Sooner or later in a conversation, I’ll mention the biologist E.O. Wilson.
Some scientists roll their eyes at him. What kind of scientist would write a book called The Meaning of Human Existence?
That’s exactly why I like Wilson. I think it’s an important book.
Wilson’s biggest point: Natural selection works on at least two competing levels: individuals compete and cooperate for resources within a group, and competition-cooperation also exists between groups.
Individual selection is within a group. Natural selection favors the strongest — the guy who looks like a linebacker. Other group members (women and children, for example) defer to the alpha male, who gets the lion’s share of food and other resources. However, competition also occurs between groups. Consider a group that has no linebacker but instead exchanges ideas and strategies and comes up with the bow and arrow. Five skinny guys shoot at the linebacker, who has only a club, when he comes on a raid.
Wilson says natural selection favors the expression of genes on two levels: the “selfish” gene that wants resources for the self and the “altruistic” gene that thinks in terms of the wellbeing of the whole group, not just the individual — what we think of as moral behavior.
He’s arguing that this is part of the DNA — the behaviors are passed down genetically (part of our instinctual behavior) — and it’s part of the human condition. It’s why we’re “conflicted.” These competing impulses are inside us. It’s just the way we are.
In Wilson’s view, that’s what the human mind is. It’s not some soul floating over the human body, disconnected, but a survival mechanism that works in conflicting ways.
It constantly feeds information to us about the group. We love gossip because our survival depends on reading other people. We put the information in context by replaying memories to look for matches and by imagining countless possible scenarios to see which one fits best with the current situation. This constant mental activity is not a sign of sickness — it’s a survival mechanism for a highly socialized animal. It’s the way the mind works.
I’m intrigued but the notion, but I’m dubious about tying things like cooperation, altruism and selfishness to DNA. I think genes can have physical expressions that promote survival. But what does the gene for “cooperation” look like?
I’m intrigued but not sold.
• Source: Edward O. Wilson, The Meaning of Human Existence; New York: Liveright Publishing, 2014
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