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Generally speaking there is no altruism among members of a species unless they are very close genetic kin or at least part of a social group. You need to "expe
by DavidSJ 17y ago
Generally speaking there is no altruism among members of a species unless they are very close genetic kin or at least part of a social group. You need to "expect" that the beneficiary of your altruism either has some of your genes, or will return the favor later.
By "expect", we don't mean conscious calculation, of course. Rather, we mean that the genes which favor this sort of behavior tend to be successful than genes that do not.
- theblackbox 17y agohave you read the theory of the "baby face" phenotype being a ploy on this (and/or very similar) mechanism? I'll try and find the story I read. I always found this type of analysis to be where genetics/sociology becomes most interesting EDIT: although it's well off topic, sorry EDIT': all I can find are the "babyface helps black CEOs" story... wasn't that one I read but it deals with similar findings