Nicholas A. Christakis. Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society.  New York: Little, Brown, Spark, 2019.

The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society

Nicholas Christakis is a physician and sociologist whose studies include the genetic foundations for human social actions. He proposes that at the core of all societies, there is a suite of social instincts that include:

1. The capacity to have and recognize individual identity
2. Love for partners and offspring
3. Friendship
4. Social networks
5. Cooperation
6. Preference for one’s own group (that is, “in-group bias”)
7. Mild hierarchy (that is, relative egalitarianism)
8. Social learning and teaching

Of particular interest to educators is his observation that in the phenomenon called “emergence” the wholes have “properties not present in the separate parts,” and “the properties are known as emergent properties. Connect people in one way, and they are good to one another. Connect them in another way, and they are not.” This underpins the importance of social organization within classrooms and school buildings. It is worth considering in relation to schools rife with bullying and those imbued with a sense of safety and belonging.