The Darwinian Trap

“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“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“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“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

Kristian R nn is the CEO and co-founder of Normative, a software tool for sustainability accounting. 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.