The complicated legacy of E. O. Wilson with respect to genetics and human behavior. (6th March 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Lerdau, Manuel
• Is Part Of: BioEssays. Volume 44:Number 5(2022)
• Page Start: n/a
• Page End: n/a
• Publication Date: 2022-03-06
• Subjects: group selection -- heredity -- individual selection -- kin selection -- multi‐level selection; Molecular biology -- Periodicals; Cytology -- Periodicals; Developmental biology -- Periodicals; 572.8
• DOI: 10.1002/bies.202200034
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0265-9247

Abstract

Abstract: Over the arc of his career, E. O. Wilson first embraced, then popularized, and finally rejected an extreme genetical hereditarian view of human nature. The controversy that ensued during the period of popularization (largely in the 1970s and 1980s) obscured the fact that empirical and theoretical research during this time undercut the assumptions necessary for this view. By the end of his career, Wilson accepted the fact that individual/kin selection models were insufficient to explain human behavior and society, and he began conducting research based upon multilevel (group) selection, an idea he had previously scorned.