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The Neighborhood Project: Using Evolution to Improve My City, One Block at a Time
After decades studying creatures great and small, evolutionary biologist David Sloan Wilson had an Darwin's theory won't fully prove itself until it improves the quality of human life in a practical sense. And what better place to begin than his hometown of Binghamton, New York? Making a difference in his own city would provide a model for cities everywhere, which have become the habitat for over half of the people on earth.
Inspired to become an agent of change, Wilson descended on Binghamton with a scientist's eye and looked at its toughest questions, such as how to empower neighborhoods and how best to teach our children. He combined the latest research methods from experimental economics with studies of holiday decorations and garage sales. Drawing upon examples from nature as diverse as water striders, wasps, and crows, Wilson's scientific odyssey took him around the world, from a cave in southern Africa that preserved the dawn of human culture to the Vatican in Rome. Along the way, he spoke with dozens of fellow scientists, whose stories he relates along with his own.
Wilson's remarkable findings help us to understand how we must become wise managers of evolutionary processes to accomplish positive change at all scales, from effective therapies for individuals, to empowering neighborhoods, to regulating the worldwide economy.
With an ambitious scope that spans biology, sociology, religion, and economics, The Neighborhood Project is a memoir, a practical handbook for improving the quality of life, and an exploration of the big questions long pondered by religious sages, philosophers, and storytellers. Approaching the same questions from an evolutionary perspective shows, as never before, how places define us.
Inspired to become an agent of change, Wilson descended on Binghamton with a scientist's eye and looked at its toughest questions, such as how to empower neighborhoods and how best to teach our children. He combined the latest research methods from experimental economics with studies of holiday decorations and garage sales. Drawing upon examples from nature as diverse as water striders, wasps, and crows, Wilson's scientific odyssey took him around the world, from a cave in southern Africa that preserved the dawn of human culture to the Vatican in Rome. Along the way, he spoke with dozens of fellow scientists, whose stories he relates along with his own.
Wilson's remarkable findings help us to understand how we must become wise managers of evolutionary processes to accomplish positive change at all scales, from effective therapies for individuals, to empowering neighborhoods, to regulating the worldwide economy.
With an ambitious scope that spans biology, sociology, religion, and economics, The Neighborhood Project is a memoir, a practical handbook for improving the quality of life, and an exploration of the big questions long pondered by religious sages, philosophers, and storytellers. Approaching the same questions from an evolutionary perspective shows, as never before, how places define us.
448 pages, Hardcover
First published August 24, 2011
41 people are currently reading
1244 people want to read
About the author
David Sloan Wilson
27 books175 followersDavid Sloan Wilson has been a professor of evolutionary biology at Binghamton University for more than twenty years. He has written three academic books on evolution, authored hundreds of papers, some with E.O. Wilson, and his first book for a general audience was Evolution for Everyone: How Darwin's Theory Can Change the Way We Think.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
September 24, 2011
I had high hopes for this book, in which the author tells the story of his attempt to describe and then to improve his home city of Binghamton, New York, by means of "The Neighborhood Project." I was soon disappointed. Supposedly using evolutionary science as his guiding light, Wilson tries to understand the complexities of the city and its citizens by using sloppy social science methodologies (e.g., who decorates front yards for Halloween and/or Christmas, standardized tests of school children, such as the Developmental Assets Profile, etc.) to map "the hills [good parts] and valleys [bad parts]" of Binghamton. His purpose in mapping is to identify those "valleys" that need to be raised to the level of the "hills" through the application of evolutionary science and "common sense," until that time when Binghamton will become the "shining city on a hill" which he envisions. It was, in the end, neither the poor editing (I actually began to feel the "hammer blows of natural selection" by the twentieth or thirtieth time I read that phrase) nor the slipshod social science methodologies that made me want to throw the book across the room, it was the sheer hubris of the author. Apparently, given a few weeks to read and have conversations with experts, Wilson is not only able to master fields such as economics, psychology, and religious studies in which he has no formal training, he is actually able to have insights inspired by evolutionary science that have eluded the greatest scholars in these fields and to then set the misguided disciplines on corrected courses in his effort to save not only Binghamton but also the world. Comparing himself to Frodo in the Lord of the Rings, he laments that he only wants to return to his shire of Binghamton, but, alas, his destiny as the Ringbearer of Evolutionary Science leads him on from one academic conference to another with his heavy burden of sharing his brilliance with a world threatened by the evil forces of Mordor. In describing his brainchild, the Design Your Own Park competition in Binghamton (a failed project apparently abandoned after the publication of the book), Wilson comments on his own genius: "Brilliant, as Watson said to Holmes." One can only hope that "the hammer blows of natural selection" will not permit evolutionary science to follow the narcissisitic path Wilson has mapped out for himself.
October 23, 2011
As a biologist I have always been leery of sociological studies. If you get large enough groups of people and find ways to identify and control some variables, you might be able to get reproducible results. But I am not often convinced. At least the author, David Sloan Wilson, make a persuasive argument that our societies might have an evolutionary basis in that people who are members of successful societies have a better chance of surviving and reproducing. And that societies are a genetic system of rapid response to changing conditions that the "hard-wired" genome cannot move fast enough to keep up with.
There is a lot of interesting information in the book. I like his deconstruction of the history of economics. It certainly explains a lot. I definitely agree with him that we should use the synergy of multiple disciplines to examine issues.
But I was busy muttering to myself on his take on education. The Sudbury School, which he seems to regard highly, takes very involved and concerned parents. He doesn't come up with a solution for those kids whose parents are absent or not involved or fighting their own demons.
It is very interesting to read this while watching the Occupy Wall Street movements coming together and establishing their communities in various cities and also watching the reaction of different city governments to the protests.
There is a lot of interesting information in the book. I like his deconstruction of the history of economics. It certainly explains a lot. I definitely agree with him that we should use the synergy of multiple disciplines to examine issues.
But I was busy muttering to myself on his take on education. The Sudbury School, which he seems to regard highly, takes very involved and concerned parents. He doesn't come up with a solution for those kids whose parents are absent or not involved or fighting their own demons.
It is very interesting to read this while watching the Occupy Wall Street movements coming together and establishing their communities in various cities and also watching the reaction of different city governments to the protests.
November 28, 2011
This was a recommended book from the bibliography and notes in the back of _No Impact Man_. Although at times the writing got a bit bogged down, there were many more interesting parts that held my attention. I enjoyed the chapters on the water striders and wasps, and how his team designed the different data surveys for the Binghamton Project. I also liked how he gave a mini-bio on each person that plays a role in the Project.
My least favorite chapter was about the relating of evolution to religion - it got confusing at times for me, and I wasn't inspired to go back more than once and figure my way through. [Which I was surprised by, seeing as how I've taught religion and been closely related to religion and education for a number of years.]
Overall, I liked the book, - impressive enough to rack up a whole week's worth of overdue fines... [bad me].
My least favorite chapter was about the relating of evolution to religion - it got confusing at times for me, and I wasn't inspired to go back more than once and figure my way through. [Which I was surprised by, seeing as how I've taught religion and been closely related to religion and education for a number of years.]
Overall, I liked the book, - impressive enough to rack up a whole week's worth of overdue fines... [bad me].
August 12, 2011
I enjoyed this book. It is entertaining especially for those with a background in science. The author takes an interesting approach to conducting research for the book. I recommend this book.
August 10, 2012
Have you ever looked at a group, or a city as an organisms? You may after reading this.This eminently readable book is at once the story of a single initiative - The Binghamton Neighborhood Project - which is using evolutionary science to improve that city's quality of life. More profoundly, it's a survey of the state of that science as it is being applied to social and economic problems throughout the country. As such, it's also an excellent primer in applied evolutionary science. This is an excellent resource for community organizers and anyone interested in making the place where they live into more of a community.
July 13, 2012
Intriguing frame for conscious evolution. Interesting to consider what circumstances catalyze people to make choices that benefit the whole, rather than just their own interests. I liked reading about the work he has done with the school, and I particularly liked his two "Ant Commandments":
(1) To defy the authority of empirical evidence is to disqualify oneself as someone worthy of critical engagement in a dialogue.
(2) If you're undermining the commons, then you're degrading your soul.
How we move ourselves toward operating more for the common good seems worth study!
(1) To defy the authority of empirical evidence is to disqualify oneself as someone worthy of critical engagement in a dialogue.
(2) If you're undermining the commons, then you're degrading your soul.
How we move ourselves toward operating more for the common good seems worth study!
April 29, 2013
Understanding, in a time of confusion, improves the human condition. I want to thank Dr Wilson for taking the time to reseach and pen this work. We should indeed "avoid our bad habit of regarding ourselves as more intelligent, cultural, and moral in every way," so that we may recognize "the most important and interesting differences among people arise when the mental modules that we share in common are triggered by different environmental stimuli."
July 5, 2020
This book was given to me by a friend, but I had been interested in it for a while since the author is a professor at my alma mater and the topic combined two of my personal interests: science and social change. In addition, I used to live in the city of Binghamton, which is the focus of the book. For these reasons, I was excited about finally getting down to reading this title but was ultimately disappointed.
The author begins by laying a theoretical foundation of evolutionary science, which was the most interesting part to me. Sloan Wilson primarily relies upon water striders, though other species are also briefly explored as well, to explain the means by which animals have learned and adapted to their environment to survive--fundamentally through hunting, avoiding being hunted, and reproducing. Growing up in the country, I used to watch striders with great interest and the author's explanations were rather nostalgic. However, the language was often quite problematic. The author apparently attempts to write about science for the non-scientist, but his approach delves into word choice and explanations that discredit his authority as a scientist: referring to male animals as "studs" and attempting sociological studies that are based on severely subjective assumptions (referred to as "sloppy science" by another reviewer.) For example, he attempts to evaluate personal social ethics within communities by criteria such as whether a household puts up Christmas lights and the extent to which they do that evaluated through visual aesthetics. Of course, not everyone puts up lights or decorates their home for the holidays for various reasons, and perhaps not doing so is also a decision based on social values and care (such as not using natural resources to run all of those items and thereby not contributing more to global climate change.)
Returning to the evolutionary theory presented at the beginning of the book, I thought that would then leap logically into strategies for how to use such understanding to explore human behavior and thereby achieve social change and justice. The author does make an attempt at this logical progression, but it is tenuous--not what I would expect from an established academic writer. The rest of the book seems focused on promoting evolutionary studies as a catch-all "savior" discipline that will connect all other disciplines from the "Ivory Archipelago" as he refers to it--that is, academic fields where specialists are isolated and separated from each other and not consulting, communicating, or collaborating. Of course, this is definitely a problem that, if addressed, could result in greater understanding in various fields. However, the author's belief that evolutionary studies, and it seems at times he himself, will be the saving grace of this problem is quite off-putting. The savior tone often reappears throughout the book, such as when he approaches the local school district to conduct studies about student perceptions about themselves and others.
After the initial exploration and explanation of evolutionary thinking comes a sequences of narratives and name-dropping. Sometimes the narrative descriptions seem rather personal and judgmental, which makes me wonder not only whether there is a scientific foundation throughout the book, but also how these people might feel about what the author writes about them.
I have a policy that I will finish any book that I start, unless it is really wholly intolerable, which is the only reason I completed this one. However, the more I read, the more I thought that this book is really more about the author and his personal pursuits than about science and social change-- a feeling that was confirmed at the end with the last sentence when the author wrote about his experience attending a public event that was within the site of inquiry: "I had been living in Binghamton for more than twenty years, but never before had I felt so much at home."
The idea of using evolutionary theory to explain contemporary human behavior and pursue social change is an excellent idea, but unfortunately this book fails to present with such a logical connection or pragmatic measures to conduct such work. It seems more like an author's memoir interspersed with short biographies of the people he's worked with.
The author begins by laying a theoretical foundation of evolutionary science, which was the most interesting part to me. Sloan Wilson primarily relies upon water striders, though other species are also briefly explored as well, to explain the means by which animals have learned and adapted to their environment to survive--fundamentally through hunting, avoiding being hunted, and reproducing. Growing up in the country, I used to watch striders with great interest and the author's explanations were rather nostalgic. However, the language was often quite problematic. The author apparently attempts to write about science for the non-scientist, but his approach delves into word choice and explanations that discredit his authority as a scientist: referring to male animals as "studs" and attempting sociological studies that are based on severely subjective assumptions (referred to as "sloppy science" by another reviewer.) For example, he attempts to evaluate personal social ethics within communities by criteria such as whether a household puts up Christmas lights and the extent to which they do that evaluated through visual aesthetics. Of course, not everyone puts up lights or decorates their home for the holidays for various reasons, and perhaps not doing so is also a decision based on social values and care (such as not using natural resources to run all of those items and thereby not contributing more to global climate change.)
Returning to the evolutionary theory presented at the beginning of the book, I thought that would then leap logically into strategies for how to use such understanding to explore human behavior and thereby achieve social change and justice. The author does make an attempt at this logical progression, but it is tenuous--not what I would expect from an established academic writer. The rest of the book seems focused on promoting evolutionary studies as a catch-all "savior" discipline that will connect all other disciplines from the "Ivory Archipelago" as he refers to it--that is, academic fields where specialists are isolated and separated from each other and not consulting, communicating, or collaborating. Of course, this is definitely a problem that, if addressed, could result in greater understanding in various fields. However, the author's belief that evolutionary studies, and it seems at times he himself, will be the saving grace of this problem is quite off-putting. The savior tone often reappears throughout the book, such as when he approaches the local school district to conduct studies about student perceptions about themselves and others.
After the initial exploration and explanation of evolutionary thinking comes a sequences of narratives and name-dropping. Sometimes the narrative descriptions seem rather personal and judgmental, which makes me wonder not only whether there is a scientific foundation throughout the book, but also how these people might feel about what the author writes about them.
I have a policy that I will finish any book that I start, unless it is really wholly intolerable, which is the only reason I completed this one. However, the more I read, the more I thought that this book is really more about the author and his personal pursuits than about science and social change-- a feeling that was confirmed at the end with the last sentence when the author wrote about his experience attending a public event that was within the site of inquiry: "I had been living in Binghamton for more than twenty years, but never before had I felt so much at home."
The idea of using evolutionary theory to explain contemporary human behavior and pursue social change is an excellent idea, but unfortunately this book fails to present with such a logical connection or pragmatic measures to conduct such work. It seems more like an author's memoir interspersed with short biographies of the people he's worked with.
July 6, 2019
This book had some interesting insights and ideas, but it was just far too rambling and incoherent, and spent too much time talking about inconsequential parts of the author's career in ways that seemed like bragging.
February 28, 2021
A bit verbose, but tons of good information, and lots of new ways to think about stuff.
April 23, 2019
I wasn’t too impressed
October 4, 2015
Subtitle: Using Evolution to Improve My City, One Block at a Time
This book is based on a single premise, which is that a knowledge of evolution (in particular, multi-level evolution, the sort of thing which happens at the gene level, the organism level, and the species level simultaneously) can be used to help with problems in human society. In other words, that understanding evolution can help you understand your neighborhood. It's an appealing premise.
Unfortunately, I can't say that this book really delivers. It is apparent that Wilson knows a lot about evolution in what we conventionally call biology. He introduces us to intricate details about the water strider, the wasp, and the human immune system (both a product of evolution and an evolving system, itself).
He also introduces us to other fields of study, such as prevention science, sociology, and economics, and shows us what they look like through the eyes of an evolutionary biologist. He takes great delight in telling us about the different countries, social classes, and backgrounds of the many different people he has met and worked with in the course of his research. This is a good thing, as it shows that scientists can be either gender, any class, rural or urban, and from any part of the world.
He also does a bit of sociology himself, telling us about how the different parts of academia (fail to) relate to each other, and what results when he or others try to bridge the gaps that have grown up as a result of ever-increasing specialization. This also humanizes science itself, showing scientists as human beings, not immune to fear of the unknown, cliquishness, jealousy, or excess enthusiasm at the early phases of a project.
Here's what he does NOT do. He doesn't tell us how to use evolution to improve your city, one block at a time. I don't know if the title (and subtitle) were foisted on him by a publisher or not, but it makes a promise which the text of the book entirely fails to deliver on. Perhaps they were concerned that fewer people would buy it if it were titled, "The Neighborhood Project: Applying Evolution to Sociology to Found New Think Tanks and Publish Papers". Because really, that's all that has happened thus far.
In fact, there was one really nifty piece of information that we get here, which is a result of Wilson's own research. If you take a survey of social attitudes called the Developmental Assets Profile, which asks how much you agree with statements like "I think it is important to help other people", and you give it to all the school students in a city, you can get a map of high and low points of what we can call "social capital". Some neighborhoods will have more, some less. Then, you can take a look at how much people decorate their homes for Halloween and Christmas. The maps will correlate to a large degree.
This means that, if you want to know the attitudes of a neighborhood towards statements like "I am sensitive to the needs and feelings of others", you can make a pretty good guess by driving around that neighborhood in late October or mid December. Which is a lot easier than giving surveys to their (hundreds or thousands of) kids.
There you are. That's the fact about neighborhoods which we get in this book. You don't get the actual R-squared, or any other statistical measure of correlation, and you certainly don't get to see the maps of Binghamton, New York which Wilson made with these different data sources. You do get to hear about where in Wilson's office he hung the map which he made with this data. You also get to hear how Wilson felt about it (he felt good about it).
Which is a fun fact, if you can use the word "fact" for something as vague as "they correlated". But it's a pretty slim reward for almost 400 pages of reading. I am glad that Wilson finds it exciting to be doing studies on his home town, using his skills as a biologist to measure and analyze the places where he lives. I am glad that he finds the life stories of the many different colleagues he has worked with, to be so varied and interesting. I am glad that he is working to build bridges between different academic disciplines, so that they can use their different perspectives and theoretical tools to help figure out how social capital can be built up, and how and why it erodes, because the loss of it in this country over the last half century is pretty well established, and it is a big problem.
When they do pool their knowledge, and put it together in this way, perhaps one of them will write a book which will deserve the title that was given to this one instead.
This book is based on a single premise, which is that a knowledge of evolution (in particular, multi-level evolution, the sort of thing which happens at the gene level, the organism level, and the species level simultaneously) can be used to help with problems in human society. In other words, that understanding evolution can help you understand your neighborhood. It's an appealing premise.
Unfortunately, I can't say that this book really delivers. It is apparent that Wilson knows a lot about evolution in what we conventionally call biology. He introduces us to intricate details about the water strider, the wasp, and the human immune system (both a product of evolution and an evolving system, itself).
He also introduces us to other fields of study, such as prevention science, sociology, and economics, and shows us what they look like through the eyes of an evolutionary biologist. He takes great delight in telling us about the different countries, social classes, and backgrounds of the many different people he has met and worked with in the course of his research. This is a good thing, as it shows that scientists can be either gender, any class, rural or urban, and from any part of the world.
He also does a bit of sociology himself, telling us about how the different parts of academia (fail to) relate to each other, and what results when he or others try to bridge the gaps that have grown up as a result of ever-increasing specialization. This also humanizes science itself, showing scientists as human beings, not immune to fear of the unknown, cliquishness, jealousy, or excess enthusiasm at the early phases of a project.
Here's what he does NOT do. He doesn't tell us how to use evolution to improve your city, one block at a time. I don't know if the title (and subtitle) were foisted on him by a publisher or not, but it makes a promise which the text of the book entirely fails to deliver on. Perhaps they were concerned that fewer people would buy it if it were titled, "The Neighborhood Project: Applying Evolution to Sociology to Found New Think Tanks and Publish Papers". Because really, that's all that has happened thus far.
In fact, there was one really nifty piece of information that we get here, which is a result of Wilson's own research. If you take a survey of social attitudes called the Developmental Assets Profile, which asks how much you agree with statements like "I think it is important to help other people", and you give it to all the school students in a city, you can get a map of high and low points of what we can call "social capital". Some neighborhoods will have more, some less. Then, you can take a look at how much people decorate their homes for Halloween and Christmas. The maps will correlate to a large degree.
This means that, if you want to know the attitudes of a neighborhood towards statements like "I am sensitive to the needs and feelings of others", you can make a pretty good guess by driving around that neighborhood in late October or mid December. Which is a lot easier than giving surveys to their (hundreds or thousands of) kids.
There you are. That's the fact about neighborhoods which we get in this book. You don't get the actual R-squared, or any other statistical measure of correlation, and you certainly don't get to see the maps of Binghamton, New York which Wilson made with these different data sources. You do get to hear about where in Wilson's office he hung the map which he made with this data. You also get to hear how Wilson felt about it (he felt good about it).
Which is a fun fact, if you can use the word "fact" for something as vague as "they correlated". But it's a pretty slim reward for almost 400 pages of reading. I am glad that Wilson finds it exciting to be doing studies on his home town, using his skills as a biologist to measure and analyze the places where he lives. I am glad that he finds the life stories of the many different colleagues he has worked with, to be so varied and interesting. I am glad that he is working to build bridges between different academic disciplines, so that they can use their different perspectives and theoretical tools to help figure out how social capital can be built up, and how and why it erodes, because the loss of it in this country over the last half century is pretty well established, and it is a big problem.
When they do pool their knowledge, and put it together in this way, perhaps one of them will write a book which will deserve the title that was given to this one instead.
June 29, 2012
I don't know how many of you will enjoy this. The writing is not perfect, and he's a bit of a wanderer when it comes to making is point. I was frequently feeling annoyed that he hadn't gotten down to the point. I guess I like my science books to be anecdote- and example-heavy rather than philosophical. This book tended towards metaphors and parables and only mentioned a few studies. I also came to the book with a lot of desire for there to be some "Before and After" style stories. These were virtually absent.
That being said, if you have ever listened to an argument related to Cultural Evolution and have wondered, "Why did we abandon this, again?" you will probably enjoy this book.
His main argument is also very similar to Hofstadter's (regarding emergent properties, etc.), so if you like Godel, Escher, Bach, this is a perfect companion.
The basic premises are:
1) Scientists apply certain methods to the study of biological entities and their communities.
2) Humans are biological entities.
3) Scientists do not currently study humans in the same ways that they study other biological creatures, due largely to the fact that the original cultural evolutionists were also racist.
His conclusion is perhaps obvious: We should begin treating humans (and human culture) like a product of evolution, and we should study humans (and human cultures) accordingly. Some of our biggest problems make a lot more sense when viewed from an evolutionary perspective.
The majority of the book is actually a discussion of the ways in which the various academic disciplines are finally beginning to work together for the first time in history. I was hoping that it would be more about how to improve urban spaces and poorer neighborhoods, but he does not draw very many conclusions about this process and indicates that his organization is just getting started.
Because of where I am at in life, and because of the other books I am reading concurrently, I am happy I found this book. Unless you are particularly interested in the emergent properties of recursive systems or in the general idea of cultural evolution, though, I wouldn't recommend this book. I'm giving it a 3 because there were about 3 or 4 sentences in every chapter which deserved a 5, but the book overall felt more like an pamphlet directed at raising funds for interdisciplinary departments. Since I am a member of the choir to which he was preaching, I found myself a little bored. I didn't need him to waste time on persuasion. I wanted raw data.
That being said, if you have ever listened to an argument related to Cultural Evolution and have wondered, "Why did we abandon this, again?" you will probably enjoy this book.
His main argument is also very similar to Hofstadter's (regarding emergent properties, etc.), so if you like Godel, Escher, Bach, this is a perfect companion.
The basic premises are:
1) Scientists apply certain methods to the study of biological entities and their communities.
2) Humans are biological entities.
3) Scientists do not currently study humans in the same ways that they study other biological creatures, due largely to the fact that the original cultural evolutionists were also racist.
His conclusion is perhaps obvious: We should begin treating humans (and human culture) like a product of evolution, and we should study humans (and human cultures) accordingly. Some of our biggest problems make a lot more sense when viewed from an evolutionary perspective.
The majority of the book is actually a discussion of the ways in which the various academic disciplines are finally beginning to work together for the first time in history. I was hoping that it would be more about how to improve urban spaces and poorer neighborhoods, but he does not draw very many conclusions about this process and indicates that his organization is just getting started.
Because of where I am at in life, and because of the other books I am reading concurrently, I am happy I found this book. Unless you are particularly interested in the emergent properties of recursive systems or in the general idea of cultural evolution, though, I wouldn't recommend this book. I'm giving it a 3 because there were about 3 or 4 sentences in every chapter which deserved a 5, but the book overall felt more like an pamphlet directed at raising funds for interdisciplinary departments. Since I am a member of the choir to which he was preaching, I found myself a little bored. I didn't need him to waste time on persuasion. I wanted raw data.
February 21, 2015
I enjoyed this book more than Evolution for Everyone, largely because it felt more cohesive. Evolution for Everyone, was a bit scattered, as DSW was trying to explain numerous concepts where the only common thread was evolutionary theory. In The Neighborhood Project, he was able to keep everything tying back to good ol' Bing (with some standard DSW detours, of course), which kept the whole reading process smoother. I felt like I was reading a book, not several independent papers by the same author.
(Note that many of the concepts described in The Neighborhood Project are also found in Evolution for Everyone. If you choose to read both, it may be slightly repetitive for you. If you want to read just one, I would choose The Neighborhood Project.)
I would have liked to see DSW tie things back to Binghamton more often, but I recognize that he wrote this in the early stages of BNP, so he couldn't yet say, "Here is this evolutionary concept, here is how we applied it in our city, and this is what happened when we did." (The project is still going 5 years later, and we're still working to answer some of the questions. Welcome to the world of science!)
Interestingly, this book was published just before the 2011 floods. The descriptions of Binghamton are not quite what you would find here now; the floods actually did a lot to revive the Downtown area. Maybe DSW should do a second edition for the 5th anniversary of the flood next year, including a chapter on cultural evolution and how we saw some of that going on post-flood. (If you are reading this, David, I expect credit for my ideas!!) ;)
Also, I enjoyed seeing my friends and colleagues show up in the book. That was pretty cool.
(Note that many of the concepts described in The Neighborhood Project are also found in Evolution for Everyone. If you choose to read both, it may be slightly repetitive for you. If you want to read just one, I would choose The Neighborhood Project.)
I would have liked to see DSW tie things back to Binghamton more often, but I recognize that he wrote this in the early stages of BNP, so he couldn't yet say, "Here is this evolutionary concept, here is how we applied it in our city, and this is what happened when we did." (The project is still going 5 years later, and we're still working to answer some of the questions. Welcome to the world of science!)
Interestingly, this book was published just before the 2011 floods. The descriptions of Binghamton are not quite what you would find here now; the floods actually did a lot to revive the Downtown area. Maybe DSW should do a second edition for the 5th anniversary of the flood next year, including a chapter on cultural evolution and how we saw some of that going on post-flood. (If you are reading this, David, I expect credit for my ideas!!) ;)
Also, I enjoyed seeing my friends and colleagues show up in the book. That was pretty cool.
February 10, 2016
This book is not really what I thought it would be, but I found it interesting -- in a scannable sort of way. I first noticed it because of the lovely cover illustration by Gina & Matt. I'm also a sucker for any title with the words "neighborhood" and/or "project" in the title. This had both!
It was only after that I discovered the book was actually written about my little, beleaguered home town of Binghamton, NY. Well, now, of course I needed to read this book!
I've discovered that the older I get (and, perhaps, the further away from home), the more I want to understand the complexities of the place generations of my family grew and raised families and founded churches and met disappointment and persevered. Professor Wilson's noble goal to apply his expertise in evolutionary biology and research (many of those years at Binghamton University) to address the social conditions of the Triple Cities. With research grants, an impressive network of colleagues, and "an ambitious scope that spans biology, sociology, religion and economics, The Neighborhood Project is a memoir ... and an exploration of the big questions long pondered by religious sages, philosophers, and storytellers."
I didn't find the book necessarily practical, as the synopsis claims, but heartfelt and intriguing, nonetheless. Becoming agents of change in the sort of "rust belt" and "tech desert" that is my hometown will take all vocations, and the sort of optimism, enthusiasm, and collaboration that Professor Wilson seems to embody.
It was only after that I discovered the book was actually written about my little, beleaguered home town of Binghamton, NY. Well, now, of course I needed to read this book!
I've discovered that the older I get (and, perhaps, the further away from home), the more I want to understand the complexities of the place generations of my family grew and raised families and founded churches and met disappointment and persevered. Professor Wilson's noble goal to apply his expertise in evolutionary biology and research (many of those years at Binghamton University) to address the social conditions of the Triple Cities. With research grants, an impressive network of colleagues, and "an ambitious scope that spans biology, sociology, religion and economics, The Neighborhood Project is a memoir ... and an exploration of the big questions long pondered by religious sages, philosophers, and storytellers."
I didn't find the book necessarily practical, as the synopsis claims, but heartfelt and intriguing, nonetheless. Becoming agents of change in the sort of "rust belt" and "tech desert" that is my hometown will take all vocations, and the sort of optimism, enthusiasm, and collaboration that Professor Wilson seems to embody.
May 24, 2014
Wow - I’ve read other books where the author thinks their particular field is IT; if only everyone would follow that one particular path everything would be fantastic. But, this author really takes the cake - he’s completely and enthusiastically convinced that evolution is **IT**. Evolution will solve all problems. Except, he never actually gives any examples of problems being solved using evolution. He gives lots of examples of looking at things through an evolutionary perspective to see them a different way - but where are the solutions? Here’s a quote from near the end of the book “After five years of listening and reflecting on my city of Binghamton from an evolutionary perspective, I feel in a strong position to advise about how to raise its valleys into hills.” Don’t you think it’s a little premature to write a book when you’re just about to start actually doing the work, and you have no idea whether or not it actually improved the city?
A second thing potential readers should know. This author is the master of the meander. The entire book is one side note after another. For example, every person mentioned in the book gets an entire biography, whether or not it’s particularly relevant to the topic of the chapter at hand.
Overall, this book includes a lot of interesting information that is presented in a pretty haphazard way, and there are no solutions. Not what I was hoping for.
A second thing potential readers should know. This author is the master of the meander. The entire book is one side note after another. For example, every person mentioned in the book gets an entire biography, whether or not it’s particularly relevant to the topic of the chapter at hand.
Overall, this book includes a lot of interesting information that is presented in a pretty haphazard way, and there are no solutions. Not what I was hoping for.
May 1, 2024
Overall, this book was a pleasant, but windy and sometimes spacey feeling read. As a lay person, I found myself setting this book down and combing back through after weeks or even months of letting it sit because I found it difficult to stay engaged with most of Wilson's anecdotes from other people. I thought the book would be more explicit in explaining "practical" improvement of our communities, but rather spent its chapters opening my eyes to viewing almost any living thing through an evolutionary lens. I think 3.5 stars is a fair rating and I rounded up because I feel like I need to re-read it to really understand some of his more nuanced points. I’m also comfortable bumping it up because of what the books stands for: Caring for your community. I liked it. I wanted to really like it, but I had to power through, not allowing myself to quit. I appreciate the work that this man does outside of his books and it was great to feel his zealous and enthusiastic tone for exploring the seemingly routine aspects of life with a new lens throughout the whole book.
November 14, 2011
Beware, this book has very little to do with neighborhoods, and even less to do with ideas about improving them. It does have quite a bit to do with evolution. I was disappointed that large swathes of the book had nothing to do with the Binghamton Neighborhood Project, and instead seemed to follow the author's travels in the year 2009.
It took until page 386 out of 390 for an idea to be offered about how to improve a neighborhood (converting vacant land to parks). There was some information about collecting data on students living in the city, and a little on the author's perception of the city's riverwalk and the university's new downtown building, but other than that this book largely ignores the title topic. Extremely disappointing.
Maybe my expectations were distorted going in because of my background in reading many books about cities, but I felt that this book is very poorly titled and taglined.
It took until page 386 out of 390 for an idea to be offered about how to improve a neighborhood (converting vacant land to parks). There was some information about collecting data on students living in the city, and a little on the author's perception of the city's riverwalk and the university's new downtown building, but other than that this book largely ignores the title topic. Extremely disappointing.
Maybe my expectations were distorted going in because of my background in reading many books about cities, but I felt that this book is very poorly titled and taglined.
January 8, 2012
This book starts out promising, outlining the beginning stages of Wilson's Binghamton Neighborhood Project to "use evolution to improve his city." However, the book quickly spirals into a amalgamation of stories about how the author does research, what he reads, who he meets, what he finds interesting and inspiring, and, at times, is little better than stream-of-consciousness story telling. Undoubtedly, Wilson's prestige as a researcher and evolutionist and his previously well-written books allow him to get away with this, as a first-time author never could. Still, the early chapters of the book - the only ones that actually merit the book's title - are worth reading, and the insight they provide into how a biological scientist approaches the social science of neighborhood betterment make the book at least worth starting (if not finishing).
April 22, 2013
This is an evolutionary science book and it reads like a science book. I wasn't quite expecting that when I started reading the book so it took awhile to get into it and I found myself skipping along every once and awhile until I would happily find some interesting points in each chapter. Towards the end he had some chapters on the the 'natural history of the afterlife', and 'body and soul' that were interesting. One of the quotes I liked was "the only hope for managing our affairs is to see the world clearly as it really is and then to act compassionately on the basis of our knowledge". Overall an interesting idea that he is promoting.
May 17, 2012
Wilson's ideas are intriguing, and his book is full of interesting anecdotes, but he never quite brings it all together. Mostly I spent the book wanting to read about the outcomes of project after project he writes about, although it's too early for results. Still, the work would have benefited from a more structured approach to its argument, rather than a string of stories and new beginnings.
I like his ideas about evolution as paradigm, but I wonder if maybe other books of his would be better for this. As it applies to sociology or urban planning or what exactly is still unclear, seems to me.
I like his ideas about evolution as paradigm, but I wonder if maybe other books of his would be better for this. As it applies to sociology or urban planning or what exactly is still unclear, seems to me.
October 13, 2012
I was looking forward to this: the topic sounded intriguing, and the author was writing about a town I lived in for a while. I enjoyed bits here and there, but it wasn't well-written or well-edited (the use of the same 'cute' phrases over and over was irritating, and the book meandered a lot). It would also have been more interesting to read about what his neighborhood project had accomplished and how - but I think it is in its very early stages, so it's really a matter of reading about conferences he's gone to, people he's met and thinks are neat, books he's read, and so on. Too bad.
April 6, 2012
Terrible. How you can write a book like this and not include even one graph, picture or diagram is baffling. The book was less about the project than the reputation and opportunity afforded the author by it. He spends a ridiculous number of pages teaching the reader about evolution and his opinions on the failings of the scientific community while barely talking about the project itself which, call me crazy, I thought was the actual topic of the book. Painful, officially putting this author on my "Never again" list. Lesson=learned
July 15, 2012
The initial chapters regarding evolution were readable and interesting. The initial neighborhood project field studies and how he proposed evolutional thought could benefit a community were also interesting. (Would have been nice to have visuals of the GIS data that was referred to as so fascinating and important) But then the book lost focus and became more about the authors opportunities and other experiences that came about because if the initial project. I read several chapters past this point and the book never got back on track.
July 23, 2013
Title is completely misleading. Much of the book seems to ramble on, talking about who Mr. Wilson is working with, and his categorization of scientific study. Unfortunately it's not useful discussion on how he improved his city. Actually, the book ends at year 5 of his work without any results of improvement. I suppose there will be future books for that purpose. I'll look for the Cliff Notes version.
April 6, 2012
Based on the sub-title, I expected much more in the way of practical, how-to type information on how to improve one's city. This is not that (much, anyway). However, it is an interesting look into the practical ways that Evolution Science can be used to understand the world, and I was fascinated by some of the case studies on water striders, bees, and, especially/oddly, crows.
Read
June 10, 2013Quite an interesting read, but what I really wanted to know how his group was able to improve his city, which was never answered. Some thoughtful discussions about evolution, and I enjoyed reading this, but I really want to know if worked. The book was more of a 488 page introduction. I'm still waiting for the method, results, and conclusion.
August 12, 2011
This is an interesting book. I have a background in science so I found some of the topics organized by chapter to be more appealing than others. I found the book overall to be well written and entertaining.
July 25, 2012
A lot of thought-provoking nuggets, but his chapters flit around in search of the next shiny object. As a city-dweller I hoped for some more practical info. Not disappointed in the read, just not sure I'll be able to synthesize his ideas and act.
Want to read
July 26, 2011I look forward to reading this one.
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