If evolutionary psychology explains every complex human behavior as well as its opposite, does it really explain anything? Today, I conclude my conversation with geologist and attorney Dr. Casey Luskin about which scientific theory of origins best explains human altruism, cooperation, and morality. I recently engaged in some lively discussion under my recent article exploring scientific worldview in the Marvel universe. Some readers claimed evolution can explain human kindness, heroism, and teamwork. So I turned to Luskin, who has spent time researching human origins as well as attempts to explain the origin of human behaviors.
In Part 1 of this discussion, Luskin framed the question within the larger context of evolutionary psychology and its penchant for explaining every possible human behavior through the lens of a Darwinian past. Here in Part 2, we zoom into the attempt to explain altruism specifically. Can an evolutionary mechanism select for altruistic behaviors? Has a gene for altruism been discovered? What do terms like kin selection, group selection, and reciprocal altruism mean, and are they relevant to the debate? Are our genes really “selfish,” as Richard Dawkins has alleged? Luskin has answers to all these questions and more.
Luskin and I also share separate recent examples of people who have run towards burning cars to save complete strangers. Why would anyone do that? Why would anyone put their genes at risk that way? Why risk so much for someone you don’t know? Luskin sheds light on which theory of origins better explains such behavior. He rounds out the conversation by explaining what’s at stake — for science, for education, for culture — if we reduce the richness of human morality to evolutionary utility.
Download the podcast or listen to it here. This is Part 2 of a two-part conversation. Watch or listen to Part 1.
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