Thursday, May 17, 2012

The Social Conquest of Earth

Edward O. Wilson has published a new book, The Social Conquest of Earth, which says that social groups, rather than individual genetics or kinships, are the mechanism for evolutionary selection in the human species. As a social constructionist, I'm often in the camp that critiques sociobiology, but I'm intrigued by the idea that social groups can have an evolutionary effect. Wilson's theory comes from a lifetime of research on ant colonies and other "eusocial" species that developed elaborate social structures based on a division of functions. I can't personally say more about it until I read the book. So here's a link to a Review in the New York Times.


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