Re: Group selection in the breeding of super chickens

On Feb 7, 12:04 am, Tim Tyler <seemy...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
dkomo wrote:

> Experiment 1 above illustrates what happens when cheaters
> with "bad" individual traits come to predominate. The group is barely
> able to survive, and will be replaced by groups where cooperation
> predominates and "bad" traits are suppressed.

I dunno about that. To test that idea, the next experiment
is to put the nasty-bitches in the same coup as the
happy-layers - and to see who has the most eggs then.
--
It will probably reach some type of equilibrium, maybe with
cheaters out numbering the tolerant chickens. However, thats without
predators. After, this, try some variations.
One of the problems with the original experiment is that it
encouraged only passive altruism. Basically, the chickens merely
tolerated the other chickens. Lets breed the heroic chicken.
Let us repeat that experiment, but include a predator that prefers
thick egg layers. This isreasonable in nature. Going from nest to nest
takes energy, better to find a nest that has as many eggs as you want.
A lot of predators look for big prey. The investigators can simulate
such a predator if none are found. Then the bitchiest chicken has the
thickest egg layer, but it is also the most likely to be eaten.
Altruistic chickens who recognize each other, and encourage others to
lay more eggs. However, mere tolerance won't do anymore. The altruist
genes have to encourage active support to encourage its copies to
multiply.
Note I am not talking about even fighting the predator. Merely by
encouraging others to lay more eggs (i.e., passive resistance), the
altruist chickens gain an advantage.
Are there predators in nature that prefer the big prey? I don't
know chickens, but I know a little about fish. Large mouth bass look
for large prey (hence the large mouth). I saw a documentary where the
large mouth bass ate a baby alligator that had strayed from its mommy.
Mommy would have have saved the poor baby. But this one obviously
didn't have his full social instincts operating.
Natural selection came into full operation here. The other
babies who hung close weren't bothered. Seems to me that having
predators like the large mouth bass makes for a large selection
pressure toward active altruism. Maybe that is why the alligators
developed their brooding abilities. Maybe not originally with large
mouth bass, but some other predator that preferentially looks for big
prey. Then growing up big isn't as important as protecting your small
children, because your rapid growth spurt is more likely to be nipped
in the bud.

.

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