The Selected Method: A Theory of the Evolution of Life that Explains Politics and Other Otherwise Inexplicably Irrational Behavior

A theory of the evolution of life is proposed that focuses on the process of how life as a whole operates in order to increase diversity and the chances of at least some forms of life surviving in the face of changing environmental conditions. In this theory, genes and individuals, while still competing for survival, are constrained by certain rules of the game that compel them to sacrifice their own interests for the long-term benefit of life generally. In this view, which incorporates but refocuses the standard Darwinian view, many behaviors, including behaviors observed in the political realm, fall into place.