The Selfless Gene
is an article that explains a very amazing behavior that distinguishes animals
including humankind. This behavior is the altruism, which means an act of
extreme self-sacrifice, but what makes it puzzling is that when the animal; for
instance, sacrifices mating just to please and help the others to do so. This sacrifice
is mostly for relatives, because they have the same genes and belong to the
same species. However, what is the relationship between genes and the altruism?
Normally, the extreme altruism leaves no descendants, because being occupied
with helping the others nurse their children leaves no space for having children;
therefore, genes’ inheritance. Hamilton found an effective solution and
explication for this problem. He comprehended that the gene of extreme altruism
can be promoted and extended if altruism helped close kin; as a result, even if
an animal does not intermarry, its genes will keep spreading because of its
relatives. There is somehow solidarity between those animals, which appears in
the group of peacocks for example, especially when they display to females and
do their best to maintain the pride of their brothers.
Here is a video that explains more the evolution of altruism and how do the animals sacrifice their own safity to protect the others:
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