Summary
Kin selection theory explains why people tend to favor their relatives over non-relatives. This theory is based on the observation that organisms share a larger fraction of their genes with relatives, so genes that contribute to helping relatives have a better chance of being passed on. While people aren’t consciously thinking about their genes when they help their relatives, they have developed implicit rules that lead them to favor kin. This bias towards kin is seen across cultures and persists even when social pressure tries to eliminate it. Kin altruism is not unique to humans and can be found throughout the animal kingdom, including in plants and bacteria. The ubiquity of kin altruism suggests that our nepotistic inclinations have an evolutionary origin.
Highlights
id643525775
Evolutionary biologists call this the problem of altruism, and it’s occupied many of the greatest thinkers of the field. At one time, the problem looked intractable; today, however, we’ve got a powerful arsenal of theories aimed at explaining the evolution of altruistic behavior. Arguably the most important – and certainly the one most applicable to the case of Jordan Rice – was the brainchild of the British biologist William D. Hamilton. Hamilton’s breakthrough is now known as kin selection theory, and it offers an explanation for one important type of altruism: altruism toward one’s genetic relatives.
id643525970
any gene that contributes to the development of a tendency to help one’s relatives has a better than average chance of being located as well in the recipients of that help. As a result, by helping one’s relatives to survive and reproduce, one can indirectly help to spread the genes that gave rise to that very tendency
id643526558
the importance of kinship appears to be a human universal. Wherever in the world we look, people’s affinity for kin stands out like a sore thumb
id643526762
the fact that a trait is universal doesn’t necessarily mean it has an evolutionary origin; if it did, we’d have to conclude that drinking Coca Cola and using smartphones are products of natural selection
id643548235
The kibbutzim were founded on radical socialist principles, and the founders sought to eliminate supposedly “bourgeois” traditions such as parents caring exclusively for their own biological children. To that end, kibbutz children were housed together in large communal quarters, rather than shacking up with their parents. But although this looked fine on paper, in practice it rapidly disintegrated. Parents hated it, and before too long started insisting that their children live with them. Some of the kibbutz men resisted for a while, but eventually they had to give in. Thus, rather than being a product of social pressure, the tendency to favor one’s kin survived even in spite of significant social pressure against it