Great post! I think it's worth pointing out that the Hobbesian "nasty, brutish and short" conception of humanity is not simply anachronistic -- it's blatantly wrong , and increasingly contradicted as we learn more about human evolution. You can see glimpses of this even in the writings of Kropotkin and more modern conceptions of our cooperative evolution. I've recommended it before, but I highly recommend reading Matt Ridley's "The Origins of Virtue" -- a good popsci summary of this stuff that encompasses the best of Dawkins' selfish gene stuff (and more).
What's up @cwage! Great to see you here. I actually purchased Origins of Virtue the first time you recommended it to me, that's why it wasn't in my reading list I showed you the other day! It's sitting in my Audible account now, so I'll definitely get to it.
Cheers @cwage, good to see you here!