>Thomas Lunde:
>Along with your thoughts, Jay posted on evolution, I don't know that we
have
>discovered yet how genes change in humans. for example, take a behavior
>like selfishness. At what point did selfishness become a gene. If one guy
>developed a pattern of behavior called selfishness in his lifetime, at what
You describe a process where "behavior" acquired after birth is
genetically passed on to descendents. That's not how evolution works.
Except for physical mutations (e.g, radiation or pesticides), genes
are determined before birth.
The term "Selfish Gene" comes from the "process" whereby genes
that tend to replicate themselves (contribute to sexual reproduction,
e.g., lying) survive, while those that don't, tend to die out.
"True altruism" (defined as giving up one's right to reproduce
so that others can) will not become dominant behavior because
people who inherit a gene for true altruism don't reproduce.
So for evolutionary scientists, "selfishness" is seen from the
perspective of the gene itself (not the whole person), and is
the inevitable result of the "process" of evolution.
BUT DO GENES INFLUENCE BEHAVIOR?
For 400 years we have known that breeding influences behavior.
In 1576, the earliest English-language book on dogs classified
breeds primarily on the basis of behavior. For example, terriers
were bred to creep into burrows to drive out small animals.
Behavioral classification of dogs continues today. [ p.p.. 58-59.
Plomin et al; BEHAVIORAL GENETICS, 1997]
Jay
