What's Inside?
01
How does nature define success?
From an evolutionary standpoint, the concept of “success” fundamentally equates to “survival of the fittest,” as Charles Darwin elucidated in his 1859 work, On the Origin of Species. Darwin introduced the idea that nature exerts a selection pressure favoring traits and behaviors that enhance immediate survival through a process of trial and error. Yet, in competitive environments, this focus on short-term survival for an individual—what Rönn refers to as a Darwinian demon—can conflict with the broader welfare of the group. Examples include cancer cells, which proliferate at the expense of overall health; deadly viruses, which damage cells to multiply; and parasites, which steal resources from their host organisms.
02
What makes it a trap?
In today’s society, we are still programmed to succumb to Darwinian demons that put our short-term gain over the greater good, even when we are directly harming our own futures. And when everyone else is playing by those rules, it becomes next to impossible to extricate yourself. For example, in a profit-driven society, ethical entities struggle to compete with their unethical counterparts.
03
Darwinian demons are found everywhere
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A salesman working on commission feels compelled to employ deceptive sales tactics to maximize his pay, even though it hurts customer trust.
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An academic may compromise scientific integrity by exaggerating or falsifying results, to increase their chances of being published.
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A news website prioritizes clickbait content over newsworthy stories to boost ad revenue, leading to misinformation and fake news.
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A small nation decides to lure businesses to its jurisdiction by promising lower taxes and fewer regulations, leading to a global race to the bottom.
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A politician might engage in gerrymandering in order to win elections, caters to big donors over public service, resulting in legislation that mostly benefits the rich.
04
What are the stakes?
In a competitive world, individuals, corporations and countries must engage in an arms race for resources and power to survive. This is not only unethical and wrongheaded but can also potentially threaten all life on the planet. When we’re degrading the environment and engineering powerful weapons (including nuclear weapons and advanced artificial intelligence), we are succumbing to Darwinian demons—and putting our very existence at risk.
05
Only humanity can save life from itself
Unlike entities such as cancers, viruses, or predators, which are constrained by their Darwinian demons, we are unique in our ability to steer our own evolution through rationality, empathy, and long-term planning. This gives us both the opportunity and the responsibility to consciously avoid destructive paths and shape our future. The path forward is to rewire the fitness and incentive landscape, making it rational for all players to prioritize actions aligned with our intrinsic values, guided by the three principles of value alignment.
“This is a timely and engaging exploration of why division makes humanity fall short of its potential, and of how and why we must collaborate to secure a more humane future.”
—Max Tegmark, author of Life 3.0 and Our Mathematical Universe
“Kristian Rönn has written a vital and inspiring book, one that has the potential to break the spiral of self-interest. The Darwinian Trap is a must-read for anyone who cares about our collective future.”
—Chris Anderson, head of TED and author of Infectious Generosity
“Essential reading . . . a lively, ultimately hopeful examination of how incentivizing the wrong values and actions has led to some of our most intractable problems.”
—Eric Ries, New York Times bestselling author of The Lean Startup
Praise
“The Darwinian Trap is an important, eye-opening book that shows how evolutionary selection pressures are causing some of the most pressing global challenges we see today. Rönn brilliantly makes the case that the ‘bad actor’ blame game fueling so much public discourse can be replaced with frameworks that draw on humanity’s greatest strengths: cooperation, analysis, and reason.”
—William MacAskill, New York Times bestselling author of What We Owe the Future
“How can we recalibrate society’s reward function to align with what humans intrinsically value? From addressing climate change to regulating artificial intelligence, Kristian Rönn stands out as one of the world’s most insightful thinkers. In this panoramic book, Rönn makes a compelling case that by focusing on objectives that are too narrow, we risk undermining our collective future. Agree or disagree, The Darwinian Trap is unmissable.”
—Carl Benedikt Frey, associate professor of AI and work, Oxford University
“As humanity’s future hangs in the balance, it is crucial to understand the true nature of the enemy we are facing. The Darwinian Trap elegantly lifts the mask off this enemy and shows us the path to victory—essential reading for anyone on planet Earth.”
—Liv Boeree, host of Win-Win podcast
Kristian Rönn is the CEO and co-founder of Normative. He has a background in mathematics, philosophy, computer science and artificial intelligence. Before he started Normative he worked at the University of Oxford's Future of Humanity Institute on issues related to global catastrophic risks.