From one piece E.O. Wilson on Altruism and the New Enlightenment (New Scientist interview, republished by Slate) 7 beliefs · slate.com
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Surely one moral precept we can agree on is to stop destroying our birthplace, the only home humanity will ever have.
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It’s a commonly stated idea that we can have other planets to live on once we have used this one up. That is nonsense.
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We have created a Star Wars civilization but we have Paleolithic emotions, medieval institutions and godlike technology. That’s dangerous.
+ 4 more
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korrents.com
Religious strife comes from conflicting creation stories, not differences between peopleTheir words
We ought to recognize that religious strife is not the consequence of differences among people. It’s about conflicts between creation stories.
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Individual versus group selection results in a mix of altruism and selfishness, of virtue and sin, among the members of a society.
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Humans originated by multilevel selection—individual selection interacting with group selection, or tribe competing against tribe.
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korrents.com
Kin selection is a weaker explanation of social evolution than standard natural selectionTheir words
One of the key ideas to explain this has been kin selection theory or inclusive fitness, which argues that individuals cooperate according to how they are related. I have had doubts about it for quite a while. Standard natural selection is simpler and superior.