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THIS VIEW OF LIFE

Is Shame a Bug or a Feature? An Applied Evolutionary Approach

Shame seems to have two separate components. One, the corrective feedback for us by which to monitor social behavior. The other, the more troublesome one, is putting oneself down as an incompetent person.

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By David Sloan Wilson In Biology

What Bret Weinstein Gets Wrong About Group Selection

The world continues to wait for a conversation between Bret Weinstein and myself on the topic of group selection. It began with Weinstein’s conversation with Richard Dawkins, where he tried...

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By James Steele In Biology

The Physical Activity Mismatch: Can Evolutionary Perspectives Inform Exercise Recommendations?

It’s highly likely that some degree of mismatch exists between our modern environment and the physical activity levels we have evolved to perform.

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Biology Health

Public Health and Evolutionary Mismatch: The Tragedy of Unnecessary Suffering and Death

The current anti-vaccination movement is a result, in part, of the innate cognitive biases inherent…

George Diggs
May 22, 2019

Biology

How to Eliminate Going to the Dentist

Tooth decay is the most prevalent diseases of the modern age1. Unfortunately, too many people…

John Sorrentino
May 16, 2019

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Biology Education

Mismatch Between Our Biologically Evolved Educative Instincts and Culturally Evolved Schools

The basic structure of standard schooling requires that children’s natural self-educative instincts be suppressed.

Peter Gray
May 2, 2019

Biology

Humans: Smart Enough to Create Processed Foods, Daft Enough to Eat Them

I spend a lot of time thinking about food and health and have a suspicion…

Ian Spreadbury
April 30, 2019

Anthropology Food for thought

The Future of the Ancestral Health Movement

The current ancestral health movement is often thought to be on the verge of going…

Hamilton M. Stapell
April 25, 2019

Biology

Excerpt from “This View of Life” by David Sloan Wilson

David Sloan Wilson
April 15, 2019

Biology

Do We Sleep Better Than Our Ancestors? How Natural Selection and Modern Life Have Shaped Human Sleep

Humans sleep substantially less than expected but pack a larger percentage of REM sleep than…

Charles Nunn, David Samson
April 11, 2019

Biology Health Technology

The Potential Evolutionary Mismatches of Germicidal Ambient Lighting

Introducing germicidal blue light essentially creates a new environment that most bacteria appear to be…

Marcel J. Harmon
April 4, 2019

Biology Health

Is Cancer a Disease of Civilization?

Our cancer suppression mechanisms evolved for a world that is not the world we live…

Athena Aktipis
April 2, 2019

Biology Health

The Darwinian Causes of Mental Illness

Why hasn’t natural selection eliminated -- or at least severely reduced the frequency of --…

Eirik Garnas
March 22, 2019

Health

(Mis-) Communication in Medicine: A Preventive Way for Doctors to Preserve Effective Communication in Technologically-Evolved Healthcare Environments

Cultural evolution created technologically-advanced contexts that make it difficult for doctors to communicate with patients…

Brent C. Pottenger
March 20, 2019

Opportunities

Call for Volunteer Research Assistant

Evolution Institute is looking for a volunteer research assistant! Applications are due April 22, 2019.

Evolution Institute
March 20, 2019

Biology

Generating Testable Hypotheses of Evolutionary Mismatch

Models of ancestral environments are hard to construct and as a result such hypotheses are…

Sudhindra Rao
March 13, 2019

Biology Morality

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…

David Sloan Wilson
March 6, 2019

Biology

It’s Time To See the Light (Another Example of Evolutionary Mismatch)

The biological clock prepares our bodies for predictable events, like sleep and energy intake. Misalignment…

Dan Pardi
February 28, 2019

Biology Gender Health

A Mother’s Mismatch: Why Cancer Has Deep Evolutionary Roots

While cancer is not exclusively a disease of modern environments, many modern environmental changes influence…

Amy M. Boddy
February 25, 2019

Anthropology Biology

Functional Frivolity: The Evolution and Development of the Human Brain Through Play

Play is not frivolous but is an adaptation designed to guide proper cognitive development in…

Aaron Blaisdell
February 22, 2019

Biology Commentaries

Evolutionary Mismatch and What To Do About It

A critical moment in the life of a sea turtle is when it hatches from…

David Sloan Wilson, Anthony J. Basile, J. Brett Smith
February 22, 2019

Biology Philosophy

Why Teleology is the Elephant in Evolutionary Theory’s Room

Imagine humans one day fulfill what is currently only a dream for the discipline known…

Felipe A. Veloso
February 19, 2019

Biology Philosophy

Can Evolution be Understood as a Conscious Process?

My approach is explored by considering Aristotelian Causal Categories, focusing on Final Cause. I then…

Stanley N. Salthe
February 6, 2019

Biology Philosophy

One Culture, Two Cultures? How Many Cultures, How Long?

When asked “Can Evolution be Conscious?” reactions can occur aptly reflecting the “informal definition” (as…

Kurt Johnson
January 30, 2019

Anthropology Sports

Fa’asamoa of Tattooing and Football: Conservatism and Adaptation in Samoan Cultural Evolution

Two new books published in 2018 emphasize the role of fa’asamoa in amplifying “sticky” cultural…

Christopher D. Lynn
January 25, 2019

Biology Philosophy

Can Evolution Be Conscious of Itself? Yes, It Can!

Human beings are subject to the workings of evolution and are also aware of their…

Joe Brewer
January 23, 2019

Biology Philosophy

The Consciousness of Detachment and the Detachment of Consciousness

To speak of an evolution of consciousness as a natural event is to be committed…

Lenny Moss
January 18, 2019

Biology Philosophy

Welcome to the Noösphere

An evolutionary teleological view would be that no matter where you are in the cosmos,…

Alice Andrews
January 15, 2019

Biology Philosophy

The Evolution of Consciousness Enables Conscious Evolution

Understanding the evolution of consciousness provides the scaffolding for evolutionary science itself to consciously evolve,…

Steven C. Hayes
January 11, 2019

Biology Philosophy

The Origins and Evolutionary Effects of Consciousness

How consciousness evolved and how consciousness has come to affect evolutionary processes are related issues.

Eva Jablonka and Simona Ginsburg
January 7, 2019

Biology Religion

Science and Religion Need Not Be At War

My Agreement and Disagreement with Jerry Coyne.

David Sloan Wilson
December 27, 2018

Arts Culture Education

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

Between the ages of 10 and 13, I attended a magical boarding school in the…

David Sloan Wilson
December 21, 2018

Biology Philosophy

Conscious Evolution is a Category Mistake

No, evolution is not a conscious process, and to think so is an example of…

Massimo Pigliucci
December 13, 2018

Anthropology Culture

Cultural Evolution, Insight, and Fundamental Theories of Consciousness

Since cultural evolution is fueled by the creative efforts of human minds which, by anyone’s…

Liane Gabora
December 10, 2018

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