This View of Life

This View of Life
  • 4.9 (15)
  • SOCIAL SCIENCES
  • UPDATED BIMONTHLY

This View of Life takes a deep dive with the best and brightest thinkers on anything and everything from an evolutionary perspective. TVOL is a product of the non-profit ProSocial World and hosted by co-founder and President David Sloan Wilson.

  1. SEP 23

    Forever Green: Building a cooperative innovation platform for diversification in Midwest agriculture with Nick Jordan & Whitney Clark

    David Sloan Wilson speaks with Professor Nick Jordan and Whitney Clark, Executive Director of Friends of the Mississippi River, about their work on the Forever Green Initiative – a regional effort to scale regenerative agriculture in the Upper Midwest. They reflect on seven years of cross-sector collaboration to develop new crops and farming systems, and how their partnership with ProSocial World has helped strengthen the initiative.

    1h 1m

  2. AUG 22

    The Science of Imagined Worlds: Evolution and Ecology for World Builders - A conversation between Carlo Maley, Vaughn Aktipis-Maley & David Sloan Wilson

    Join David Sloan Wilson in conversation with Carlo Maley and Vaughn Aktipis-Maley as they explore how evolutionary science can inspire deeper, more internally consistent worldbuilding. Based on their recent publication Evolution and Ecology for World Builders, this episode blends fantasy storytelling with real-world biology to ask: What makes a creature believable? What makes a society work? And what can fiction teach us about cooperation in reality?

    1h 21m

  3. JUN 27

    Shaping AI for Good: Prosocial Hybrid Intelligence for a Thriving Future - A conversation between Cornelia Walther and David Sloan Wilson

    AI is no longer a distant future - it’s shaping our lives right now. But what if we could design it not just to be smart, but to be good? In this powerful conversation, Cornelia Walther and evolutionary biologist David Sloan Wilson explore how we can build AI systems that truly serve people and the planet. They dive into the concept of Prosocial AI, technology that’s designed to support human connection, equity, and environmental sustainability—and the emerging field of hybrid intelligence, where human empathy and creativity team up with AI’s speed and precision. You’ll hear how we can deliberately shape AI with inclusive voices, transparent practices, and a strong ethical foundation to ensure it aligns with our highest values. From development to deployment, this episode outlines a path forward: one where technology empowers communities and nurtures a healthier, fairer world. Whether you're an AI enthusiast, a changemaker, or simply curious about how tech can uplift humanity, this is a conversation you won’t want to miss.

    1h 18m

  4. JUN 2

    Democracy’s Deep Roots: From Hunter-Gatherers to Modern Society -- A conversation between Vivek Venkataraman and David Sloan Wilson

    What if the roots of democracy run far deeper than ancient Greece or Enlightenment Europe, but back to our evolutionary origins as humans? In this thought-provoking conversation, evolutionary anthropologist Vivek Venkataraman and renowned scientist David Sloan Wilson dig into how early human societies, particularly hunter-gatherers, managed to balance individual freedom with the needs of the group. Long before constitutions and parliaments, our ancestors developed powerful, organic systems for cooperation, decision-making, and fairness. This discussion explores how evolution shaped us into an ultra-cooperative species, and what modern societies can learn from these ancient ways of living. The implications aren’t just academic; they offer practical insights for strengthening both formal and grassroots democratic governance today, from local communities to global systems. Whether you're into anthropology, politics, or just curious about what it really means to live well together, this is a conversation that bridges past and future in a surprising and meaningful way.

    1h 19m

  5. MAY 2

    Decolonizing Ecology: Rethinking Nature in a Broken World

    A conversation between Madhusudan Katti and Amitangshu Acharya Join us for a thought-provoking virtual dialogue exploring how colonial worldviews have shaped modern ecology - and what it means to decolonize our relationship with nature in an era of social and environmental upheaval. Building on themes from the This View of Life series “Decolonizing Science", ecologist Madhusudan Katti and writer-researcher Amitangshu Acharya delve into questions at the intersection of science, history, and justice. Together, they’ll challenge dominant narratives and invite us to reimagine ecological knowledge that is rooted in compassion, context, and community.

    1h 20m

  6. APR 1

    Addressing the Wicked Problem of Housing Insecurity in Binghamton New York with Rebecca Rathmell

    Originally published on September 9, 2024

    1h 3m

  7. APR 1

    Hunter-Gatherer Societies, Human Origins, and Modern Democracies with Vivek Venkataraman (Part 1)

    Originally published on January 8, 2025. Hunter-gatherer societies are fascinating in their own right and--with appropriate caution--a major source of insight about our ancestral past, stretching back to our origin as a species. Remarkably, hunter-gatherer societies also have much to teach us about modern Democratic governance. Vivek Venkataraman is an idea guide to this subject, with a background in philosophy, primatology, and human evolutionary biology, along with direct experience living with and researching indigenous people in Malaysia.  Check out the resources, articles, and more mentioned in this conversation! 4:21  A Primate's Memoir: A Neuroscientist's Unconventional Life Among the Baboons By Robert M. Sapolsky ·2007 12:37 The Goodness Paradox The Strange Relationship Between Virtue and Violence in Human Evolution By Richard Wrangham · 2019 14:30  Hierarchy in the Forest The Evolution of Egalitarian Behavior By Christopher BOEHM · 2009 14:35 and 22:41  Moral Origins The Evolution of Virtue, Altruism, and Shame By Christopher Boehm · 2012 17:52 A Story of Us A New Look at Human Evolution By Lesley Newson, Peter J. Richerson · 2021 22:51 Morality from an Evolutionary Perspective with Simon Blackburn: https://www.prosocial.world/posts/morality-from-an-evolutionary-perspective-with-simon-blackburn 29:06 and 40:56 Man the Hunter Symposium 33:31 Eating Christmas in the Kalahari Richard Borshay Lee 37:23 Co-Residence Patterns in Hunter-Gatherer Societies Show Unique Human Social Structure Kim R. Hill , et al. 44:43  Variability in the organization and size of hunter-gatherer groups: Foragers do not live in small-scale societies 46:28  The Evolution of Subjective Commitment to Groups: A Tribal Instincts Hypothesis Peter J. Richerson and Robert Boyd, 2011 48:23  Human social organization during the Late Pleistocene: Beyond the nomadic-egalitarian model Manvir Singh and Luke Glowacki, 2022 50:20 The Dawn of Everything A New History of Humanity By David Graeber, David Wengrow · 2021 57:19 Society Against the State: Essays in Political Anthropology by Pierre Clastres, 1987

    1h 17m

  8. APR 1

    Hunter-Gatherer Societies, Human Origins, and Modern Democracies with Vivek Venkataraman (Part 2)

    Hunter-gatherer societies are fascinating in their own right and--with appropriate caution--a major source of insight about our ancestral past, stretching back to our origin as a species. Remarkably, hunter-gatherer societies also have much to teach us about modern Democratic governance. Vivek Venkataraman is an idea guide to this subject, with a background in philosophy, primatology, and human evolutionary biology, along with direct experience living with and researching indigenous people in Malaysia.   Originally published January 29, 2025.

    1h 30m
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4.9
out of 5
15 Ratings

About

This View of Life takes a deep dive with the best and brightest thinkers on anything and everything from an evolutionary perspective. TVOL is a product of the non-profit ProSocial World and hosted by co-founder and President David Sloan Wilson.

Information

  • Creator
    This View of Life
  • Years Active
    2019 - 2025
  • Episodes
    55
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Show Website
    This View of Life

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