Danbershan wrote:Individuality-ness wrote:The problem is that usually, when people put the tribe before the individual, they end up dead, and they can't pass their genes on. I don't know whether this trait is genetic or not, but it would make sense.... >.>;
In prehistory, many humans lived in genetically-related groups, as many do even today. Their self-sacrificial genes might well survive in the relatives they died to protect, thus selecting for altruism.
This is true, and I have faith in this belief that altruism isn't fully selected out and that it's still available in the genes of the surviving relatives -- it's just that this type of altruism often led to death in prehistory.
Alexlantis wrote:Ah, true. Still, having a bunch of people who look out for themselves first leads to everybody dead, instead of just a few.
Well, I am in no position to judge that for sure, I would say it depends on the situation we're looking at. And like stated above, Danbershan is correct in that there will be some genes around in the relatives.
