Que Es El Altruismo

by Lee Alan Dugatkin

Durante más de cien años la comunidad científica mantuvo un enconado debate acerca del significado del altruismo en los animales y en los seres humanos. Iniciada en 1859, la polémica fue muy relevante porque la posición triunfante determinaría nuestra manera de contemplar el origen de la bondad o de la generosidad -en última instancia, el altruismo tiene que ver con pagar un costo personal para ayudar a otros, es decir, con lo que la mayoría de las personas quieren decir cuando hablan de hacer el bien-. En la discusión participaron biólogos como Charles Darwin y Thomas Henry Huxley, pero también el príncipe ruso Piotr Kropotkin e intelectuales como George Price. Fue, finalmente, la biología la que terminó por resolver la cuestión del altruismo con una ecuación matemática desarrollada por un biólogo evolucionista llamado William D. Hamilton, que comenzó a trabajar en el tema a partir de la década de 1960.
Por primera vez, Lee Alan Dugatkin nos da a conocer en esta obra a los protagonistas del debate sobre el altruismo, los temas que abordaron y las pasiones que pusieron en juego, hasta explicar, con asombrosa claridad, la "regla de Hamilton": la fórmula que redujo el altruismo al frío lenguaje de la selección natural. Los lectores se verán arrastrados por este ágil relato que entreteje la historia, la biografía y la reseña de descubrimientos científicos.

Genres: Nonfiction, Evolution, Science, History, Psychology

271 pages, Paperback

First published August 21, 2006

About the author

Born in 1962, Lee Alan Dugatkin is a professor and distinguished university scholar in the department of biology at the University of Louisville. His main area of research interest is the evolution of social behavior.

Reviews

[A · Rating 4 out of 5]

Is man altruistic or selfish? The anarchist thinks that all men are good, a clearly delusional belief. But it seems ludicrous to say that altruism cannot happen when one sees heroic warriors and laboring mothers. Is there is a solution to the problem of altruism?

Yes, and it is called Hamilton's Rule. An organism will sacrifice itself for others in proportion to its genetic relatedness to the other organism and that other organism's future ability to reproduce. This is why we find parents so "irrationally" loving of their children — it is not irrational at all. It is a way to help their genes reproduce in the next generation. Hamilton's Rule is also why child abuse is so much more prevalent for adopted children and stepchildren. They are not genetically related to their parents, and therefore their parents have less of an incentive to treat them well.

But Dugatkin does not take his theory to its ultimate implications, a sad commonality among most university academics. If parents help their children more than any other child (no matter how poor and suffering) and we morally allow that, what must we also allow? Think: what groups of people are we related to more closely, other than our children? Our genetic group, i.e. our ethny! Hamilton's Rule shows how it is adaptive to selectively help and favor your ethny over other ethnies. It explains why ethnic conflict cannot be stopped by any propaganda and why ethnic diversity correlates .75 with ethnic conflict internationally (Vanhanen).

If I am a professor, then it is highly likely that I am an atheist. It is highly likely that I believe in evolution, and therefore I should believe in Hamilton's Rule (how evolution works). Therefore, I should believe in the implications of Hamilton's Rule. I should help my children more than strangers' children. But I should also help my genetic group, my ethny, over all others! That does not mean I hurt other ethnies (just as I do not hurt other children), but I should certain favor them over all others. I can do just that if I am part of a "historically disadvantaged group". I can make clubs and celebrate my ethny all day long. But if I am European? Oh no! Watch out! Europeans are forced to be genetically maladaptive in the modern social environment. They cannot help their own and therefore, ceterus paribus, are destroying their own gene pool. This is the rational view to take. Newspeak such as "racism" should not prevent one from preserving one's genome, from being an adaptive biological being. Is wrongthought or genetic suicide worse?

(See Frank Salter's On Genetic Interests for a more comprehensive look at this concept)

[Paco Barreras · Rating 5 out of 5]

Refreshingly well explained, there is no evidence of altruism in nature.

[Will · Rating 3 out of 5]

Discusses the historical evolution of the scientific study of altruism, and the key scientists who analyzed it, focusing mainly on how arguments evolved over time.

[kirsten · Rating 2 out of 5]

it was ok. pretty much didn't learn anything more than the review - so i'd suggest just reading the review and not worrying about the whole book. oh and it has quite a few typographical errors and i just don't like books with those.

[Maggie · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a book about how scientists in the post-Darwinian world explain altruism or compassion, if you will. Costs, benefits, and kinship all play a part in this phenomenon. I am captivated by its omnipresence in the animal world. Don't let the word 'equation' scare you.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't read it if you don't like biology...or being bored occasionally.

[Reba · Rating 3 out of 5]

i reviewed this book here:
http://www.null-hypothesis.co.uk/scie...

[Science For The People]

Featured on Skeptically Speaking show #202 on March 1, 2013, during an interview with author Lee Alan Dugatkin. http://skepticallyspeaking.ca/episode...