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Six-panel Robert Wright strip: 1970s TCU-to-Princeton; 1994 The Moral Animal; 2000 Nonzero; 2005 Bloggingheads.tv; 2009+2017 The Evolution of God and Why Buddhism Is True; 2026 The God Test — Wright grading robot AIs. Kicker: 40 YEARS STUDYING WHY HUMANS COOPERATE. NOW HE'S GRADING THE MACHINES.
ZIMBO'S TAKE“NOW HE'S GRADING THE MACHINES”

Robert Wright

THE HUMANITY STRATEGIST

Generated editorial portrait of Robert Wright in the unified mugshot-v2 dossier style.
UPDATED Oct 6, 2026

THE DEAL

Wright spent decades asking why humans cooperate, fight, and search for meaning — from The Moral Animal to Nonzero to The Evolution of God.

SOURCES: WorldCatGoogle BooksBloggingheads.tvLibrary of CongressSimon & Schuster

AT A GLANCE

EDUCATION
Texas Christian University · attended before transferringPrinceton Alumni Weekly
EDUCATION
Princeton University · Class of 1979Princeton Alumni Weekly

THE ARCHIVE

History · cartoons · headlines
THE TIMELINE6 sourced events

FROM THE MORAL ANIMAL TO THE GOD TEST

Wright spent decades asking why humans cooperate, fight, and search for meaning — from The Moral Animal to Nonzero to The Evolution of God. The ‘non-zero’ is game-theory language from von Neumann and Morgenstern’s 1944 Theory of Games: history keeps breaking zero-sum fights into win-win webs. The God Test (2026) runs that logic straight at advanced AI: a cosmic reckoning with the technology.

  1. 1994

    EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY GETS THE BIG POPULAR TREATMENT

    Wright published The Moral Animal, using evolutionary biology to explain human psychology, relationships and moral behavior.

    SOURCES: WorldCatreported

  2. 2000

    HISTORY BECOMES A NON-ZERO-SUM GAME

    Wright published Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny, arguing that biological and cultural evolution repeatedly create larger webs of non-zero-sum cooperation.

    SOURCES: Google Booksreported

  3. 2005

    THE ARGUMENT MOVES TO SPLIT-SCREEN INTERNET VIDEO

    Wright co-founded Bloggingheads.tv, an early web platform built around long-form split-screen conversations and disagreement about politics and ideas.

    SOURCES: Bloggingheads.tvfirst-party

  4. 2009

    RELIGION GETS AN EVOLUTIONARY HISTORY

    Wright published The Evolution of God, tracing how religious ideas changed with social structure and arguing that widening cooperation can reshape moral imagination.

    SOURCES: Library of Congressreported

  5. Aug 8, 2017

    THE EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGIST TURNS TO BUDDHISM

    Wright published Why Buddhism Is True, connecting evolutionary psychology, meditation and the problem of seeing through cognitive distortions.

    SOURCES: Simon & Schusterreported

  6. Jun 23, 2026

    THE GOD TEST PUTS AI AT THE END OF THE ARC

    Wright published The God Test: Artificial Intelligence and Our Coming Cosmic Reckoning, applying his long-running themes of evolution, cooperation and moral development directly to advanced AI.

    SOURCES: Simon & Schusterreported

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