PS270 Chapter Notes - Chapter 8: Outlast, Ingroups And Outgroups, Group Selection
Document Summary
Contends that the essence of life is gene survival and our genes drive us in ways that have maximized their chance of survival. Humans exhibit multiple mechanisms for overcoming selfishness such as: kin selection: If you carry my genes i"ll favour you. Genetic egoism (biological level) fosters parental altruism (psychological level) Since children have less at stake in the survival of their parent"s genes, parents generally more devoted to their children than their children are to them. Nature programs us to care about close relatives, people in our in-group direct reciprocity: Works best in small isolated groups where one will see the people for whom one does favours indirect reciprocity: I"ll scratch ur back, u scratch someone"s, and someone will scratch mine group selection: When groups are in competition, groups of mutually supportive altruists outlast groups of non altruists. Human societies evolved ethical and religious rules that serve as brakes on the biological bias toward self interest.
