name_and_address_supplied{at}hotmail.com (Name And Address Supplied) wrote

> > If you can demonstrate the validity of Hamilton's Rule 
> > you will have achieved something that nobody, including 
> > Hamilton himself, was able to achieve.
> 
> What *exactly* is your problem with the rule?  Where does it become
> 'wrong', and why?

Let me answer the Where question first: where does it become wrong?  
I honestly have a hard time figuring out where it ever goes right.  
But if you are truly interested in figuring out where it goes wrong 
might I suggest you look here:

NeoDarwinistic Assumptions 
(Note: I don't think it's author would claim that this list is 
comprehensive)

  1.  An infinite population
  2.  Diploid
  3.  One sex (hermaphrodites)
  4.  Random mating
  5.  Discrete generations
  6.  Each organism, once in its life, engages in a social
      interaction where there are two roles: "Donor" and
"Recipient"
  7.  In this interaction there either is or is not an altruistic
      behavior that occurs
  8.  If it does not occur, both individuals have fitness 1
  9.  If it does, Donor has fitness 1-c, Recipient has fitness 1+b
 10.  After the interaction the individuals wander off and mate
      randomly (i.e. not necessarily with that partner)
 11.  The probability that the behavior occurs is a function of the
      genotype of the Donor, but not that of the Recipient.
 12.  There is a locus with two alleles, A and a.  A is rare.
      This locus is one (in our model case the only one) whose
      genotype affects the probability that the Donor engages in the
      behavior.

Joe Felsenstein is the author of these assumptions.  You should read 
the thread in which these assumptions were generated.  It's entitled: 
(part2) Kin Selection

Now let me answer the why question: Why is it (Hamilton's Rule) 
wrong?  I now have a better answer to this question: it's wrong 
because it's author(s) failed to qualify it's underlying assumptions.  
For more on this I again suggest you take a look at the thread I just 
mentioned.

The offer still stands:

               ***  !  $1,000.00  !  ***

To anybody that can verify/confirm/substantiate/validate (choose one) 
Hamilton's Rule.

Doesn't anybody want to take my money?  

Jim
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