"The real creation story
“History makes no sense without prehistory,“ Wilson declared,
“and prehistory makes no sense without biology.”
...
“The term ‘eusocial,’“ Wilson said, “means a society based in part on a division of labor,
in which individuals act altruistically, that covers two or more generations,
and that cares for young cooperatively.”
...
We love joining groups, and we became geniuses at reading the intentions of each other, a skill we fine-tune incessantly with our enjoyment of gossip. In another distinctively human trait, like ants, we became highly adept at collaborative warfare.
...
“multi-level selection,” where individual selection and group selection proceed together (with kin selection a continuing bit player). In our eusocial species, that mix of traits makes us “permanently unstable, permanently conflicted” between selfish impulses and cooperative impulses. We negotiate these conflicts endlessly within ourselves and with each other. Wilson sees inherent adaptive value in that constant negotiation. Our vibrant cultural life may be driven in part by it.
Life on Earth, iPad Textbook presented on Apple Keynote
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