David Sloan Wilson
David Sloan Wilson | |
---|---|
Ph.D.) | |
Known for | Darwin's Cathedral Evolution for Everyone |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Evolutionary biology, anthropology |
Institutions | Binghamton University Evolution Institute |
Doctoral students | Jonathan Gottschall[1] |
David Sloan Wilson (born 1949) is an
Early life and academic career
This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources. (August 2022) |
David Sloan Wilson is the son of the writer Sloan Wilson. He graduated with a B.A. with high honors in 1971 from the University of Rochester. He completed his Ph.D. in 1975 at Michigan State University. Wilson then worked as a Research Fellow in the Biological Laboratories at Harvard University from 1974 to 1975. He held a dual position as Research Associate in Zoology at the University of the Witwatersrand and the University of Washington from 1975 to 1976. After this he was a Senior Research Officer at the South African National Research Institute for the Mathematical Sciences from 1976 to 1977.
Wilson moved back to the United States and held an Assistant Professorship in the Division of Environmental Studies at the University of California, Davis, from 1977 to 1980. He served as an Assistant and then Associate Professor at the Kellogg Biological Station and Department of Zoology of Michigan State University from 1980 to 1988. Wilson was promoted to full Professor of Biological Sciences at the State University of New York, Binghamton, in 1988. He was given a joint appointment as Professor of Anthropology in 2001 and retired in 2019.
Wilson started the Evolutionary Studies (EvoS) program at Binghamton University to unify diverse disciplines under the theory of evolution. Students in the program take evolution-themed courses in a variety of disciplines including biology, anthropology, psychology, bioengineering, philosophy,
Research
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.[3]
Publications
- Wilson, D. S. (1980). The Natural Selection of Populations and Communities. Menlo Park, CA: Benjamin/Cummings.
- Sober, E., & Wilson, D. S. (1998). Unto Others: The Evolution and Psychology of Unselfish Behavior. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
- Wilson, D. S. (2002). Darwin's Cathedral: Evolution, Religion and the Nature of Society. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
- Gottschall, J. & Wilson, D.S., Eds. (2005). The Literary Animal: Evolution and the Nature of Narrative. Northwestern University Press
- Wilson, D.S. (2007) Evolution for Everyone: How Darwin's Theory Can Change the Way We Think About Our Lives. Delacorte Press.
- Wilson, D.S. (2011) The Neighborhood Project: Using Evolution to Improve My City, One Block At A Time. Little, Brown.
- Oakley, B., Knafo, A., Madhavan, G., and Wilson, D.S., Eds. (2011). Pathological Altruism. Oxford University Press.
- Wilson, D.S. (2015) Does Altruism Exist? Culture, Genes, and the Welfare of Others. Yale University and Templeton Press.
- Wilson, D. S., & Kirman, A. (2016). Complexity and Evolution: Toward a New Synthesis for Economics. (David Sloan Wilson & A. Kirman, Eds.). Cambridge Mass.: MIT Press
- Wilson, D. S., & Hayes, S. C. (2018). Evolution and Contextual Behavioral Science: An Integrated Framework for Understanding, Predicting, and Influencing Behavior. Menlo Park, CA: New Harbinger Press.
- Wilson, D.S. (2019) This View of Life: Completing the Darwinian Revolution. Pantheon Press.
- Atkins, P. W. D., Wilson, D. S., & Hayes, S. C. (2019). Prosocial: Using evolutionary science to build productive, equitable, and collaborative groups. New Harbinger
- Wilson, D. S., Geher, G., Gallup, A., & Head, H. (Eds.). (2019). Darwin's Roadmap to the Curriculum: Evolutionary Studies in Higher Education. Oxford University Press, USA: Oxford University Press USA.
- Wilson, D.S. (2020) Atlas Hugged: The Autobiography of John Galt III (novel). VidLit Press.
- Wilson, D.S. (2022) A Life Informed by Evolution (memoir).
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
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
Wilson's latest book, "Atlas Hugged", is fiction, an answer to Ayn Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged.[5]
Wilson's full list of academic publications may be found on his David Sloan Wilson Archive: all academic publications.
References
- ^ "Red in Tooth and Claw Among the Literati" (PDF). Science. May 6, 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 25, 2012. Retrieved 2012-01-31.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-01-31.
- ^ "David Sloan Wilson Interview" Archived 2018-08-26 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved July 1, 2018.
- ^ van der Zee, Bibi (6 March 2012). "Biologist wants to 'make the world a better place'". Guardian. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
- ^ "Ayn Rand Meets Her Match: David Sloan Wilson Fights Fiction with Fiction". November 2020.
External links
- Wilson's personal homepage
- "Darwin's God" article in New York Times Magazine for March 4, 2007. Includes interview with Wilson.
- "Evolution: Survival of the selfless" article written with E. O. Wilson in New Scientist, 03 November, 2007
- EVOS Archived 2017-11-11 at the Wayback Machine Evolutionary Studies Program at Binghamton University
- Video: Ethics and the University on YouTube
- Rethinking the Theoretical Foundation of Sociobiology
- David Sloan Wilson Archive