Christopher X J. Jensen
Associate Professor, Pratt Institute

Just in case you missed it the first ten times: E.O. Wilson likes group selection, Jerry Coyne does not

Posted 16 Mar 2013 / 1

Why Evolution is True “E. O. Wilson mistakenly touts group selection (again) as a key factor in human evolution“

A Minor Post, Cooperation, Evolution, Group Selection, Kin Selection, Reciprocity

Jerry Coyne refutes the E.O. Wilson NYT piece

Posted 27 Jun 2012 / 0

Why Evolution is True “Did human social behavior evolve via group selection? E. O. Wilson defends that view in the NYT” Anyone who reads my posts here has learned that I find Jerry Coyne’s general tone to be really annoying and that I am predisposed to entertain group selective explanations of human behavior. But with Read More

A Minor Post, Cooperation, Group Selection, Human Evolution, Multilevel Selection

Once again Jerry Coyne goes ad hominem to defend evolutionary orthodoxy

Posted 25 Jun 2012 / 0

Why Evolution is True “David Sloan Wilson loses it again” This is the guy who is the Past President of the Society for the Study of Evolution, and he just cannot seem to keep his comments focused on science. There are some really great ideas discussed here, particularly about the nature of selfish genes and the Read More

A Minor Post, Group Selection, Kin Selection, Natural Selection, Web

NY Times provides perspective on E.O. Wilson’s “The Social Conquest of Earth”

Posted 13 Jun 2012 / 0

The New York Times “Lessons from Ants to Grasp Humanity” Funny how the media likes to trot out Jerry Coyne whenever someone questions Darwinian orthodoxy. I cannot entirely blame Coyne for how he is quoted, but his quotes never seem to offer much a substantial critique. The bit on religion is interesting here: Wilson seems Read More

A Minor Post, Articles, Books, Cooperation, Group Selection, Superorganisms

Robert Trivers and colleagues on Nowak, Tarnita, and Wilson’s “The evolution of eusociality”

Posted 13 Oct 2010 / 16

One of the most difficult things about being the only full-time biologist on the Pratt Institute campus is that I do not have the opportunity to discuss serious science in my field with colleagues or guest speakers. To help alleviate this problem, I have my friends who are at serious research institutions on the lookout Read More

Adaptation, Altruism, Articles, Behavioral Ecology, Cooperation, Data Limitation, Evolution, Game Theory, Group Selection, Human Evolution, Multilevel Selection, Sociology, Superorganisms, Talks & Seminars