Welcome to the David Sloan Wilson Archive

I am a scientist and writer who is lucky to be alive during an important period in the history of ideas. When I entered the field of evolutionary biology in the 1970’s, it was confined almost entirely to genetic evolution. Everything that evolves was portrayed as a form of selfishness. And evolution was emphatically said to have no purpose.

Now, evolution is envisioned as any process that combines the three ingredients of variation, selection, and replication—including the fast-paced changes swirling around us (cultural evolution) and within us (our personal evolution). The evolution of goodness can be explained at face value. And human cultural evolution indubitably has an intentional component.

In other words, to a remarkable extent, we imagine our realities and then bring them into being.

I’m proud to have contributed to this sea change in evolutionary thinking, to have written about it for the general public, and most of all to help “consciously evolve a world that works for all” through my nonprofit organization Prosocial World. Please think of this website as a way to first learn about and then to join me and many others in continuing to evolve a prosocial future.

Atlas Hugged audio book cover image

Audio book now available.

Announcing the release of Atlas Hugged in the popular audiobook format.

Featured Online Content

Other books by David Sloan Wilson

Evolution of the Heart

On July 6th, 2021 Mind & Life honored the Dalai Lama’s birthday with the release of “Evolution of the Heart.”

The 37-minute film chronicles conversations between the Dalai Lama, evolutionary biologist David Sloan Wilson, and social scientist Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela. The film emerged from a 2019 Mind & Life event, “Conversations on Compassion, Interconnection, and Transformation,” held in Dharamsala, India.