Research
Two complementary scales. Three connected programs.
My research examines evolution at two complementary scales. At the population-genetic scale, I study how association and social action shape the evolution of cooperation, conflict, and kin recognition. At the macroevolutionary scale, I study how major innovations allow life to escape existing ecological limits and expand into new resource zones. A third project applies these ideas about innovation and incumbent advantage to the organization of science itself.
Association theory and social evolution
Association theory distinguishes whether organisms associate from how they treat one another after associating. This distinction provides a historical explanation for the evolution of kin recognition and kin association preference. It also clarifies the scope of Hamilton’s rule, the relationship between population-genetic and inclusive-fitness models, and the correct empirical measurement of social benefits and costs.
Natural reward and macroevolution
Natural selection explains adaptation within the struggle for existence, but it does not by itself predict the progressive expansion of life into new resource zones. The theory of natural reward identifies a second non-random evolutionary force arising from the incumbent advantage gained by organisms that first evolve innovations permitting ecological expansion. Together, natural selection and natural reward explain both adaptation and the advancement of life.
The evolution of scientific innovation
Scientific theories and research programs can acquire incumbent advantages resembling those found in biological evolution. I apply ideas from evolutionary theory and economics to ask how scientific institutions can better reward intellectual risk, encourage entrepreneurship, and support the development of fundamentally new ideas.