Who Are We? - ChronicleReview.com
Just as sneezing may well be a successful manipulation of "us" (Homo sapiens) by "them" (viruses), what about altruism as another successful manipulation of "us," this time by our own "altruism genes"? Admirable as altruism may be, it is therefore, in a sense, yet another form of manipulation. After all, just as the brainworm gains by orchestrating the actions of an ant, altruism genes stand to gain when we are nice to Cousin Sarah, never mind that such niceness is costly to that entity we unthinkingly call "ourselves."
Just as sneezing may well be a successful manipulation of "us" (Homo sapiens) by "them" (viruses), what about altruism as another successful manipulation of "us," this time by our own "altruism genes"? Admirable as altruism may be, it is therefore, in a sense, yet another form of manipulation. After all, just as the brainworm gains by orchestrating the actions of an ant, altruism genes stand to gain when we are nice to Cousin Sarah, never mind that such niceness is costly to that entity we unthinkingly call "ourselves."
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