"Anon."  wrote in
message news:ceoabe$20jv$1{at}darwin.ediacara.org...

> > JM:-
> > But it would be better to say that there is only one class of states
> > to be considered:
> > r is a (pure) number
> > c is a number (in units of some kind of fitness)
> > b is a number (in the same units as c)
> >
> > Since the rule does not distinguish between positive and negative
> > parameter values, and treats all combinations the same, there is
> > no reason to do a case analysis, unless you think that the concept
> > of a negative number is somehow philosophically difficult to comprehend.
> >
> It can be useful for categorising behaviours.  The case where c is
> negative and b is positive is not interested, because it's obvious from
> the individual's direct fitness that the trait will invade the
> population.

Do you intend that as an example of the usefulness of case analysis?
It seems to me that you have just given a perfect example of how it
can mislead.  The thing that you claim is "obvious" is false in some
cases (Hamilton 1970).

> By categorising in this way, we can focus on the different
> parts of the parameter space that are more interesting, even if we use
> the same mathematical tools to analyse them.
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