MARKET 1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 26: Reciprocal Altruism, Inclusive Fitness, Garrett Hardin
Document Summary
Patterns of helping: helping can be defined as any behavior that increases the survival chance or reproductive capacity of another individual evolutionary perspective, cooperation. E. g. raising children, fighting predators individual has better chance of survival and reproduction than it would alone. Any cost is trumped by the benefits. Already present in little children, not learned. Helping while decreasing own chance of survival or reproductive capacity. E. g. squirrel that makes loud noise to warn others about predator, attracts attention. Triver (1971): preservation of one"s genes even if it means sacrificing oneself > not truly altruistic. Two theories about altruism: kin selection theory and the reciprocity theory: kin selection theory. Seemingly altruistic behavior preferentially helps close relatives to survive > genes carried on even when individual dies. When leaders call for patriotic sacri ce or universal cooperation, they use kinship terms: motherland , brothers and sisters tendency to be kind to relatives, expand concept of kinship to all humanity.
