>[!abstract] >Group selection is a proposed mechanism of evolution in which natural selection acts at the level of the group, instead of at the level of the individual or gene (Wikipedia, 2025). >[!quote] >The new consensus states definitively that the individual organism is not a privileged level of the biological hierarchy. The harmony and coordination associated with the word “organism” can exist at any level and individuals can lose these properties when selection takes place within them, such as when cancers evolve. Social groups can become organisms, and organisms are highly regulated social groups — not just figuratively but literally. > >Group selection has been an exceptionally strong force in human genetic and cultural evolution. Accepting it at face value and exploring its consequences will have implications for all branches of the biological and human-related sciences, from the origin of life to the regulation of human society at large spatial and temporal scales ([[Wilson, 2011]]). >[!note] >What's fascinating here is not only the idea that humanity behaves as an organism with regard to natural selection, but also that this idea had first been dismissed in the 1960s. >[!related] >- **North** (upstream): — >- **West** (similar): — >- **East** (different): — >- **South** (downstream): —