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
October 19, 2016
Developing the Field Site Concept for the Study of Cultural Evolution: Introduction
Together with commentaries by authors with diverse perspectives on field research, we hope to catalyze the formation of field sites for the study of cultural evolution around the world.
October 3, 2016
Developing the Field Site Concept for the Study of Cultural Evolution: An Evolutionary Biologist’s View
The human capacity to transmit large amounts of learned information across generations is now properly seen as both a product of genetic evolution and a process of evolution in its own right.
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October 8, 2013
Darwin’s Business Conference At NYU Stern
New evolutionary thinking about cooperation, groups, firms and societies.To explore the new implications of this vastly improved evolutionary theory for business, we recently organized a one-day symposium at Stern titled “Darwin’s Business: New Evolutionary Thinking About Cooperation, Groups, Firms and Societies.”
May 23, 2018
Is There a Universal Morality? Introduction and Overview of Responses
TVOL is pleased to explore the question “Is there a universal morality?” with the help of philosophers and scientists at the forefront of studying morality in light of “this view of life”. Our fifteen essayists provided a surprising diversity of answers to the question.
June 18, 2018
You're Racist and Sexist, But It’s Not (Entirely) Your Fault
Companies are great at evaluating skills but inconsistent at evaluating temperament due to unconscious bias. These biases are, in part, a natural outcome of the human species evolving in small, homogenous groups. But new tools can help us overcome our innate biases to achieve cultural change.
October 9, 2018
Saving Social Constructivism
Social constructivism is on trial for being an academic fraud. Can it be rescued and does it have valid points to make about science after all?
July 28, 2023
Can Evolution Be Conscious? Introducing a Collection of Commentaries Published on This View of Life
To make the concept of conscious evolution fully respectable again, TVOL is pleased to feature this collection of commentaries by leading evolutionary scientists and philosophers.
November 28, 2018
Fighting for the Middle Ground: David Sloan Wilson Interviews Holly Dunsworth on the Ethics of Teaching Evolution
In a world that is being ripped apart by polarized views and fake news, scientific discourse might be the last bastion of constructive disagreement based on respect for objective knowledge.
May 10, 2019
Group Selection in Every Way Except Using the Words: A Critique of "The Goodness Paradox" by Richard Wrangham
Wrangham's new book on the evolution of cooperation gets many things right. But he errs in thinking that he can develop his thesis without invoking group selection.
July 22, 2019
Master Class: A Conversation with Jonathan Birch About the Equivalence of Theories of Social Evolution
The controversy over group selection that emerged in the 1960’s seemed as if one theory could be rejected in favor of another, but it was really more like monolingual people declaring each other to be confusing and wrong.
September 25, 2019
New Foundations for Macroeconomics
Ever since Darwin drew upon Thomas Malthus and Adam Smith, economic and evolutionary theory have been entwined throughout their histories. Yet modern macroeconomic theory has yet to incorporate developments in evolutionary theory during the last few decades.
February 13, 2020
Evolving a Sustainable Future in the United Kingdom
ProSocial is inherently about equity and co-production starting at the scale of small groups and then applying the same principles at multiple levels.
February 27, 2020
The Cultural Evolution of Social Pathologies: Introduction to a Series of Essays by Anthony Biglan
The fact that evolutionary selection pressures so often result in social pathologies might be hard to accept, but once faced squarely it can lead to an optimistic point of view.
July 13, 2020
Ecosystems are Probably Not What You Think: A Conversation with Tom Whitham
What are ecosystems? Do they achieve some kind of balance in their natural state? Do they evolve in a way that can't be explained by the evolution of their component species? I take a deep dive with Tom Whitham into territory that is controversial even among the experts.
Events with
David Sloan Wilson
September 30th
Apply to the Atlas Hugged Reading Group
A new reading group centered around David Sloan Wilson's novel, Atlas Hugged.
Friday, April 14th at 2:30pm ET / 6:30 pm UTC
UMass Amherst Lecture: Multilevel Cultural Evolution with David Sloan Wilson
PERI will cohost a public lecture with David Sloan Wilson, President, Prosocial World and SUNY Distinguished Professor Emeritus Binghamton University
Wednesday, April 12th at 12pm ET
Research Seminar Series: Dual Inheritance Theory and a Theoretical Examination of the Symbotype-Phenotype Relationship - Part 2
Free Seminar and Q&A
Wednesday April 5th at 6pm ET
Research Seminar Series: Dual Inheritance Theory and a Theoretical Examination of the Symbotype-Phenotype Relationship - Part 1
Free Seminar and Q&A
Tuesday March 28th at 6pm ET
Prosocial Commons Book Club: How Indigenous Thinking Can Change the World
ProSocial Commons Book Club: Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Change the World, by Tyson Yunkaporta
January 30th 1pm ET / 6pm UTC
A New Economic Paradigm for People and Planet
Can we re-define and re-design economics to respond more effectively to the complex collective challenges facing us now, and in the future?
January 27th at 12pm ET / 5pm UTC
Seminar: The State of Prosocial World with David Sloan Wilson
Free Seminar and Q&A from President David Sloan Wilson