William Morse  wrote 

> With regard to kin selection, a weakness of 
> Hamilton's rule is in getting an altruism gene 
> established in the first place. If the gene isn't 
> at least locally widespread, the r factor will in 
> fact be low.  

I think you have to understand that the the 
understanding of r (relatedness) that is commonly 
assumed by most evolutionary theorists is not based 
on rational analysis but unexamined superstition.  
(In short, the supposition that r (relatedness) is 
determined by the number of genes that two organisms 
share that are "identical by descent" is complete 
nonsense.) When a truly rational understanding of 
relatedness is adopted it becomes plainly apparent 
that Hamilton's rule (and the other neo-darwinistic 
variations thereof) has to do with overcoming a 
nonexistent problem.  

Jim
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