> To really answer this you should read "The Selfish Gene." I did. Well the first several chapters at least. I did not find a convincing answer to the questi

> To really answer this you should read "The Selfish Gene." I did. Well the first several chapters at least. I did not find a convincing answer to the question I am raising here. > The phenotype of a gene is not necessarily constrained by any physical boundaries. Sure it's not necessarily constrained. But in practice there is very high correlation between family relatedness and physical proximity / social group. If the main rebuttal against group selection is "families can be spread out", I don't think that warrants the level of criticism that is leveled at it. An organism surrounded by genetically unrelated peers is the exception, not the rule. EDIT: Reading a bit more, I think I may be understanding this distinction better. "Kin selection" and "group selection" are more different than the names suggest. "Kin selection" means that natural selection incentivizes an individual to be altrustic towards their own kin. "Group selection" means that natural selection will favor the survival of an entire group over another group based on the comparative genetic strengths of the two groups.