Evolution for Everyone: How Darwin's Theory Can Change the Way We Think About Our Lives

401 Pages·2007·25.23 MB·English

by  David Sloan Wilson

"Wilson inviies readers inside and shows them how Darwinism is done...
The resull isasprightly, absorbing...book that manages aminor miracle,
the nearcompleteemulsifyingofscience and the real world."
—Natalie Angicr,NewYork Times
EVOLUTION
FOR EVERYONE
How Darwin's Theory Can Change
the WayWe Think About Our Lives
David Sloan Wilson
"Remarkable...truly a book forour time."
-Edward O.Wilson, Pulitzer Prize-winningauthor ofOnHuman Nature
(cid:127)
PRAISEFOR
EVOLUTION FOREVERYONE
"With a clear passionfor the subject,Wilson shows that under
standingevolutioniseasy,evenintuitive—itreallyisforeveryone.
Ifonlyeveryonewould readhisbook."
—RowanHooper,NewScientist
"EvolutionforEveryoneis a remarkablecontribution. No other au
thorhas managed to combine masteryofthesubjectwith such a
clearand interesting explanation ofwhat it allmeansfor human
self-understanding.Aimedatthe generalreader,yetpepperedwith
ideasoriginal enoughto engage scholars, it istruly a bookforour
time."
—EdwardO.Wilson,PulitzerPrize-winningauthorofOnHumanNature
"Tremendousfun. Butdon'tbedeceived.DavidSloanWilsonis a
masterbiologistwho justhappens to be awonderful storyteller."
—SarahB.Hrdy,authorofMotherNature
"Thediscussionisasentertainingasitiseasytofollow....Readers
who've grown weary of the usual treatment of evolution as a
deadlyfoeto religionwillfindWilson'sbookacheerfulantidote,
breakingnewgroundinitssweepingbreadthandofferingmuchto
thinkabout."
—PublishersWeekly(starredreview)
"Inthis ageofmounting distrustbetween scienceandreligionin
American society—especially in America's classrooms—David
SloanWilson's EvolutionforEveryone comes asa breath of fresh
air.Without stooping to condemn those whose religiousbeliefs
lead them to reject evolution,Wilsonclearlybut gently shows
how evolution is essential to understanding all aspects of our
dailylives.... EvolutionforEveryonefillsa gap in understanding
evolution."
—NilesEldredge,DivisionofPaleontology,
AmericanMuseumofNaturalHistory,NewYork,NewYork
"Thisis a mind-stretchingand unforgettable synthesis of biology,
psychology, religion, andpolitics. Inthisgrandtheory, DavidSloan
Wilson argues compellingly that wearecreatures ofthe hive, and
our most vitalinstitutionsare shapedby natural selectionof the
group,ratherthanthekinshipvariety.Thisengrossingstoryisevolu
tionarybiologyatitsverybest."
—MartinSeligman,authorofLearnedOptimismandAuthenticHappiness
"There tend to be two types ofsciencebooks, those for profes
sionalscientistsandthose forthe generalpublic Everyonce in a
while abook comesalongthatbridgesthis gap,and David Sloan
Wilson'sEvolutionforEveryoneisjustsuchabook—awell-written,
page-turning narrative that can be enjoyedby anyone,and that
alsocontainsoriginalideasthatsimplymustbereadbyprofessional
scientistsbecausethey pushthescienceforward.Iwasamazedby
how much new ground Wilson covers,how many new ideas he
presents,sointhiscase'everyone' meansjustthat: generalreaders
andprofessionalscientistsalike."
—MichaelShermer,publisherofSkepticmagazine,
columnistforScientificAmerican,andtheauthorofWhyDarwinMatters
"Morescientistsneed to followWilson'slead in expressing, with
feeling,the heart-stirring emotions of awe,beauty and wonder to
befoundinthescientificviewofnature."
—RobertPennock,AmericanScientist
EVOLUT
EVERYONE
How Darwin's Theory Can Change
the Way We Think About Our Lives
David Sloan Wilson
DELTA TRADE PAPERBACKS
EVOLUTIONFOREVERYONE
A DeltaBook
PUBLISHINGHISTORY
DelacortePresshardcovereditionpublishedApril2007
DeltaTradePaperbackedition/January2008
PublishedbyBantamDell
ADivisionofRandomHouse,Inc.
NewYork,NewYork
Allrightsreserved .
Copyright©2007byDavidSloanWilson
CoverillustrationfromHornetmagazine,circa1871
CoverdesignbyCraigDeCamps
BookdesignbyGlenEdelstein
Materialfrom"LifeExpectancy,EconomicInequality,Homicide,andReproductive
TiminginChicagoNeighborhoods,"MargoWibon andMartinDaly,BritishMedicalJournal,
January1997,reprintedwithpermissionfromBMJPublishingGroupLtd.
MaterialfromTheAncestressHypothesisbyKathrynCoeisreprintedwith
permissionfromRutgersUniversityPress.
WithkindpermissionofSpringerScienceandBusinessMedia,materialis
reprintedfromBrown,S.(2000).Evolutionarymodelsofmusic:fromsexual
selectiontogroupselection.PerspectivesinEthology.F.Tonneauand
N.S.Thompson.NewYork,
KluwerAcademic13:231-281.
Orality&JLiteracy!Thetechnologizingoftheword,WalterJ.Ong,copyright1982,
RoutledgePress.
ExcerptsfromWorldAsLaboratorybyRebeccaLemov.Copyright©2005byRebeccaLemov.
ReprintedbypermissionofHillandWang,adivisionofFarrar,StrausandGiroux,LLC
MaterialfromTheUniverseinaSingleAtom:TheConvergenceofScienceandSpirituality
byHisHolinesstheDalaiLama.UsedbypermissionofanimprintofThe Doubleday
BroadwayPublishingGroup,adivisionofRandomHouse,Inc
LibraryofCongress,CatalogCardNumber:2006023685
DeltaisaregisteredtrademarkofRandomHouse,Inc.,
andthecolophonisatrademarkofRandomHouse,Inc
ISBN:978-0-385-34092-2
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
Publishedsimultaneouslyin.Canada
www.bantamdell.com
BVG 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3
ForH.
CONTENTS
1. TheFutureCanDifferfrom thePast 1
2. Clearingthe Deck 11
3. AThirdWayofThinking 17
4. ProveIt! 22
5. Be CarefulWhatYouWishFor . 28
6. MonkeyMadness 36
7. How theDogGotItsCurlyTail 42
8. Dancingwith Ghosts 51
9. WhatIsthe FunctionofaCan Opener?
HowDoYouKnow? 58
10. YourApprenticeLicense 63
11. Welcome Home, ProdigalSon 67
12. TeachingtheExperts 74
13. MurderCity 82
14. How ILearnedto StopWorryingand Love
GeneticDeterminism 92
15. They've Got Personality! 100
16. TheBeautyofAbrahamLincoln 115
viii Contents
17. LoveThy NeighborMicrobe 125
18. Groups AlltheWayDown 133
19. DividedWeFall 139 .
20. WingedMinds 144
21. The EgalitarianApe 153
22. Acrossthe Cooperation Divide 165
23. The FirstLaugh 173
24. TheVitalArts 182
25. Dr. DoolittleWasRight 194
26. How ManyInventorsDoes ItTaketo
MakeaLightbulb? 202
27. I Don'tKnowHowItWorks! 215
28. Darwin'sCathedral 233
29. IsThereAnyone OutThere? IsThere
Anyone UpThere? 254
30. AynRand:ReligiousZealot 268
31. The SocialIntelligenceofNations,or,EvilAliens
Need NotApply 283
32. Mr. Beeper 296
33. The EcologyofGood andEvil 305
34. Mosquitoes Under the Bed 313
35. TheReturnoftheAmateurScientist 322
36. BonVoyage 344
Acknowledgments 351
Notes 353
Bibliography 367
WebSites 381
Index 383
EVOLUTION FOR EVERYONE
The Future Can Differ from the Past
THIS IS A BOOK oftall claims about evolution: that it can
becomeuncontroversial;thatthe basicprinciples areeasyto
learn; that everyone should want to learnthem, once their
implications are understood; that evolution and religion,
those old enemieswho currently occupyopposite cornersof
humanthought, canbe brought harmoniouslytogether.
Cantheseclaimspossiblybe true?Isn't evolutionthemost
controversialtheorythe world hasever seen?Since it's asci
entific subject, isn't it hardto learn? If the implications are
benign, then why allthe fear and trembling? And how on
earth canthe old enemies ofevolution and religiondo any
thing otherthan come outoftheir oppositecornersfighting?
Imightbe anoptimist,butIamnot naive.Allowmeto in
troduce myself: Iam anevolutionist, which means that Iuse
the principles ofevolution to understand the world around
me. Iwouldbe anevolutionarybiologistifIrestricted myself
to the topics typically associated with biology,but I include
allthingshumanalongwiththerestoflife.Thatmakes mean
evolutionist without any qualifiers. I and my fellow evolu
tionists study the length and breadth of creation, from the
originoflifeto religion. Ithereforehaveaprettygoodideaof
what people thinkabout evolution, andIcanreport thatthe
situation is much worse than you probably think. Let me