Altruism, Is there a thing such as reciprocal altruism

hilal6

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9 years ago

Altruism, Is there a thing such as reciprocal altruism

Robert Trivers’s notion of reciprocal altruism has had a profound effect on our
understanding of why humans help each other. But is reciprocal altruism really
altruism?

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bio_man

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Educator

9 years ago

In evolutionary biology, reciprocal altruism is a behaviour whereby an organism acts in a manner that temporarily reduces its fitness while increasing another organism's fitness, with the expectation that the other organism will act in a similar manner at a later time.

Now, the thing is, based on this definition, this sounds to me like mutualism. A mutualistic relationship is when two organisms of different species "work together," each benefiting from the relationship. Organisms in a mutualistic relationship evolved together. Each was part of the other's environment, so as they adapted to their environment, they "made use of" each other in a way that benefited both.

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hilal6 Author

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9 years ago

So your saying that it is altruism.

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duddy

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Staff Member

9 years ago

Quote from: hilal6 (9 years ago)

So your saying that it is altruism.

If you're only doing something to get something else in return, it's not altruism. That's like borderline saying the animal has a conscience.

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- Master of Science in Biology
- Bachelor of Science

hilal6 Author

wrote...

9 years ago

Quote from: duddy (9 years ago)

Quote from: hilal6 (9 years ago)

So your saying that it is altruism.

If you're only doing something to get something else in return, it's not altruism. That's like borderline saying the animal has a conscience.

But animals do have a conscience. So it means your saying that it is not altruism.

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bio_man

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Educator

9 years ago

Quote from: hilal6 (9 years ago)

Quote from: duddy (9 years ago)

Quote from: hilal6 (9 years ago)

So your saying that it is altruism.

If you're only doing something to get something else in return, it's not altruism. That's like borderline saying the animal has a conscience.

But animals do have a conscience. So it means your saying that it is not altruism.

Actually, I'm with him, animals don't have a conscience the way we do, we have the ability to reason. Animals do things based on instinct.

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hilal6 Author

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9 years ago

Actually I am counting us as animals.

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duddy

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Staff Member

9 years ago

Yeah we too are animals Slight Smile

Still, only humans have the ability to reason, as far as I know.

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- Master of Science in Biology
- Bachelor of Science

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