Richard Dawkins’ theory of kin selection explains the altruistic behavior of individuals based on the selfishness of their genes, but it has limitations in explaining altruistic behavior that is not related to kinship, such as adoption, imprinting, and moral behavior. Environmental determinism and group selection theory can be proposed as complements.
Introduction
Richard Dawkins’ book The Selfish Gene argues that all living things, including humans, behave as pre-programmed by their genes. Individuals are tasked with passing on their genes to the next generation through reproduction, and in doing so, Dawkins explains, they act selfishly or altruistically to spread as many genes like their own as possible. Genes help copies of themselves in other people’s bodies, and this manifests itself as altruism. Wilson describes this natural selection as kin selection, which sits between diagnostic selection and individual selection, and argues that kin selection explains altruistic behavior within families. The closer the kinship, the stronger the altruism. This means that the closer individuals are related, the more they share genes and help their own copies in any way they can.
However, there are many phenomena that are not explained by kin selection. Dawkins claims that there are no problems with kin selection, but there are many phenomena that it doesn’t explain. The explanations in his book are imaginary and need to be explained. Dawkins claims that genes act to leave as many copies of themselves as possible, and he predicts an individual’s behavior by calculating a “net benefit score” based on the probability of gene sharing. However, the problem with kin selection is that kinship cannot be calculated accurately, so individuals cannot act altruistically based on kinship. Adoption, imprinting, and moral behavior cannot be explained by kin selection alone, which limits the applicability of Dawkins’ theory to animal behavior. This essay explains kin selection among related humans and animals.
Dawkins’ Theory of Kinship Selection
In his work on kin selection, Hamilton used a simple formula, also mentioned in Dawkins’ book The Selfish Gene, to explain why individuals favor altruism through shared genes. It’s a way for humans to calculate whether or not they’ll be able to inhibit selfish behavior and act altruistically at the expense of others. He suggested that if you are close enough to share enough genes, it makes sense to help a particular relative, and this solves the problem of altruism. Dawkins builds on Hamilton’s argument and provides biological explanations for real-world examples of genetically explained altruistic behavior. The “selfish gene” is a combination of the ideas of George Williams, William Hamilton, and Dawkins. They argue that natural selection, including altruistic behavior, acts solely on genes.
However, Edward Wilson, in his book The Temptation of Evolution, evaluates group selection and claims to have found new evidence for the effects of group selection and evolution. He argues that members of social groups need to work for each other to become adaptable individuals. However, there is controversy over kin selection versus group selection, and Hamilton argues that there is no boundary between the two, and that kin selection is a specialized outcome of genetic selection. Dawkins explains that even when individuals act altruistically, they are acting in the self-interest of their genes. When an individual acts altruistically toward another individual, he says, it determines whether it is a good “insurer” or not. An individual invests some of its assets to measure its “reproductive expectancy” and calculates whether it needs to act altruistically in order to pass on its genes to the next generation. Dawkins believes that both humans and animals are genetically programmed to act as if they are unconsciously making complex calculations. He predicts an individual’s behavior by calculating the “net benefit score” for a particular behavior using the probability of gene sharing, known as kinship.
The problem with Dawkins’ kin selection theory
While Dawkins’ theory of kin selection claims that individuals behave altruistically toward other individuals solely based on genes and relatedness, there are a number of problems with this theory. The problem with kin selection is that it doesn’t logically account for the fact that many other factors besides genetic relatedness, such as closeness, instinct, imprinting, and morality, drive altruistic behavior. Dawkins doesn’t take these other factors into account in his explanation of kinship selection, and in many cases, kinship selection doesn’t work.
You can’t know exactly how much of your genes are in other individuals or how closely related they are to you. Genes can’t act solely based on closeness, and Dawkins argues in his book that parents and siblings are equally likely to act altruistically because they are related. However, this doesn’t match up with real-world evolutionary behavior. For example, a queen bee receives 50% of her mother’s genes, but 100% of her father’s genes, so sisters have an average of 75% genetic relatedness. Comparing the characteristics of haploid diploids is not what Dawkins claims, and since the exact degree of inbreeding is unknown, individuals cannot be altruistic because of inbreeding.
Furthermore, when individuals act altruistically toward other individuals, they also act altruistically toward individuals who are not related to them at all. Friendship, volunteerism, romantic relationships, imprinting, adoption, education, and moral behavior are all phenomena that cannot be explained by kin selection. Most altruistic behavior occurs outside of kinship. Dawkins cannot logically explain the case of ducklings born in a chicken’s nest and following their fake parents because of imprinting. Imprinting is a phenomenon in which newborn ducklings follow the first moving object they see, just like their mother. Discovered by Austrian scholar Lorenz, it’s an instinctive behavior that occurs early in life, and once an individual is imprinted on a particular object at a critical time, they never forget it. Dawkins mentions imprinting, but fails to explain it logically. According to the theory of kin selection, individuals who share genes are more likely to act altruistically, but imprinting doesn’t explain this.
Another problem with Dawkins is that it doesn’t explain altruistic behavior even in cases where there is little kinship and no genetic mixing, such as adoption. Adoption is the act of leaving the place of birth and being raised in a different family group, with no shared genes at all. A recent study found that adoptive parents provide better care for adopted children than biological parents. This is because adoptive parents feel sorry for their adopted children and invest more time and money in them. However, Dawkins fails to explain why adoptive parents act altruistically toward their adopted children.
We need to consider whether altruistic behavior is due to shared genes or to increase the probability of passing on an individual’s genes to the next generation. Dawkins fails to account for a number of variables in his explanation of kin selection. He only calculates kinship, life expectancy, and efficiency, but even these variables are imaginary and not based on any precise data. Dawkins’ model is simplistic and doesn’t explain anomalies, only that they exist.
How does kin selection explain selection among related individuals?
Kin selection alone cannot explain human and animal selection. Depending on the context, there may be genetic and environmental influences. Animal selection behavior is influenced by a variety of environmental factors in addition to genetic relatedness. In addition to kin selection, there is also environmental selection and group selection. Since ancient times, humans are born under the direct influence of the environment, and it affects them not only physically but also mentally.
Environmental determinism was advocated by the German geographer Friedrich Ratzel, and is the idea that human or animal behavior is strongly influenced by the environment, and that localization occurs to adapt to this situation. The environment can be broadly categorized into inorganic and biological environments. Inorganic environments include physical and chemical factors such as light, temperature, air, moisture, air, and soil. Biological environments are those that affect us directly or indirectly. The lives of organisms are governed by their environments and their interactions with each other, forming a social structure that organizes life in time and space. Inorganic biological environments, not proximate relationships, force individuals to interact with other individuals. Dawkins’s theory of kin selection fails to explain why individuals who do not share genes engage in altruistic behavior. Environmental determinism fills the gap and provides a logical explanation for animal choice.
Edward Wilson refutes Dawkins’ kin selection and argues that altruistic behavior and cooperation result from group selection. Wilson uses the example of ants to refute kin selection, arguing that ants sacrifice for the queen and put themselves at risk, but this is done through cooperation and betrayal. He argues that cooperation cannot be explained by the evolutionary theory of kin selection, nor by signal transduction theory or altruism. Wilson argues that cooperation can be inherited, and that humans are a social process created through group selection. He argues that cooperation is instinctive in humans.
Dawkins argues that kinship selection is the process by which close relatives act altruistically and pass on their genes. The closer the genetic connection, Dawkins explains, the more closely related you are, and the more likely you are to engage in altruistic behavior. However, it’s important to consider whether altruistic behavior is due to shared genes. Dawkins misses a number of factors in his explanation of kin selection, and he doesn’t fully explain why individuals who don’t share genes can act altruistically, even in cases like imprinting or adoption. Environmental determinism and group selection can be used to explain this.
The bottom line
Kin selection is a theory that explains why individuals are more likely to act altruistically toward their kin based on their closeness. Dawkins uses kin selection to explain why humans and animals act altruistically toward other individuals. He describes genetic relatedness as the percentage of genes an individual shares with another individual. Parents and children are 1/2 related, and siblings are 1/2 related on average. Dawkins argues that kin selection provides a natural explanation, but kin selection does not explain all of the behavior between all related individuals in animals. In addition to genetic closeness, Dawkins fails to account for a variety of other factors, such as closeness, instinct, imprinting, morality, and adoption, that drive helping others.
The problem with Dawkins’s theory of kin selection is that it assumes genetic selfishness and calculates a “net benefit score” based on closeness, and since there is no way to know exactly how closely related you are, you can’t act according to your genetic closeness. Furthermore, helping others can occur even if you share no genes at all. Imprinting, adoption, and moral behavior are not explained by kin selection, and Dawkins has no other theory.
Explaining selection among individuals requires a logical approach. To do this, we need to apply different theories to understand which factors are stronger in different situations. Since animals are subject to a variety of environmental influences, we need to take them into account and make sure that we can quantify their respective effects. Other theories include group selection and environmental determinism. Wilson’s theory of group selection suggests that altruism is an instinct created by creatures who want to serve the common good, not their immediate family. Groups that cooperate and empathize have a greater impact on the survival of competing groups. Environmental determinism states that human activity in the natural environment is subject to a variety of influences, and localization occurs to adapt to them. Environmental determinism is divided into inorganic and biological environments. In particular, interactions due to biological environments are caused by factors other than proximate descent.
Dawkins’ kin selection is not the only theory that explains animal selection. It must be applied in combination with various environmental factors. Dawkins’ kin selection is based on a single view of animal behavior. However, he doesn’t take into account enough other factors, and it doesn’t logically explain altruistic behavior among unrelated individuals. This essay identifies the problems with kin selection and argues for a more complex explanation of selection among related individuals.
