ONE of the most influential works in the field of economics is Milton Friedman’s 1953 essay, The Methodology of Positive Economics, in which he argues that people behave as if the assumptions of neoclassical economic theory are correct, even when they are not. One of the most influential works in the field of evolutionary biology is Stephen Jay Gould and Richard Lewontin’s 1979 paper “The Spandrels of San Marcos and the Panglossian Paradigm”, which argues against excessive reliance on the concept of adaptation.
A tale of two classics
Other Publications
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Core design principles for nurturing organization-level selection
Apr 27, 2023
Dynamic relationships between individuals and groups have been a focus for evolutionary theorists and modelers for decades. Among evolutionists, selfish gene theory promotes reductionist approaches while multilevel selection theory encourages… -
Updating Hayek on Cultural Multilevel Selection
Apr 20, 2023
Here is a provocative fact: Searching Web of Science for articles with the words complex adaptive system in the title yields 1006 results as of this writing; searching for articles… -
Multilevel Cultural Evolution: From New Theory to Practical Applications
Apr 20, 2023
Evolutionary science has led to many practical applications of genetic evolution but few practical uses of cultural evolution. This is because the entire study of evolution was gene centric for…