Brian wrote:
>>>Saying reciprocal altruism is not real altruism because the giver
>>(potentially)
>>>gets something out of it, is a lot like saying we are all egoists because
>>>everything we do we we do because we want to do it.
>>
>>yes wayne, that's it.... thanks....
>>
>>bryan
Steve Bissett wrote:
>That's why Trivers, Williams and other evolutionary biologists defined
>altruism as a risking reproductive potential with no immediate reward. They
>avoid all this
>sb
"Quite a few years ago Herbert Spencer wrote: "This permanent supremacy of
egoism over *altruism* is further made manifest by contemplating life in
course of evolution."
Altruism defined:" The instinct and emotion which prompts action in behalf
of others, together with the action thus prompted; opposed to egoism or
individualization; a term coined by *Comte*" Funk & Wagnells, 1943.
I believe Comte hypothesized the term altruism to mean "true to all"
therefore altruism has a teleological basis in conserving or protecting
other species and their habatit - potentially; and therefore is an emotion
or instinct which truely does lead or progress toward sustainability, but in
this sense is strictly human emotion or instinct and is guided by
intelligence, since animals and plants cannot understand the hypothetical
nature of "climate change", "persistent organic pollutants",
"overexploitation" ; so animals cannot be altruistic in the same way that
Comte envisioned as an 'instinct' and emotion against egoism or
evolutionary selfishness to promote ones own genes.
The selfish gene can be utilized in order to imaginatively create society
goals to harness this great biological power through the adoptation of the
ecological principle of interdependence. If all things are interdependent,
then restoration of balance in ecological systems and processes only
requires the collective effort of humans to restore this balance. The laws
of inheritance are an adequate demonstration of the power of evolutionary
genetics to support the statement that "consuming now so that future
generations are not any worse off than we present generations" and
extension to the interdependent processes and systems that promote future
generational equity.
jf
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