"Survival of the cooperative" not the "fittest"

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Neo-Darwinism has  troubles describing cooperation. Neo-Darwinism is a theory of evolution that is based on the following three principles:

  • Variation: Individuals within a population vary in their traits.

  • Heritability: Some of these traits are passed down from parents to offspring.

  • Selection: Individuals with traits that are better suited to their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce.

Cooperation, on the other hand, is a behavior that benefits others, often at some cost to oneself. This can be difficult to explain under neo-Darwinism, because it seems to be against the individual's own interests.

One way to explain cooperation within neo-Darwinism is through the concept of kin selection. Kin selection is a type of natural selection that favors traits that benefit the individual's relatives. This is because relatives share genes, so by helping their relatives, individuals are indirectly helping to pass on their own genes.

Another way to explain cooperation within neo-Darwinism is through the concept of reciprocity. Reciprocity is a type of social behavior where individuals cooperate with each other in the expectation of being repaid in the future. This type of cooperation is often seen in animals that live in groups, such as chimpanzees and wolves.

However, kin selection and reciprocity cannot fully explain all forms of cooperation. For example, some animals cooperate with individuals who are not related to them, and some animals cooperate even when they cannot expect to be repaid in the future.

In recent years, there has been a growing movement to develop new theories of evolution that can better explain cooperation. These new theories are often referred to as "extended evolutionary synthesis" or "post-Darwinian evolution."

One of the key ideas of extended evolutionary synthesis is that evolution can be driven by factors other than natural selection. For example, cooperation can be driven by cultural evolution, which is the transmission of learned behavior from one generation to the next.

Another key idea of extended evolutionary synthesis is that evolution is a multi-level process. This can help to explain why cooperation can evolve, even if it is not always in the individual's best interests.

Extended evolutionary synthesis is still a developing field, but it has the potential to provide a more complete understanding of cooperation and other complex evolutionary phenomena.

Here are some specific examples of how neo-Darwinism has trouble explaining cooperation:

  • Altruism: Altruism is a behavior that benefits others at a cost to oneself. For example, a meerkat might stand guard while other members of the group feed, or a bird might give up its own food to feed its young. Neo-Darwinism cannot explain why animals would cooperate with individuals who are not related to them.

  • Group cooperation: Some animals live in groups and cooperate with each other to hunt, raise young, and defend themselves. For example, wolves hunt in packs and chimpanzees share food. Neo-Darwinism cannot explain why animals would cooperate with each other even when they cannot expect to be repaid in the future.

  • Eusociality: Eusociality is a complex form of social organization in which some individuals reproduce while others specialize in helping to raise the young. For example, ants, bees, and termites are all eusocial insects. Neo-Darwinism has difficulty explaining eusociality because it seems to require individuals to sacrifice their own reproductive success for the benefit of the group.

Overall, neo-Darwinism  has real trouble explaining cooperation. Extended evolutionary synthesis is a promising new field that has the potential to provide a more complete understanding of cooperation and other complex evolutionary phenomena.

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