Survival of the nicest

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This revelatory tour de force by an acclaimed and internationally bestselling science writer upends our understanding of "survival of the fittest" and invites us all to think and act more altruistically. The phrase "survival of the fittest" conjures an image of the most cutthroat individuals rising to the top. But Stefan Klein, author of the #1 international bestseller The Science of Happiness and winner of the Georg von Holtzbrinck Prize for Scientific Journalism, makes the startling assertion that the key to achieving lasting personal and societal success lies in helping others. In fact, Klein argues, altruism is our defining characteristic: Natural selection favored those early humans who cooperated in groups, and with survival more assured, our altruistic ancestors were free to devote brainpower to developing intelligence, language, and culture--our very humanity. As Klein puts it, "We humans became first the friendliest and then the most intelligent apes."