David Sloan Wilson
David Sloan Wilson (born 1949) is an American evolutionary biologist and a Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Biological Sciences and Anthropology at Binghamton University. He is a son of author Sloan Wilson, and co-founder of the Evolution Institute, and co-founder of the spinoff nonprofit Prosocial World. He has studied social evolution in Binghamton.[2]
David Sloan Wilson
Research[edit]
Wilson is a prominent proponent of the concept of group selection (also known as multi-level selection) in evolution. He and Elliott Sober proposed a framework called multilevel selection theory, which challenges the more orthodox approach of gene-level selection and individual selection, in their book Unto Others. This framework argues that natural selection operates on a nested hierarchy of units, such as between genes within individuals, between individuals within groups, between groups within a multi-group population, and even between ecosystems (such as microbiomes) in multi-ecosystem populations. Each level of selection results in adaptations at that level and tends to be undermined by selection at lower levels. Hence the notion of multilevel selection.
Wilson has also coined the concept of a trait-group, a group of organisms linked not permanently as a group but having a shared fate due to interactions that they have.
Wilson has described himself as an "enthusiastic proponent" of the extended evolutionary synthesis.[4]
Wilson's book Darwin's Cathedral proposes that religions are primarily group-level adaptations that evolve by cultural group selection. His book Evolution for Everyone: How Darwin's Theory Can Change the Way We Think About Our Lives attempts to give an introduction to evolution for a broad audience, detailing the various ways in which evolution can be applied to everyday affairs. There is also a class at Binghamton University that is called "Evolution for Everyone" that has been taught since 2003.
Wilson's book for a general audience, The Neighborhood Project: Using Evolution to Improve My City, One Block at a Time (2011), describes how he started to apply evolutionary thinking to real-world settings in Binghamton and elsewhere through the Evolution Institute.
Wilson and his co-author E. O. Wilson have become well known for the quote, "Selfishness beats altruism within groups. Altruistic groups beat selfish groups. Everything else is commentary".[5] This quotation appeared in their paper, "Rethinking the Theoretical Foundation of Sociobiology".
Wilson is Editor in Chief of Prosocial World's online magazine This View of Life, which features articles on all topic areas from an evolutionary perspective.
Wilson's latest nonfiction book for a general audience is This View of Life: Completing the Darwinian Revolution, published in 2019. The evolutionary biologist builds on decades of research to outline a paradigm-changing new approach to the applications of evolutionary theory in today's social and cultural institutions.
Wilson's latest book, "Atlas Hugged", is fiction, an answer to Ayn Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged.[6]
Wilson's full list of academic publications may be found on his David Sloan Wilson Archive: all academic publications.