"In an age of rampant narcissism and social cheating – the importance of teaching social evolutionary mechanisms."

"While evolutionary processes are often caricatured as favoring selfish behaviors, the facts tell a more complex, organism-specific story [link: Aktipis 2016]. Cooperation between organisms underlies a wide range of behaviors, from sexual reproduction and the formation of multicellular organisms (animals, plants, and people) to social systems, ranging from microbial films to bee colonies and construction companies [see Bourke, 2011: Principles of Social Evolution]...

Given that social systems at all levels are based on potentially costly traits, such as honesty, loyalty, self-sacrifice, and reciprocity, the evolutionary origins of social systems must lie in their ability to increase reproductive success, either directly or through effects on relatives, a phenomena known as inclusive fitness [Wikipedia link]. Evolutionary processes also render social systems vulnerable to cheating and so have driven the development of a range of defenses against various forms of social cheaters (see above).  But recent political and cultural events appear to be acting to erode and/or ignore society’s defenses."

http://blogs.plos.org/scied/2016/12/22/in-an-age-of-rampant-narcissism-and-social-cheating-shouldnt-biology-curricula-include-a-consideration-of-social-evolutionary-mechanisms/

I am so here for this argument