Wilson adapted the title of Paul Gauguin's famous mural as a theme -- "What are we?

[1] Wilson argues, building on the paper "The evolution of eusociality" (2010) by Wilson, Martin Nowak and Corina Tarnita in Nature, for more importance of group selection and against the idea of kin selection.

[2] The Nature article was controversial, with many experts arguing against its conclusions, including an "outraged response" later in the same journal by 137 authors.

[3] Richard Dawkins wrote a harshly critical review for Prospect, in which he stated that Wilson had earlier supported Bill Hamilton's theory of kin selection but had, over the years, moved away from it, to the point where it was debatable that he had really understood the theory.

[4] The book was given a positive review by Yale psychologist and author Paul Bloom in The New York Times.