Book Review: Origins of Virtue

Matt Ridley's entertaining panorama of life on Earth boasts a variegated cast of charcaters ranging from desert seedharvest ants to bottlenose dolphins, Polynesian island communities to Petra, and Prince Peter Kropotkin to Robert Frank. The thrust of the book is that individualism is innate and selected for in nature. Even though we sometimes observe apparently altruistic behavior, Ridley argues that this is typically of a "selfish gene" type, in which individuals sacrifice themselves or their intersts for those of close relatives. Without socially-oriented bahvior, we might fear that societies are threatened. However, stunning relationships that benefit both parties arise despite the apparent lack of coordination and competition between individuals. Economists deal with such relationships often enough to have a special name for them--markets. Ridley argues that cabals among groups of chimpanzees and dolphins are little different in an evolutionary sense from groups of humans who cooperate in order to trade. But trade is not the last of it--Ridley also explores connections to conflict and ecology.

At times the connections are a bit abrupt, although the worst of these come in the final chapter which is advertised as drawing sudden and rash conclusions. Ridley does largely resist the urge to force connections to demonstrate his underlying point. He lets the evidence speak for itself. The book holds up well (it was first published in 1997). Ridley is working on a new project that elaborates on how humans have managed progress over the course of history. I saw him present a seminar on the material for the new book, which promises to be just as entertaining and thought-provoking as The Origins of Virtue.