Does Altruism contradict Evolutionary Theory?
Not at all. In most animal populations, the altruism is toward kin. A relative contains a fraction of one’s genetic code. The closer the relative, the greater the portion of one’s genetic code they carry. By assisting with a relative’s survival one is, in fact, helping to increase the chance that their own genetic code will be passed on. Thereby helping fulfill one’s biological imperative (to ensure the passing on of one’s genes to the next generation).
Not according to the “Gene-centred view” of evolution (aka the “Selfish Gene Theory”), which amply explains reciprocal altruism and kin selection. The most extreme example of such phenomena are eusocial insects like ants and bees, where only the queen and drones will ever reproduce, but the actions of the colony as a whole perpetuate the genes responsible for the behavior.
Wrote it all my self! Although altruism, the unselfish concern of an individual for the welfare of another seems to contradict evolutionary theory and natural selection, it has been suggested that actually it may be a mechanism developed to increase one ” s reproductive success. In terms of evolution, reproductive success or fitness is viewed as the ability of the individual to pass on his/her genes onto the next generation thereby ensuring their survival in the gene pool. William Hamilton suggested that altruism actually might be advantageous if the behaviour was directed at individuals that were sharing a large proportion of the their genes, therefore still increasing the likelihood of reproductive success. Any two members of the same species share up to 90% of their genes, however close relatives, brothers for example, can share up to 50% of their genes above this threshold. So an altruistic act aimed at close relatives could be designed to maximise reproductive success within the f
Biological altruism – explained in detail here. Taken from http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entr… altruism” refers to the tendency of some organisms to behave in ways that benefit other creatures at a cost to themselves. Biological altruism is widespread in the natural world. Examples include sterile worker bees devoting their whole lives to caring for their queen, and the “helpers” of certain bird species guarding the nests and care for the young of other breeding pairs. The sterile bees are born with zero reproductive fitness, but the helper birds are behaving in a way that seems sure to reduce their reproductive fitness. Evolutionary biologists are interested in altruism because it seems to contradict certain basic tenets of Darwin’s theory of evolution, or more particularly, his proposed mechanism of evolution, natural selection operating at the individual level. Natural selection may be i
