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Eric Michael Johnson

is an evolutionary scholar and writer. He received his masters in Evolutionary Anthropology before pursuing a PhD in the History of Science.

Eric Michael Johnson is Managing Editor for This View of Life. He has a master's degree in evolutionary anthropology focusing on primate behavioral ecology and received his Ph.D. in the history of science from the University of British Columbia. His dissertation, The Struggle for Coexistence (reviewed on TVOL here) focused on the debate between 'Social' Darwinism and 'Socialist' Darwinism in England, France, Germany, and Russia in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. In addition to publishing original research in such places as the Journal of Human Evolution, American Journal of Physical Anthropology, and Slavic and East European Review he has written on evolutionary topics for general audiences at Slate, Times Higher Education, Discover, Wired, Psychology Today and many others (see his website for more). He is a longtime advocate of science communication online and has spoken at academic as well as social media conferences on how important it is for scientists to reach out to the public by engaging readers with a compelling narrative. He can be found on Twitter at @ericmjohnson.

Authored by

Eric Michael Johnson

September 26, 2021

The False Tropes of Darwinism and a New Narrative of Prosocial Evolution

The narrative of Darwinism on television programs is portrayed almost exclusively in a negative light. It is time to flip the script.

Culture
Read
April 12, 2021

Ronald Fisher Is Not Being ‘Cancelled’, But His Eugenic Advocacy Should Have Consequences

How should we remember scientists that altered our conception of the natural world but who also misused the tools of science to target marginalized populations?

Biology
History
Read
May 23, 2020

Evolving the Future of Corporations: A Conversation with Toby Shannan

A major corporation is teaming up with evolutionary scientists to help achieve its laudable goals and provide a model for other corporations.

Podcast
Read
July 10, 2017

The Evolution of Darwinian Empathy

The Darwinian understanding of empathy consistently built from his initial hypothesis to establish an empirical framework by the mid-1960s.

Biology
History
Morality
Read
October 25, 2016

Toward A New Social Darwinism

The biggest victim of the stigmatized view of Social Darwinism has been all of us, by preventing the application of evolutionary theory to public policy until very recently.

Biology
Politics
Read
July 5, 2015

Truth and Reconciliation for Social Darwinism

Biology
History
Politics
Read
February 19, 2015

Scott Walker Has No Backbone. Who Has The Courage To Accept Evolution?

Politics
Read
December 30, 2014

National Medal Of Science Awarded To Political Scientist Robert Axelrod

Politics
Read
December 9, 2012

The Gospel of Wealth Fails the Inequity Test in Primates

Darwin understood that competition was an important factor in evolution, but it wasn’t the only factor.

Economy
Read
October 5, 2012

Ayn Rand on Human Nature

Rand insists altruism is a pernicious lie that is directly contrary to biological reality. Is it?

Morality
Read
October 3, 2012

Did Human Evolution Favor Individualists or Altruists?

Rand's mistake was in essentializing the distinction between "individualist freedom" vs. "collectivist tyranny" and then transporting it into our human past.

Culture
Read
September 5, 2012

A Grimm Tale of Reproductive Conflict

A new study argues that in-law competition drove the evolution of menopause. But is the story too good to be true?

Biology
Read
July 26, 2012

The Joker’s Wild: On the Ecology of Gun Violence in America

The United States is the deadliest wealthy country in the world. Can science help us explain, or even solve, our national crisis?

Culture
Read
July 10, 2012

The Good Fight

Prominent scientists are in a bitter struggle over the origins of kindness. But the root of this conflict may be the most ironic part of all.

Biology
Read
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