Guy Hoelzer wrote:
> in article c6opp6$1sk1$1{at}darwin.ediacara.org, Anon. at
> bob.ohara{at}SOD.OFF.Spammers.helsinki.fi wrote on 4/28/04 10:31 AM:
> 

>>The theory was 
>>developed in the 70s, and there are a few systems in which group
>>selection seems to operate.  Why don't we just use group selection when
>>we need to, don't when we don't, and get on with more interesting
>>things.  
> 
> 
> Why don't we ignore selection at the individual level when it is safe to do
> so, instead?
> 
Yeah, why not?  Of course, defining "safe" might be a bit controversial.

> Well, that is a side issue.  Keeping on topic, Dawkins argued that you
> CANNOT EVER raise the specter of group selection without abandoning realism.
> That is what I objected to.
> 
There is a slight problem that "group selection" can mean different 
things.  The earlier meaning, the "for the good of the species" idea 
deserves to be squashed.  Unfortunately, the "trait group selection" 
idea gets caught up in the cross-fire.  It doesn't help that some 
proponents of trait group selection seem to want to blur this distinction.

Bob

-- 
Bob O'Hara

Dept. of Mathematics and Statistics
P.O. Box 4 (Yliopistonkatu 5)
FIN-00014 University of Helsinki
Finland
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