Invisible Rivals

“Few non-fiction books have made me examine my preconceptions so deeply as this remarkable study of human interaction.“—Matthew D’Ancona, The New World“A timely, erudite, and provocative book that is fun and an inspiring call to arms. Jonathan Goodman uses history, evolutionary biology, and anthropology to explain why humans are hard-wired to cooperate—but also designed to embrace conflict and competition, with potentially dark outcomes.”—Gillian Tett, provost, King’s College, Cambridge, and author of Fool’s Gold and Anthro-Vision“In his fascinating debut Invisible Rivals, Goodman debunks simplistic theories of human selfishness, providing a highly nuanced and contextual account of human competition and cooperation with important implications for how to solve some of the world’s biggest challenges, from global climate change to the spread of disinformation.”—Sander van der Linden, author of Foolproof: Why Misinformation Infects Our Minds and How to Build Immunity“This fascinating, unique book links theories about our individual willingness or reluctance to cooperate, which is tied to how we manage global challenges of our time. Working across philosophy, evolutionary biology, public policy, and politics, Invisible Rivals is unlike any other book I’ve read.”—Devi Sridhar, author of How Not to Die (Too Soon): The Lies We’ve Been Sold and the Policies That Could Save Us“A timely and devastating exposé by a brilliant evolutionary psychologist. Jonathan Goodman argues that evil will triumph so long as good people fail to see that selfishness and double-dealing are basic human traits to be found in everyone, including themselves.”—Nicholas Humphrey, author of Sentience: The Invention of Consciousness“Competitive or cooperative? We are both, inextricably so; but what follows? Invisible Rivals takes us on a fascinating journey spanning anthropology, philosophy, evolutionary biology, and more. Goodman’s argument is highly approachable, yet also original, eloquent and persuasive. Both lack of trust and trust without discernment endanger the public sphere. The message could hardly be more timely and urgent.”—Robert Attenborough, University of Cambridge and Australian National University   “Humans are inherently neither nice nor nasty, but we use cooperative and competitive tools like choosing irons in golf. It is as unsettling a point as it is important, and Jonathan Goodman makes it all but incontrovertible.”—David C. Lahti, City University of New York

Jonathan R. Goodman is a social scientist based at the Wellcome Sanger Institute and Cambridge Public Health, University of Cambridge. He writes about trust, inequality, and evolutionary theory for publications including the Financial Times, New Scientist, Nature, The Guardian, and Scientific American. He lives in London, UK.

Robert A. Foley is emeritus professor of human evolution at the University of Cambridge, a senior fellow of King’s College, Cambridge, a fellow of the Alan Turing Institute, and a fellow of the British Academy. He is based in Cambridge, UK.