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David Sloan Wilson

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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

July 18, 2023

On The Beauty and Necessity of Structure

My hope for this essay is to endow the social enterprise, not only with a sense of necessity, but also with a sense of beauty.

Biology
Culture
Read
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.

Culture
Anthropology
Read
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.

Culture
Anthropology
Read
June 1, 2022

Truth and Reconciliation for Group Selection: 19. Happily Ever After

Biology
Read
May 31, 2022

Truth and Reconciliation for Group Selection: 18. The End is Near

Biology
Read
May 29, 2022

Truth and Reconciliation for Group Selection: 17. The (Crude) Human Superorganism

Biology
Read
May 28, 2022

Truth and Reconciliation for Group Selection: 16. Individualism is Dead: Long Live Major Transitions

Biology
Read
May 27, 2022

Truth and Reconciliation for Group Selection: 15. Group Selection in the Wild

Biology
Read
May 26, 2022

Truth and Reconciliation for Group Selection: 14. Group Selection in the Laboratory

Biology
Read
May 25, 2022

Truth and Reconciliation for Group Selection: 13. Hamilton Speaks

Biology
Read
May 24, 2022

Truth and Reconciliation for Group Selection: 12. Multilevel Selection Theory, Salsa Style

Biology
Read
May 23, 2022

Truth and Reconciliation for Group Selection: 11. Dawkins Protests (Too Much)

Biology
Read
May 22, 2022

Truth and Reconciliation for Group Selection: 10. Naive Gene Selectionism

Biology
Read
May 21, 2022

Truth and Reconciliation for Group Selection: 9. Anatomy of a Model (Continued)

Biology
Read
September 26, 2016

Was Dewey a Darwinian? Yes! Yes! Yes! An Interview with Trevor Pearce

History
Biology
Politics
Read
March 1, 2023

Anti-Trust from a Multilevel Evolutionary Perspective with Denise Hearn

Can Multilevel Cultural Evolution provide a new paradigm for anti-trust law, along with the rest of economics?

Podcast
Read
July 10, 2020

Diagnosing a high-end application of ProSocial

ProSocial
Interview
Read
January 5, 2017

The Riddle—and the Range—of Art: Brian Boyd on the Evolution of the Arts from the Pleistocene to the Present

The celebrated literary scholar Brian Boyd takes us on a tour of an amazing museum exhibit and other happenings at the interface of art and evolution.

Arts
Biology
Read
January 27, 2012

Science As A Process Of Constructive Disagreement

Culture
Read
July 4, 2013

Generalizing The Core Design Principles For The Efficacy of Groups

Challenging the prevailing wisdom that top-down or market-based approaches are necessary for managing environmental resources.

Economy
Read
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.”

Business
Read
July 4, 2013

Evolution As A General Theoretical Framework For Economics And Public Policy

The evolutionary paradigm should be consulted by people across the political spectrum.

Economy
Read
January 30, 2023

A New Economic Paradigm for People and Planet

Business
Economy
Read
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.

Morality
Special Publication
Read
June 25, 2018

ProWocial World Receives Grant from Templeton World Charity Foundation

Business
News
ProSocial
Read
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.

Business
Culture
Economy
Read
August 16, 2018

Attention Teachers! How To Turn Your Classes Into Prosocial Groups

ProSocial.World, a project by David Sloan Wilson, is a practical method for improving the efficacy of groups and wellbeing of their members. Why not use the method in our own college classes?

Education
Read
July 15, 2018

Humanizing Corporations: A Nobel Prize for Enlightened Business Leaders

How Per L. Saxegaard's (Business for Peace Foundation) efforts to humanize corporations can be understood from a multilevel evolutionary perspective.

Business
Economy
Read
December 3, 2018

Was Darwin A Group Selectionist? A Conversation with Elliott Sober

You can’t talk about religious beliefs and practices as adaptations without addressing the issue of group selection.

Biology
Read
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?

Biology
Philosophy
Read
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.

Commentaries
Read
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.

Anthropology
Biology
Gender
Race
Read
December 21, 2018

A School, Camp, and Retreat Center Informed by Evolutionary Science

Arts
Culture
Education
Read
December 18, 2018

Was Hamilton a Group Selectionist? A Conversation with Oren Harman

W.D. Hamilton is best known for developing Inclusive Fitness Theory. What is less well known is that Hamilton changed his mind about the relationship between his theory and group selection.

Biology
History
Read
December 27, 2018

Science and Religion Need Not Be At War

My Agreement and Disagreement with Jerry Coyne.

Biology
Religion
Read
February 22, 2019

Evolutionary Mismatch and What To Do About It

Biology
Commentaries
Read
March 6, 2019

What All Theories of Social Evolution Share In Common

If prosocial behaviors are vulnerable to more self-serving behaviors in every group where both types of behaviors occur, then how can they evolve by natural selection?

Biology
Morality
Read
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.

Anthropology
Biology
Read
June 7, 2019

What Bret Weinstein Gets Wrong About Group Selection

Biology
Read
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.

Biology
Read
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.

Economy
Read
December 22, 2019

Beyond Individualism

The hardest thing for a fish to see is water. This adage aptly expresses the difficulty we have understanding our own cultures. We spot the foibles of other cultures--even our own cultures in the past--but are blind to our current foibles.

Economy
Read
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.

Opportunities
ProSocial
Read
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.

Business
Culture
Economy
Politics
Read
April 3, 2020

To Adapt to Your Current Challenges, Try this Speed Version of ProSocial

Are you feeling overwhelmed by the challenges that the global pandemic has thrust upon you? A positive change method called ProSocial can help you in the space of an hour.

Culture
ProSocial
Read
June 15, 2020

Science as a Moral System with Robert T. Pennock

Podcast
Read
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.

Podcast
Read
July 20, 2020

Debate: Nothing in Sociology Makes Sense Except in the Light of Evolution

It is time for sociologists to engage in a deeper conversation with evolutionary scientists about human origins and human needs.

Sociology
Read
August 2, 2020

Morality from an Evolutionary Perspective with Simon Blackburn

David discusses morality from an evolutionary perspective with analytic philosopher Simon Blackburn.

Podcast
Read
August 3, 2023

Evolution, Complexity, and the Third Way of Entrepreneurship: A Capstone Conversation with Victor Hwang

Entrepreneurs are not disconnected individuals, they are cooperating in a connected ecosystem.

Business
Economy
Read
Next

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.

More Info
Register Here
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

More Info
Register Here
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

More Info
Register Here
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

More Info
Register Here
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

More Info
Register Here
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?

More Info
Register Here
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

More Info
Register Here
Belief Statement

We believe that to catalyze rapid, positive cultural change we need to recognize our interconnectedness and continuously improve the relationships we have with ourselves, each other and the planet.

Purpose Statement

Consciously evolve a world that works for all.

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