Are we evolving to be nicer? This biologist says yes

Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution revolutionized the study of biology with the idea that species change over time through natural selection. Evolutionary biologist David Sloan Wilson takes this one step further, suggesting that Darwin’s theories can be applied more broadly to human and group behavioural traits.

He posits that collectively, as a species, we are treating and valuing each other better. Are there plausible scientific reasons that goodness triumphs over evil, or selflessness over selfishness? In his book “This View of Life: Completing the Darwinian Revolution,” Sloan Wilson says that humans are in fact evolving to become better stewards to the earth and each other.

Host Jonathan Bastian talks with Sloan Wilson, author and professor of biological sciences and anthropology at Binghamton University, about the evolution of morality and collective behaviour and how we’re becoming more cooperative and more peaceful as a species.