I wonder if altruism is more prevalent among women than men? It’s my
impression that this list is pretty heavily loaded with dorky, geeky
guys (speaking for myself :-). At least from an evolutionary
standpoint, it seems that we XYs may have less to gain by caring about
anything but sowing seed across the veldt, so to speak. Of course,
even if that is true true, we are a heck of a lot more complex than
that, and altruism has evolved in our species. Still, I wonder if it
is more prevelant among women.
in Anthro 101, it was emphasized to us that in some cultures men are
more protective/supportive of their sister's children than their own...
their maternal sister's children are "guaranteed" to share a minimum of
1/4 your DNA while your presumed own children may well not share *any*.
I feel comfortable enough with the "genetic" evolution pressures toward
"altruism" within a kinship group, but am still fascinated by the "less
obvious" variations. Even/for example, the way many of us have a huge
empathy/sympathy for "all living things" and perhaps even fewer for
things like "the biosphere as a whole".
============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
