Adapt or Die: Taking Evolution Seriously for National Security
Adapt or Die: Taking Evolution Seriously for National Security
Speaker: Wilson, D.
Date: 28 June 2018
Speaker Session Preview
SMA hosted a speaker session presented by Dr. David Wilson (SUNY Binghamton) as a part of its SMA General Speaker Series. During this presentation, Dr. Wilson explained how evolutionary theory became gene-centric and why human social sciences “declared independence” from biology. This departure, he contends, explains why people often don’t consider studying a topic such as national security from an evolutionary perspective, despite the fact that words like “evolve” and “adapt” are frequently used when discussing national security. He then spoke about a variety of books, which display the advances in the study of human bio-cultural evolution that have been made over the past 30 years. He explained multi-level selection and how small groups have become the fundamental building blocks of large-scale societies through evolutionary and adaptive processes. Dr. Wilson concluded his presentation by stressing that merely becoming familiar with modern evolutionary science in relation to human affairs will enable US decisionmakers to apply evolutionary thinking to national security issues.
David Wilson
David Sloan Wilson has made fundamental contributions to evolutionary science and its applications to human affairs, including Multilevel Selection Theory, which explains how adaptations can evolve (or fail to evolve) at all levels of a multi-tier hierarchy, from genes to ecosystems in nature and from small groups to global governance in human life. He is SUNY Distinguished Professor of Biology and Anthropology at Binghamton University in New York and President of the Evolution Institute, a nonprofit organization that formulates public policy from an evolutionary perspective. This talk is based on one that was delivered to a workshop titled "Rethinking the National Security State" organized by Fordham Law School's Center for National Security, Wilson's books include "Darwin's Cathedral: Evolution, Religion, and the Nature of Society" and "Does Altruism Exist? Culture, Genes, and the Welfare of Others". His next book (spring 2019) is titled "This View of Life: Completing the Darwinian Revolution and Evolving the Future".
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