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Interesting that Dawkins and Pinkers rebuttals of group selection have gotten so much more press than Wilson's affirmative proposals. Has anyone actually seen a
by Evbn 14y ago
Interesting that Dawkins and Pinkers rebuttals of group selection have gotten so much more press than Wilson's affirmative proposals. Has anyone actually seen a serious proposal of the narrow notion of group-level selection that Pinker is refuting?
- chewymouse 14y agoThe original 2010 Nature paper coauthored by Wilson (http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v466/n7310/full/nature09205.html http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v466/n7310/full/nature0...) received a lot of press when it was initially published, and Wilson's back-and-forth with Dawkins and Pinker got just as much press back then. What Pinker is arguing against is not the initial paper (which he does address in this article briefly by repeating the kin fitness argument) but the claims that Wilson is reaching toward in his new book, The Social Conquest of Earth. Wilson's "press" is essentially this book. The "serious proposal" Pinker is refuting is this book, so this article is essentially a preemptive criticism.