Re: Hamilton's Rule In The Mirror Evaded


"John Edser" <edser@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote
>
> However, Hamilton et al argue that rb>c for any
> organism fitness altruistic allele (OFA) to be able to spread in one
> population where only the sign of c is defined as diagnostic because
> only the actor is being kin selected and not the recipients. Like the
> ignition light in your car, all you are required to observe is the sign
> of c (just the relative cost to the actor) to make a valid evolutionary
> theory diagnosis when using the rule. It is argued by Hamilton et al
> that when c is positive OFA must be operating but when c becomes
> negative organism fitness mutualism (OFM) must be.
>
You've hit on something quite important here. Why is Washburn's fallacy
(that if I and and octopus share 50% of our DNA r must be 0.5, hence I will
sacrifice my life for two of our eight-legged friends) a fallacy? The answer
is because the gain relative to everyone else in the population is what
matters.

Generally mutualism has been treated as unproblematic. I win, you win. This
ignores the fact that the benficiary may also be a competitor. It is not
true for many animals that have a social life that the ones they interact
with mutually are trivial competitors. Often social animals live in
relatively small groups where food and other resources used by the group are
limited.

Hamilton's rule was designed only for when b and c were positive, and r a
value between 0 and 1. Maybe it is possible to unify Hamilton's rule with
mutualism and spite, also with exploitation (cost and benefit both
negative), which you call OFS. As you point out, this last is a special case
because it may not be possible to distinguish refraining from exploitation
from altruism.



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Relevant Pages

  • Re: Hamiltons Rule In The Mirror Evaded
    ... >> organism fitness altruistic allele (OFA) to be able to spread in one ... It is argued by Hamilton et al ... > Generally mutualism has been treated as unproblematic. ... It is true that Hamilton's main interest was in altruism, ...
    (sci.bio.evolution)
  • Re: Sbe Peer Reviewed Papers
    ... >> I know the A and M refer to altruism and mutualism respectively, ... > theory terms. ... > OFM stands for organism fitness ... > mutualism and OFA for organism ...
    (sci.bio.evolution)