Eric explicitly mentioned a-semantic layers of formal representations w.r.t. "Darwinian evolution"
and there may be a dearth of specificity about which "formalism" they intend. I don't interact with
many evolutionary biologists. But part of the frustration expressed by ... what ... field biologists (?) with
evolutionary biologists is that they seem to rely too much on metaphor. Some have used phrases like
"hand waving". But the ones I argue with agree there could be such a thing as theoretical biology
and simply have trouble getting clarity on whatever the evol biols mean when they use the words.
I always felt like DS Wilson was similarly frustrating, if not worse. I guess I
can lob a similar criticism at DS Wilson to what I lobbed at McGilchrist. The
intent to husband a prosocial world is laudable in itself *without* relying on
questionable composition or [ab]use of terms.
But some of this is directly ultracrepidarian. It's a useful heuristic to
remind yourself that people who are smart and capable in one domain need not be
smart or capable in another domain. But people who are habituated to sycophancy
in their home domain *expect* the same in whatever domain they attempt.
Although the ALife people like to joke that sociology IS biology, it's really
not. That's not to say that DS Wilson isn't a great sociologist. I wouldn't
know.
On 7/31/25 8:20 AM, Steve Smith wrote:
In lieu of finishing any of my myriad stalled attempts to give Glen's
thoughtful discussion of Metaphor and the various threads it spawned:
“Selfish individuals beat altruistic individuals, but altruistic groups
beat selfish groups.” - EO Wilson
begs another question being fermented (fomented?) here about whole/part
conflation.
Wilson, D.S. (1997). /Altruism and organism: Disentangling the themes of
multilevel selection theory./
I am chagrined to admit that I'm not nearly familiar enough with DS Wislon (no
relation) and his work relevant to this question. I was surprised how prolific
he continues to be:https://davidsloanwilson.world/academic-publications-all/
and most notably his specific work on a ProSocial World
<https://davidsloanwilson.world/prosocial/> (Glossy Version <https://www.prosocial.world/>)
in this moment where there is a very significant distribution of strategies across the
individual<-->collective spectrum. DaveW might appreciate the reference more than others:
Alone<-->All One?
I am also chagrined to have glossed over Guerin's *many* reference to Ostrom's Core
Design Principles
<https://earthbound.report/2018/01/15/elinor-ostroms-8-rules-for-managing-the-commons/>
(for managing the commons) without digging in. DS Sloan seems to build on top of
her work to some degree?
--
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