Sam Harris Vs. Ronald de Sousa

Ronald de Sousa got it wrong. Natural selection works at the level of gene (indirectly through the individual organism or gene-vehicle), not at the level of species or groups. And if natural selection works on behavior of the organism, then it can work that behavior of the organism that helps it to survive by changing its behavior to suit changing circumstances, that which we call 'adaptive behavior'. So adaptive behavior it useful for survival, thought by itself it may not be enough. He was way off there.

As for happiness, those with adaptive behavior and know that they have and are happy that they have it are more likely to survive that those who have it and regret they have it.

So adaptive behavior is not useful for happiness, happiness is useful for natural selection, although again by itself it may not be enough.

Sam Harris did not catch on any of that. He is not an evolutionary biologist.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Sam
• Harris
• Ronald
• de
• Sousa
• Debate
• Beyond
• Belief

[nylonhead116]

do i see Dan Dennett in the crowd there?

[82abhilash]

Yes. Besides Scott Atran.

[eduardolima85]

Why is there a "vs." on the title? They both agree on the subject.

[m30wc0w]

actually, natural selection does occur at the level of species. it's just that the mechanism by which it works is, in a sense, at the level of the individual.

[happpybum]

I don't see where he claimed anything to the contrary (it was, in fact, De Souza who first taught me about the gene-centered view).

He certainly wasn't endorsing group selection, just showing that even then the conflation of adaptiveness with happiness wouldn't follow.

[nowgleaning]

For some reason I find De Sousa reeeeeeeally irritating!!!

[PapaWilk]

If anyone here has seen the movie "Idiocracy," you know just what De Sousa is referring to here. Where intelligence had once been an adaptive trait to individuals, it began to act as an inhibitor to rates of reproduction. The stupid people had all the kids and the smart people had fewer if any offspring. De Sousa is just pointing out that adaptive behaviors are those which proliferate a species and not necessarily those which help a species reach its "potential" or move it towards "happiness."

[VictorEchoNovember79]

@nylonhead116 can't miss that mans beard

[darwinkilledgod]

I am an evolutionary biologist and I'd just like to say that the person who uploaded this video gets it exactly right. You can read more in Richard Dawkins' book The Selfish Gene or the Extended Phenotype

[artyfarty2]

There seems to be a lot of confusion about group selection and individual selection.

Also I find it sort of ironic that the death of an individual can benefit the group such that the genetic trait that cause that individual to die is reinforced in the group. e.g. rabbits thumping their feet.

[dplind87]

Oh, I believe that is Dan Dennett! -- lol, good eye=p