38 episodes

This View of Life takes a deep dive with the best and brightest thinkers on anything and everything from an evolutionary perspective. Hosted by David Sloan Wilson.

This View of Life This View of Life

    • Science
    • 4.9 • 13 Ratings

This View of Life takes a deep dive with the best and brightest thinkers on anything and everything from an evolutionary perspective. Hosted by David Sloan Wilson.

    Anti-Trust From a Multilevel Evolutionary Perspective with Denise Hearn

    Anti-Trust From a Multilevel Evolutionary Perspective with Denise Hearn

    Increasingly, policymakers, investors, and advocates recognize that the neoliberal theory of economic organization – laissez faire – is a failed experiment. However, certain areas of law – particularly antitrust law are still beholden to false econometric notions about how markets operate, which influences legal interpretation, case precedent, and ongoing debates about reviving antitrust’s role in the political economy. Can Multilevel Cultural Evolution provide a new paradigm for anti-trust law, along with the rest of economics?
    Denise Hearn is a writer, advisor, and project catalyzer who works with investors, policymakers, and organizations who want to use their power to support a living and equitable future.

    Hearn serves as a Senior Fellow at the American Economic Liberties Project and co-lead of the Access to Markets initiative. Hearn also serves as Board Chair of The Predistribution Initiative which aims to improve investment structures and practices to address systemic risks like inequality, biodiversity loss, and climate change.

    Denise co-authored The Myth of Capitalism: Monopolies and the Death of Competition with Jonathan Tepper — named one of the Financial Times’ Best Books of 2018. Her writing has been featured in publications such as The Financial Times, The Globe and Mail, Stanford Social Innovation Review, Responsible Investor, and The Washington Post. Hearn currently authors the Embodied Economics newsletter.
     
    David Sloan Wilson is one of the foremost evolutionary thinkers and gifted communicators about evolution to the general public. He is SUNY Distinguished Professor of Biology and Anthropology Emeritus at Binghamton University and President of the nonprofit organization Prosocial World, whose mission is "To consciously evolve a world that works for all."  His most recent books are This View of Life: Completing the Darwinian Revolution, Prosocial: Using Evolutionary Science to Build Productive, Equitable, and Collaborative Groups (with Paul Atkins and Steven C. Hayes), and his first novel, Atlas Hugged: The Autobiography of John Galt III.

    • 1 hr 1 min
    What Happened to Selfish Genes? with J. Arvid Agren

    What Happened to Selfish Genes? with J. Arvid Agren

    J. Arvid Agren's book The Gene's Eye View of Evolution (Oxford University Press, 2021), is a highly praised scholarly account of the concept of selfish genes, which Richard Dawkins made hugely popular in 1976. Dawkins himself calls Agren's book "the most thorough reading of the relevant literature that I have ever encountered...he gets it right." But what does this mean? In this nearly two hour conversation, I take a deep dive with Agren into the history and current status of the selfish gene concept. You might be surprised by how much we agree upon and how much the concept of selfish genes has been scaled down, compared to its original pretensions. 

    • 1 hr 43 min
    No Best Way, with Stephen Colarelli and Max Beilby

    No Best Way, with Stephen Colarelli and Max Beilby

    Max Beilby and Steve Colarelli discuss the application of evolutionary psychology to Human Resource Management. They cover Steve’s academic career, and his books No Best Way: An Evolutionary Perspective on Human Resource Management and The Biological Foundations of Organizational Behavior (which Steve co-edited with his colleague Richard Arvey). They also explore the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on the world of work.
    Stephen Colarelli is professor of psychology at Central Michigan University. His research is concerned with how evolutionary theory and evolutionary psychology can influence how we think about, conduct research on, and manage behavior in organizations.
    Max Beilby is a professional organizational psychologist as well as a member of the Human Behavior & Evolution Society and the Association for Business Psychology.
    Max has written extensively for This View of Life Magazine and is a member of TVOL’s Business Action Group, which is focused on understanding and improving business from an evolutionary perspective. Anyone is free to join and take part of our networking events, discussions, and collaborative projects.

    • 1 hr 24 min
    Atlas Hugged and Our Moment of Choice, with Kurt Johnson

    Atlas Hugged and Our Moment of Choice, with Kurt Johnson

    Kurt Johnson wears many hats--a distinguished evolutionary biologist, a leader of the Interspiritual Movement, an authority on the scientific career of the novelist Vladimir Nabokov, and most recently co-author of the anthology Our Moment of Choice: Evolutionary Visions and Hope for the Future. It was Kurt who introduced me to the Interspiritual Movement and who I invited to join me on my visit to converse with H.H. Dalai Lama last year. In this podcast, we discuss what my new novel, Atlas Hugged, adds to transformative change efforts in the real world. 
     
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    Become a member of the TVOL1000 and join the Darwinian revolution
     
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    Order the This View of Life book

    • 1 hr 3 min
    Atlas Hugged and the Nature of Fiction, with Brian Boyd

    Atlas Hugged and the Nature of Fiction, with Brian Boyd

    Brian Boyd is a renowned evolutionary literary scholar (The Origin of Stories), biographer of the novelist Vladimir Nabokov (1,2,3), and 2020 recipient of the Rutherford Medal, New Zealand's highest academic honor. He is the perfect person to discuss my first novel, Atlas Hugged, and the interplay between fiction and the real world. In the second half, we also discuss Brian's biography-in-progress of the legendary philosopher of science, Karl Popper, who pioneered the study of epistemology from an evolutionary perspective.
     
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    Become a member of the TVOL1000 and join the Darwinian revolution
     
    Follow This View of Life on Twitter and Facebook
     
    Order the This View of Life book

    • 1 hr 17 min
    Atlas Hugged and Catalyzing Positive Change in the Real World, with David Korten

    Atlas Hugged and Catalyzing Positive Change in the Real World, with David Korten

    David Korten is the renowned futurist, author of When Corporations Rule the World and The Great Turning among many other books, founder of YES! Magazine, and a prominent member of the Club of Rome. There is no better person with whom to discuss the world-changing theme of AH in relation to catalyzing positive change in the real world.
     
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    Become a member of the TVOL1000 and join the Darwinian revolution
     
    Follow This View of Life on Twitter and Facebook
     
    Order the This View of Life book

    • 1 hr 13 min

Customer Reviews

4.9 out of 5
13 Ratings

13 Ratings

Austinrylees ,

Important for the culture and science

In my opinion, David is one of the most important scientist/ thinkers of our time. I was first introduced to his thoughts by Jonathan Haidt and then I proceeded to read all of his books. This podcast is a great extension of his thinking, enjoyable interviews and content.

mlarmen ,

Show has potential, wish host would engage guest speakers more

The show has potential to be great - a very interesting ‘view’/perspective espoused by stunningly intelligent speakers, and always covering relevant subject-matter. I’ve listened to 4 episodes so far, and have just one criticism: David, let the guests speak! You’re a legend in your field, and we can go to your publications to hear your thoughts if we want your thoughts alone. We (or at least I!) want to hear a dialogue - a conversation - with the other thought and research leaders you bring on to the show. That’s where emergent stuff happens! If I wanted to hear just them or just you, I would look up your articles... I feel the podcast would be truly excellent if the host would dial it back a few and try to engage the guests rather than tell them his opinion and ask if they agree with it.

marges11 ,

Interesting podcast

A great listen. Look forward to many more new interviews.

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