John Edser wrote:
> Multi-level selection 
> Sean Rice 
> Dept. of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology 
> Yale University :
> 
> http://pantheon.yale.edu/~sean/group.html
> 
> 

> Discussion:
> 
> JE:-
> Rice has rediscovered the obvious: an altruistic gene
> _cannot_ spread unless an absolute fitness gain is secured
> and not just a relative fitness increase. Such an event
> is possible using classical group selection as Rice
> has illustrated i.e. Hamiltonian fitness is just a hidden 
> rehash of discredited classical group selection. 

No, John.  Rice is presenting Hamilton's ideas as the "new" (clean, 
shiny and, err, Sober) group selection.  This interpretation is used in 
the first half of Wilson and Sober's "Unto Others", but stems from 
Price's work.

The important point Rice is trying to make is that one has to look at 
selection acting at sveral levels.  The discredited classical group 
selection insisted that one only had to look at a single level - the 
group.  New group selection is now a part of "multi-level selection" 
which acknowledges that selection can occur at several levels (gene, 
individual, group, etc.), and that there are occasions when one has to 
take several of these levels into consideration when analysing evolution.

Bob

-- 
Bob O'Hara

Dept. of Mathematics and Statistics
P.O. Box 4 (Yliopistonkatu 5)
FIN-00014 University of Helsinki
Finland
Telephone: +358-9-191 23743
Mobile: +358 50 599 0540
Fax:  +358-9-191 22 779
WWW:  http://www.RNI.Helsinki.FI/~boh/
Journal of Negative Results - EEB: http://www.jnr-eeb.org
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