from conventional farming practices to regenerative agriculture

Biology
Economy
Read
May 12, 2021

Agile as a Case Study of Cultural Multilevel Selection: A Conversation with Laurent Alt

Business
Read
April 7, 2021

Evolution and Contextual Behavioral Science: Psychopathology and Behavior Change

Biology
Read
April 7, 2021

Evolution and Contextual Behavioral Science: Past, Present, and Future

Biology
Read
March 17, 2021

Turning Fiction Into Reality: A Conversation with Stuart Libman

Fiction has a way of communicating a moral ideal better than dry intellectual prose.

Humanities
Read
March 11, 2021

Greek Democracy as a Major Evolutionary Transition: A Conversation with Josiah Ober

History
Humanities
Read
February 21, 2021

Uma Evolução Cultural Consciente se Enraíza na América Latina

News
Read
February 21, 2021

La Evolución Cultural Consciente se Afianza en América Latina

News
Read
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Mission Statement

Our mission is to work together to facilitate and inspire positive cultural change using evolutionary and behavioural science.

Vision Statement

Our vision is for a more prosocial world.

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