That's very true. Dawkins discusses this in his chapter that I cited:

Is there an objective way in which we can judge which is the truly best strategy, in a more general and less arbitrary sense? Readers of earlier chapters will already be prepared to find the answer in the theory of evolutionarily stable strategies.

But I'm consciously trying to limit the length of my posts!

What do you mean by data-driven? You mean based on what actually took place? Something like Pinker's Enlightenment Now ?