Re: Bombshell?

Perplexed in Peoria wrote:
"Guy Hoelzer" <hoelzer@xxxxxxx> wrote in message news:e8jilh$1hn0$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I just returned from a conference last week where I had the pleasure of
hearing talks by both E.O. Wilson and D.S. Wilson, and interacting with both
them afterwards. If the recent publications referenced below are like a
whiff of a bombshell, then cover your heads because it may really be about
to blow. The pair of Wilsons are collaborating on a paper soon to be
(already?) submitted to Science; of course, it may be rejected there and
eventually come out elsewhere. They will be making a MUCH stronger case for
multilevel selection, and a case for the evident insufficiency of
single-level selection theory (i.e., individual selection only) and kin
selection in that paper. This may be the paper that brings this debate all
the way to the surface of the scientific dialogue regarding evolution.


Somehow, I doubt that that will happen. Both Wilsons have been singing that
old group selection gospel music for so long that I doubt many people will
want to listen to them singing in chorus. Except, of course, for the diehard
gospel fans. The Wilsons ought to try for a cross-over hit by adding some
British talent to the group. Maybe Alan Grafen on bass and Richard Dawkins
beating the drums. Then people might listen.

I think the reaction of a lot of people will be "so what?". It's an old
argument that's been resolved (check Levels of Selectionin Evolution,
edited by Laurent Keller, especially the first chapter).


I also had the pleasure of listening to and speaking with a young scientists
just entering his first postdoc who has a paper in press that I see as an
important contribution to this debate. His name is Jeff Fletcher and I
expect we will be seeing his name plenty. Here is the reference that should
appear in an upcoming issue of the American Naturalist:

Unifying the Theories of Inclusive Fitness and Reciprocal Altruism
Jeffrey A. Fletcher and Martin Zwick

Previous work has shown that kin selection theory is no more than a special
case of group selection theory, and Jeff shows in this paper that the
distinction between kin selection and reciprocal altruism is a false one.
His dissertation aimed to unify, or show the inherent unity among, all
existing models of selection. The argument is that the all imply and find
common ground in multilevel selection theory. To be clear, the argument
includes the claim that all of the theories of natural selection implicitly
rely on the validity of multilevel selection theory.

Now this does look interesting: unifying all of these ideas into a
single framework.

Bob

--
Bob O'Hara

Dept. of Mathematics and Statistics
P.O. Box 68 (Gustaf H?llstr?min katu 2b)
FIN-00014 University of Helsinki
Finland

Telephone: +358-9-191 51479
Mobile: +358 50 599 0540
Fax: +358-9-191 51400
WWW: http://www.RNI.Helsinki.FI/~boh/
Journal of Negative Results - EEB: http://www.jnr-eeb.org


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Relevant Pages

  • Re: Bombshell?
    ... The pair of Wilsons are collaborating ... the evident insufficiency of single-level selection theory (i.e., ... singing that old group selection gospel music for so long that I doubt ... argument that's been resolved (check Levels of Selectionin Evolution, ...
    (sci.bio.evolution)
  • Re: Bombshell?
    ... The pair of Wilsons are collaborating on a paper soon to be ... single-level selection theory ... that the stated resolution resolves nothing - it neatly sidesteps the ... Here is an interesting online review of the 'levels ...
    (sci.bio.evolution)
  • Re: Bombshell?
    ... The pair of Wilsons are collaborating on a paper soon to be ... single-level selection theory ... Previous work has shown that kin selection theory is no more than a special ... distinction between kin selection and reciprocal altruism is a false one. ...
    (sci.bio.evolution)
  • RE: sci.bio.evolution mailing list
    ... group selection that is occurring within evolutionary theory but a bias ... group selection verifications employ a fitness measure which is the simple ... Not a single testable to refutation polycentric theory of nature has been ...
    (sci.bio.evolution)
  • Re: Hamiltons rule in small population
    ... > group selection within evolutionary theory is as basic to evolutionary ... The controversy as to what exactly group selection is and if it ... It attempts to define organism groups as ... > centricity is it remains entirely heuristic. ...
    (sci.bio.evolution)