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The
Origins of Virtue : Human Instincts and the Evolution of Cooperation
by Matt Ridley
Amazon.com Review
 Matt
Ridley puts it best: The Origins of Virtue "is about the billion-year
coagulation of our genes into cooperative teams, the million-year coagulation of our
ancestors into cooperative societies, and the thousand-year coagulation of ideas about
society and its origins." Past examinations of human and beastly altruism have often
led to some delightfully cynical conclusions. To wit: children have to learn to be nice in
order to get ahead; adults are generous not out of good-heartedness but sheer
self-interest; and those male dolphins get along in order to have their way with the
females. Ridley does not discard such evidence so much as seek out instances of trust,
mutual aid, and generosity and examine them through a new paradox: "Our minds have
been built by selfish genes, but they have been built to be social, trustworthy and
cooperative." The Origins of Virtue is unsettling as well as highly
entertaining--its elegant style matching its strong substance. --This
text refers to the hardcover
edition of this title. Copyright © Amazon.com, Inc.
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