On 29 May, 2007, at 5:20 PM, raghu wrote:
What do these findings say about Dawkins "Selfish Gene" theory?
Particularly his claims (to oversimplify) about altruism as simply a
subtle form of selfishness.
As Dawkins has admitted elsewhere (reference required) the concept of
"selfish" is meaningless at the level of a gene; and at the level of
the individual (the unit of selection *and* reproduction) the concept
of "altruism" needs to be well-defined. If it is defined as an act
that produces a net negative impact for the individual's survival,
then there are valid examples of such actions (some examples and
explications can be found in Wilson and Sober's "Unto Others").
I think Amartya Sen also addresses very well, the issue of altruism
as "revealed preference" (or whatever it was), in his "Rational
fools" paper.
--ravi
