8
t han one would statistically expect if each gene were subjected to
natural selection.16 Some genes, he concluded, seem to be "invisible to
selective pressures." Competition between groups could account for
the conundrum, since the group preserves a wide variety of
individuals incapable of surviving on their own. But Gould
sidestepped considering this option. Though he was forced to
acknowledge that not all selection takes place on the individual level,
he contended that selection transpires below that level between gene
fragments and above that level between species. Gould assiduously
avoided mentioning the possible importance of social groups.
California State University's David J. Depew and Bruce H.
Weber, on the other hand, asserted forthrightly that "a group...can be
considered as an 'individual'" and that "the population level remains
primary" as a unit of selection. But their brief observation, buried in a
work on an unrelated subject, went unnoticed.17
E. O. Wilson, in his keystone book Sociobiology, cites numerous
examples of behavior in which individuals sacrifice themselves for the
good of the larger whole. But current theory continues to explain these
away by claiming that members of the group who give up their lives
do it to protect brothers, sisters and cousins who share bits of the same
genetic legacy.
Much of the enthusiasm over the theory of kin selection comes
from W.D. Hamilton's brilliant mathematical demonstration of how
genetic relatedness might account for the cohesion of bees, wasps and
other hymenoptera in a hive. However recent evidence shows that the
1964 notion doesn't always mesh with the real world. Tropical wasps
live together in cooperative colonies and function as a social unit. Most
of the females become workers and give up on having offspring of
their own, working not in the interests of their own good or of their
kin, but in the interests of the group. Yet they do not show the high
degree of family relationship predicted by Hamilton.18
In many cases, human beings who willingly form squadrons,
march off and fight to the death have no genes in common at all! In
<< < GO > >>
8
t han one would statistically expect if each gene were subjected to
natural selection.16 Some genes, he concluded, seem to be "invisible to
selective pressures." Competition between groups could account for
the conundrum, since the group preserves a wide variety of
individuals incapable of surviving on their own. But Gould
sidestepped considering this option. Though he was forced to
acknowledge that not all selection takes place on the individual level,
he contended that selection transpires below that level between gene
fragments and above that level between species. Gould assiduously
avoided mentioning the possible importance of social groups.
California State University's David J. Depew and Bruce H.
Weber, on the other hand, asserted forthrightly that "a group...can be
considered as an 'individual'" and that "the population level remains
primary" as a unit of selection. But their brief observation, buried in a
work on an unrelated subject, went unnoticed.17
E. O. Wilson, in his keystone book Sociobiology, cites numerous
examples of behavior in which individuals sacrifice themselves for the
good of the larger whole. But current theory continues to explain these
away by claiming that members of the group who give up their lives
do it to protect brothers, sisters and cousins who share bits of the same
genetic legacy.
Much of the enthusiasm over the theory of kin selection comes
from W.D. Hamilton's brilliant mathematical demonstration of how
genetic relatedness might account for the cohesion of bees, wasps and
other hymenoptera in a hive. However recent evidence shows that the
1964 notion doesn't always mesh with the real world. Tropical wasps
live together in cooperative colonies and function as a social unit. Most
of the females become workers and give up on having offspring of
their own, working not in the interests of their own good or of their
kin, but in the interests of the group. Yet they do not show the high
degree of family relationship predicted by Hamilton.18
In many cases, human beings who willingly form squadrons,
march off and fight to the death have no genes in common at all! In
<< < GO > >>