Evolution for Everyone: How Darwin's Theory Can Change the Way We Think About Our Lives
by David Sloan Wilson
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Book Summary Information
Author: David Sloan WilsonEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2007-12-26
ISBN: 0385340923
Number of pages: 400
Publisher: Delta
Book Reviews of Evolution for Everyone: How Darwin's Theory Can Change the Way We Think About Our Lives
Book Review: It's not only the bugs that are buried
Summary: 4 Stars
One has to give David Sloan Wilson full marks for perserverence. He has spent a good part of his career in a struggle to bolster an untenable idea. Evolution, he says, works on "groups". Not on "species" as once was thought, or down a lineage of individuals as Charles Darwin long ago contended, but on something in between. Having failed to convince the scientific community, in this most recent of his books he turns to a new ally, the general public. In this work, he wants people, in particular his fellow countrymen, to understand that anything to do with life has evolutionary roots. While that's an admirable quest, and offered in a style more scientists should emulate, his reason for that ambition remains fixed on his long-standing crusade.
Wilson starts humbly with a study of a simple creature - the burying beetle. He uses the beetle's reproductive habits to demonstrate the vagaries of nature's selection process. The beetle is a form of scavenger - hunting small mammal corpses which it returns to its burrow. Instead of laying eggs on the remains, however, the female - who remains in residence, unlike most insects - deposits them on the burrow walls. As they hatch, the parents assess the amount of food available and do a head count of the hatchlings. If there are more young than food to sustain them, the parents simply pare down the population. Wilson's purpose in relating this bizarre behaviour is to demonstrate that anyone can find how Darwin's idea works in their own back yard. It's not necessary to be a specialist nor even have a university degree to study the evolutionary process. Just be prepared to be observant and perhaps get your knees soiled.
As a scientist of wide interests, Wilson bemoans the lack of knowledge of evolution in the US population. Not only do more than half its number dismiss the idea, nearly all of them fail to integrate its tenets in their everyday lives. Even the "educated" fail to meet his standard. A prime example is the medical profession whose members treat "morning sickness" in ways that wholly ignore the evolutionary roots and processes of the human immune system. The result, he argues, leads to enigmatic problems among newborns, including undersized or easily infected babies. The immune system in the embryo was impaired by anti-nausea drugs. While unpleasant for the gravid mother, pregnancy sickness is a sign of the foetus' developing fully functioning immunity mechanisms.
Jumping from beetles to humans is the author's method for bringing in his theme of group selection. Although he rather blithely arranges many facets of life, from gene assemblages through "superorganisms" like ants and bees, his real goal becomes clear when he gets to humans. Cultures, he argues, are clear symbols of how group selection works. The binding force of cultures, he contends, is religion. Any religion. To reinforce this concept, he relates the research leading to his earlier work, "Darwin's Cathedral" [posted on by this reviewer 2 December 2002]. Fostered by a grant from the Templeton Foundation, which supports research in "religion and science", Wilson and a colleague engaged in a project studying "forgiveness" among students and reports on studies of hunter-gatherer tribes. Later, he took up "altruism" with a similar aim. For Wilson, evolution works on "in-group" selection rather than "between-group" selection. The latter, of course, smacks of the criticism laid on Darwin's thesis which was portrayed as "nature red in tooth and claw". "Group selection" on such a basis is hardly biology, and wholly ignores the commitment usually made by members of the "in group". Part of their cohesion rests on who remains outside.
Wilson wants to elevate humans, with their supportive capacity, above such brutal appellations. Humans, using their reasoning power, can learn how evolution works. From that understanding, he argues that we can guide our own future in a more secure manner. He denies the charge that humans are fated by our genes to engage in violent conflict [although after years of searching, i've yet to learn who made that accusation], and contends that natural senses of empathy, cooperation and generosity can be harnessed to outpace competition and narrow views of human society. The aim is well-stated and entirely within the bounds of reason. It's unfortunate that much of his target audience is unlikely to comprehend his message or will simply dismiss it as based on a "false idea" - that of natural selection. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]
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