July 9, 2021
In this bonus episode, Wendy speaks with evolutionary biologist David Sloan Wilson. This episode is being released in conjunction with Mind & Life’s new film, Evolution of the Heart — a short documentary covering conversations between the Dalai Lama, David Sloan Wilson, and social scientist Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela from a 2019 Mind & Life event in Dharamsala, India. The theme of that gathering was Compassion, Interconnection, and Transformation. David’s work extends beyond genetics to include personal and cultural evolution, and sheds light on how we can move forward as a global community. In this conversation, they discuss many topics, including:
- the role of competition, cooperation, and prosocial behavior in human evolution;
- how evolutionary pressure operates at both individual and group levels (multilevel selection);
- the possibility of conscious evolution;
- what it means to be part of a group;
- expanding the notion of the self;
- becoming “bilingual” in scientific and spiritual perspectives;
- the need to create a system of ethics for the whole world;
- and core design principles for creating more egalitarian and compassionate communities.