[macrael]

I didn't read this article, but I suggest you read The Social Conquest of Earth by E O Wilson. We are cooperative animals, much like ants. There's nothing Machiavellian about individual ants. It's a great book, a direct response to The Selfish Gene which I find pernicious in how often and how poorly it is quoted.

[waveBidder]

Pretty odd comparison as the selfish gene is about gene level incentives, not individual level ones. there's even a chapter devoted to the chromosomal effects that lead to eusociality.

then again maybe the people you're thinking about are focused on the selfish, rather than the gene.

[bubblyworld]

There's part of a chapter in TSG calling out those who read the title of his book and assume that he's criticising morality/intention. All of the observable consequences of Wilson's group selection can be derived from gene selection, it's a lower-level theory (which, again, is discussed at length in TSG, as is cooperation).

[macrael]

From my recollection Wilson would disagree! Pretty sure he devotes part of that book to talking about how he doesn't think pure gene selection bubbles up to eusociality and that it's actually a little something else

[bubblyworld]

He has a lot of experimental weight to overcome, like gene selection predicting exact sex ratios in eusocial insects, for instance. I should give his argument a try though, you're right.