On Human Nature

Outline how Wilson deals with the “nature versus nurture” (genetic inheritance versus cultural evolution) paradox. What is your opinion of the topic?

How does Wilson demonstrate the necessity of synthesizing the natural sciences and the social sciences and humanities (as framed in the Preface and Chapter 1)?

What is Wilson’s answer to the question of whether or not humans have free will? What is your opinion of the topic? Include examples from the text, with a focus on Chapter 4.

How does Wilson’s thesis on human nature exhibit the themes in Thomas Hobbes’s quote at the beginning of the text?

How does Wilson contextualize altruistic behavior in human society? Think of two examples of altruistic behavior from your own life and evaluate whether they displayed “hard-core” altruism or “soft-core” altruism.

Explain how Wilson’s text itself is an example of the human need to “change its own nature” (208). Include examples from the text in your answer.

Wilson asserts throughout the text that the accumulation of scientific and historical knowledge has reached a point where cultural evolution can now take place at will. How does this claim affect Wilson’s other claims concerning culture’s dependence on genetic inheritance?

Compare humans’ selfish tendency toward self-preservation and their simultaneous desire to conform and make sacrifices for the common good. How does Wilson explain these alternating tendencies with biology?