Based on the hypothesis that altruistic behavior is not evolutionarily stable, the kin selection hypothesis explains the reasons for altruistic behavior from a genetic perspective and discusses the complexities and limitations of altruistic behavior using the example of bee society.

Altruistic sacrifice in movies and TV shows

In movies and TV shows, we often see people sacrificing themselves to save others from zombies or terrorists. But is it possible for such a person to help others and survive to the end?

An evolutionary perspective on selfishness and altruism

Imagine a village of selfless people who know how to help others. When a selfish person enters the village, he or she is able to live off the help of other selfless people without the hassle of helping others. As the villagers see this person taking advantage of them without effort, they gradually learn to do the same. Eventually, the selfish person’s behavioral strategy takes over the entire village.
On the other hand, if a selfless person comes into a village of selfish people who are looking out for themselves, he or she will help other selfish people and receive nothing in return. The villagers will not want to learn this person’s behavioral strategy because it will not benefit them. As a result, altruistic people cannot survive in a village of selfish people, which leads us to conclude that altruistic strategies are not evolutionarily stable. But in reality, altruistic people do exist, and many are. There are several hypotheses to explain this, but we’ll focus on the kin selection hypothesis.

The rise of the kin selection hypothesis

In 1963, William Hamilton explained the evolution of altruistic behavior in his paper “The Genetic Evolution of Social Behavior” with the kin selection hypothesis. The kin selection hypothesis looks at things from the perspective of genes, not individuals. We take it for granted that family members help each other. This is because families share the same genes. If we look at it from the perspective of the genes, parents helping their children is beneficial to the genes themselves, because they are helping the same genes. In other words, altruistic behavior among family members is selfish behavior for the genes to survive.

Quantifying kin selection

Let’s quantify these facts. On average, parents share 50% of their genes with their children, 50% with their siblings, 25% with their uncles, and 12.5% with their cousins. This means that when parents help their children, they are helping their own genes to thrive because they share 50% of their genes with their children. When you help your children and siblings, and by extension, your grandchildren and great-grandchildren, you are helping people who have the same genes as you. By helping these people, I increase my chances of spreading my genes. When you try to help others, the higher the probability that the person you’re helping shares your genes, the more likely it is that you’ll help spread your genes. Conversely, if I am a distant relative (someone with whom I am less likely to share a gene), the probability that my altruistic behavior will result in the spread of my gene is lower, so I am less likely to act altruistically. In other words, the kinship selection hypothesis has us acting altruistically for the selfish purposes of our genes.

Bee society and the kinship hypothesis

To understand the kinship hypothesis more specifically, let’s look at the world of bees. In a bee colony, all the worker bees are sisters, and the queen is the chosen one among them. When the queen’s egg is produced through meiosis and the sperm of a male bee meets the egg, a female worker and queen are born. The queen and her children share 50% of their genes, while the worker bees share 75% of their genes. Also, from the worker bees’ point of view, helping the queen is helping a sister with whom they share 75% of their genes, and caring for the queen’s eggs is helping a nephew with whom they share 50% of their genes. From a genetic point of view, there is no difference between the worker bees producing and caring for their own children and caring for their own nephews produced by the queen. Therefore, they do not produce children of their own, but work for the queen’s children and work for life.

Limitations of the kin selection hypothesis

However, the kin selection hypothesis has its limitations. First, not all creatures that are kin are altruistic. For example, bees and ants rely on the altruistic behavior of many worker ants and queen ants to preserve their species, but there are other species, such as wasps, that form groups but don’t act altruistically. Second, not all altruistic behaviors we see in everyday life happen between people who are related to each other. Doing community service, saving a drowning child, or helping a friend all involve helping people who are not related to you.
In many cases, altruistic behavior is not related to blood ties. For example, many of the charity and community service activities that many people voluntarily engage in are often to help people who are not related to them. These are behaviors that are influenced by our compassion, moral values, and social norms. Altruistic behavior reflects the complexity and diversity of human societies, and the kin selection hypothesis alone cannot fully explain it.

Expanding our understanding of altruistic behavior

Altruistic humans have existed in the past, are present, and will exist in the future. It’s strange to see them survive in the face of competition from selfish people, but there’s a reason for that. They help others to benefit their own genes. Then, even if they don’t benefit themselves immediately, they continue to act altruistically because by helping someone related to them, they are helping their own genes. However, this hypothesis can only explain altruistic behavior among related people, so a new hypothesis is needed, such as altruism for future benefit.

Conclusion

Altruistic behavior is more than just a survival strategy; it is linked to a variety of values in human society. While the kin selection hypothesis can explain some of altruistic behavior, understanding complex human social behavior requires a multidisciplinary approach that includes moral, cultural, and psychological factors. The reasons why we help others must be seen in the rich context of our societies and relationships, not just the survival of our genes.