Two Cultures? E.O. Wilson on the evolution of culture

[alice wellintown]

If ever there was a reason for bringing the humanities and science
closer together, it is the need to understand the true nature of the
human sensory world, as contrasted with that seen by the rest of life.
But there is another, even more important reason to move toward
consilience among the great branches of learning. Substantial evidence
now exists that human social behavior arose genetically by multilevel
evolution. If this interpretation is correct, and a growing number of
evolutionary biologists and anthropologists believe it is, we can
expect a continuing conflict between components of behavior favored by
individual selection and those favored by group selection. Selection
at the individual level tends to create competitiveness and selfish
behavior among group members—in status, mating, and the securing of
resources. In opposition, selection between groups tends to create
selfless behavior, expressed in greater generosity and altruism, which
in turn promote stronger cohesion and strength of the group as a
whole.

[...]


http://harvardmagazine.com/2012/05/on-the-origins-of-the-arts