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0 pointstmh88j13y ago0 comments

>It doesn't matter how hot, strong, or brilliant you are, if you have zero kids, from an evolutionary perspective ... it's the same as if you were killed and eaten by some wild animal.

I don't agree with that 100% (the same as just dying part), solely because of the technology and globalization that we currently live with. Even if you don't have children, by simply starting a business where you employ many people, you're essentially providing a means to life for others. If your business is successful, you will have brought life to others via work for possibly generations(which essentially means others can provide a life for themselves and their families). I know that's a bit of a reach, but it's probably true to a small extent, at least in first world countries. Hundreds of years ago, I completely agree with you.

We live in a world where your work can potentially impact billions of people. Sure, you may not reproduce, but you may have enabled many others to do so.

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9 comments · 2 top-level

maratd13y ago· 6 in thread

Experiments, both on humans and other animals, have repeatedly shown that there is no such thing as pure-as-white-snow altruism. Whatever appears to be altruistic is either a misfire (essentially error, in biological terms) or is found to be long-term self-interested behavior.

That billionaire is giving his wealth away because he wants better social standing, etc.

In the end, evolution doesn't favor altruism and we have mechanisms that actively discourage it. If that weren't the case, Mother Teresa would have been the happiest person on earth (she wasn't).

> Even if you don't have children, by simply starting a business where you employ many people, you're essentially providing a means to life for others.

The businessman isn't helping others to reproduce. He's being exploited by his employees for their own benefit.

Your example fits within the confines of a parasitic relationship. In evolutionary terms, he is getting nothing from the relationship ... while they are reaping the rewards.

In reality though, even if he didn't start the business ... he still would not have reproduced, so his starting a business is irrelevant and was simply used by others to improve their circumstances.

ogoffart13y ago

Imagine you have a gene that will make half of your kids very strong, but unable to reproduce. Because of the tendency to protect the familly, your strong kids might help their sibilings to survive and reproduce, propagating their genes.

Another example is the ants. A gene that gives workers good abilities will help the hole colony, even if the worker themself do not reproduce.

maratd13y ago

It's better to think of a hive of ants/bees/etc. as a single organism. The individuals are cells. Things make much more sense in that context.

You're previous point, though, is spot on. In fact, I think we have genes just like that and not with regard to just strength. You might have a brother who becomes very famous because he's bright/sociable/etc. and your business prospers in the process, allowing you to have more kids. He wins that way, although indirectly. I think this happens a lot.

That's why it's such a pain to talk about these things in such simplistic terms ... life is just so much more complex and frankly, the evolutionary process is so brutal that there really aren't any losing strategies around. You can bet if somebody is doing something, they're benefiting somehow ... we just don't know how yet.

Zimahl13y ago

Ants have a intrinsic instinct to help the whole colony mostly because they are related the the entire colony.

I may have an evolutionary interest in supporting my nieces since they are my sister's children. However, I probably don't have an evolutionary interest in supporting my nephew since he is my wife's sister's child. Biologically I have zero relation to him.

aneth413y ago

I think the point is that businessman selects employees who then make more money, are healthier, and therefore more reproductively interesting and successful. This means that a one can influence evolution without reproduction. This is something like an externally caused drift. The businessman can select who is more likely to reproduce, likely biasing work ethic, respect, etc.

It's a valid point. One should not be so quick to dismiss ideas.

kristofferR13y ago

Please don't spread the myth of Mother Teresa as an altruistic person, she was anything but.

She cared a lot about her missionary work, but not about the poor. In fact she believed that the suffering of the poor was a good thing and denied painkillers to be administered for that reason (while she was always receiving painkillers for her own medical issues). Sure, she funded a lot of what she called "houses of the dying" where people were left to die instead of often easily treated with antibiotics, but she only really cared about her missionary work.

emiliobumachar13y ago

I'm curious about the definition of these "misfires" (links?). If any action that does not contribute to one's selfish goals can be classified as an error, then it seems circular logic to conclude there is no true altruism.

baddox13y ago· 1 in thread

Sure, you can do all those great things, but your genes won't pass to the next generation unless you reproduce. Evolution is a specific thing: the ongoing change in the inheritable traits of a population. Humanitarian efforts are great, but they have nothing to do with evolution in this context.

tmh88jOP13y ago

> but your genes won't pass to the next generation unless you reproduce.

The comment on which I commented said something along the lines of "you might as well just die if you don't reproduce", in reference to evolution. Yes, that is true (in regards to carrying on genes), but that's not the point I was making. I essentially said in today's world, if you're successful in establishing a business which creates jobs, you are essentially harboring other's abilities to reproduce. I guess you could say you can "indirectly reproduce" due to globalization and technology.

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