Sublime

proposed that monkeys and apes had larger brains than other mammals because they lived in socially much more complex groups, a suggestion they termed the ‘Machiavellian Intelligence Hypothesis’

d’un point de vue évolutionniste, aussi longtemps que l’être humain aura l’opportunité de se reproduire, investir dans son bien-être personnel et dans sa propre descendance rapportera toujours davantage qu’un investissement pour le groupe. Donc, à long terme, les traits égoïstes se répandront aux dépens des traits altruistes. Même lors des guerres

In The Evolution of Human Sexuality, the ever-quotable Donald Symons pointed out that Western societies have tried every trick in the book to change this aspect of male sexuality, but all have failed miserably: “Human males seem to be so constituted that they resist learning not to desire variety,” he wrote, “despite impediments such as Christianit

Selfish Gene

Humans are capable of great empathy and of horrifying callousness and violence. We have evolved this way because it has been in our interest to both cooperate within our own groups and compete with others. Our empathy is therefore largely limited to those whom we see as members of our own tribe and our callous disregard and violence is reserved for

a list of human universals that included many concepts that cultures share having to do with what is considered moral behavior. Some of these are: fairness; empathy; the difference between right and wrong and redressing wrongs; praise and admiration for generous behavior; prohibitions against murder, incest, rape, and violent behavior; rights and o

But without it, the place for our blame suddenly vanishes, and even the most terrifying sociopaths begin to seem like victims themselves.

There are reasons to think, however, that “realists” like Mearsheimer have a selective view of historical reality and that the law of the jungle is itself a myth. As de Waal and many other biologists documented in numerous studies, real jungles—unlike the one in our imagination—are full of cooperation, symbiosis, and altruism displayed by countless