Re: Bet Hedging, Risk Aversion, Sex, and the Unit of Selection


"Perplexed in Peoria" <jimmenegay@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:drgc5j$896$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
> "William Morse" <wdmorse@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:drccbo$1ko0$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > "Perplexed in Peoria" <jimmenegay@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in news:dr1gik$80f
> > $1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx:
> > > 2. [Bet hedging] only makes sense if the unit of selection is seen
> > > as the gene-clone, as in a gene's eye view justification
> > > of Hamilton's rule. A gene clone can spread its bets
> > > evenly among the alternatives - it has a 'stake' that is
> > > divisible. Organisms, for the most part, do not.
> >
> > You will need to explain this further for me to understand your argument.
> > I would have thought that bet hedging only makes sense if the unit of
> > selection is the organism, or better yet the species. The organism
> > "tries" different combinations of genes to see which ones will work out.
> > The species maintains polymorphism so that it can respond to
> > environmental changes, even though this sacrifices some individual
> > fitness - The Selfish Gene Pool.
>
> I agree that the species level might be the best viewpoint, and disagree
> that it makes sense at the individual level. But here is the thinking
> behind my claim that it also makes sense at the gene clone level:
[snip thinking]

I have rediscovered a paper by Alan Grafen

http://users.ox.ac.uk/~grafen/cv/FormDarw.pdf

which discusses issues related to bet hedging and the unit of selection
(or rather level of the optimizing agent involved). I read it about a
year ago without much comprehension. I still don't fully understand it
but I am confident that Grafen either corrects my mistakes or else
says what I am trying to say better than I could.


.

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