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Does Altruism Exist?, Ancestors in Our Genome, Fred Sanger—Double Nobel Laureate, and Stiffs, Skulls & Skeletons

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David Sloan Wilson
Yale University Press, January 2015

Is this the last nail in the selfish gene’s coffin? I wouldn’t toll the bell quite yet, but biologist David Sloan Wilson does make quite a compelling case for altruism in his latest book, Does Altruism Exist? The author, a longtime proponent of the concept of group selection, argues that the social phenomenon does indeed exist and constructs a solid theoretical foundation for how the selfless behavior evolved and operates in social animals, especially humans.

The classic example, eusocial insects, makes an appearance in Wilson’s book, but his focus is on altruism as embodied by human behavior. As ever, evolutionary history provides the context for his argument that altruism is a real and adaptive trait, best categorized ...

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  • Bob Grant

    From 2017 to 2022, Bob Grant was Editor in Chief of The Scientist, where he started in 2007 as a Staff Writer.

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