Facing the Dark History of Evolutionary Science: The Role of the Individual in Learning How to Evolve on Purpose

The ink used to print the Origin of Species was hardly dry before some began to consider how human beings could evolve on purpose. For no one is that more true than Darwin’s cousin, Francis Galton. Fascinated by Darwin’s views on artificial selection, he soon published his highly influential book Hereditary Genius and in doing so created the groundwork for the first major attempt to deliberately impact human evolution – the field of Eugenics. In this talk, I will explain the key but largely unknown scientific error made by Galton and how profoundly it has distorted our world to the present day. Finding a better way forward turns on the issue of the role of the individual, which when solved gives us entirely new ways of learning about how to evolve on purpose.

Bio:

Steven C. Hayes is a Nevada Foundation Professor of Psychology in the Behavior Analysis Program at the University of Nevada. An author of 47 books and over 675 scientific articles, he is especially known for his work on “Acceptance and Commitment Therapy” or “ACT” which is one of the most widely used and researched new methods of psychological intervention over the last 20 years. He has written extensively on the relevance of evolutionary science to clinical and applied psychology including the co-authored or co-edited books with David Sloan Wilson and colleagues, Prosocial: Using evolutionary science to build productive, equitable, and collaborative groups, and Evolution and Contextual
Behavioral Science: An integrated framework for understanding, predicting, and influencing human behavior. Dr. Hayes has received several national awards, such as the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapy. His TEDx talks and blogs have been viewed or read by over three and a half million people, and he is ranked among the most cited psychologists in the world.