On human nature
Presents a philosophy based on sociobiological theory and applying the theory of natural selection to human society.
Stats for nerds
1recommend
3mentions
3people
2015–2026years
33% recommend67% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- On Human Nature by Edward Wilson is supposed to be a classic on this subject (the mix of biology, evolution and sociology).
- Humans are evolutionarily optimized to do this. Add this to the long list of behaviors which were once beneficial from a survival standpoint but are now detrimental to our health - e.g. tribalism, shortsightedness, an insatiable taste for fats and sugars.
"The human species can change its own nature. What will it choose? Will it remain the same, teetering on a jerrybuilt foundation of partly obsolete Ice Age adaptations? Or will it press on toward still higher intelligence and creativity ...?" - E.O. Wilson "On Human Nature"
- He's also a (literally) down-to-earth author who knows how to hold the reader's attention ... a fairly rare distinction. He won Pulitzer Prizes for General Nonfiction (for On Human Nature in 1979, and The Ants in 1991).
