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by brazzy 2401 days ago
> Society needs to recognize that suicide must be some evolutionarily advantageous adaptation.

Bollocks. There is very close to zero evolutionary pressure against (and, of course, even less than that for) having a small percentage of individual of a species decide to off themselves. Especially when it's older males (the most likely age group to commit suicide).

2 comments

It might be a epidemic prevention, similar to apoptosis.

Better the sick person dies voluntarily than infecting everyone else with a deadly disease

Surely if a tribe can reduce the feeding burden it improves its fitness, to the benefit of all members.

If a tribe can do that, and increase calorie intake simultaneously then there's a double benefit.

Older males [who can't hunt or defend and after trained in anything else] who would end their own lives would improve the survival chances of their own offspring, it seems?