"In 1968, an academic almost unknown in the UK walked into University College
London and presented its staff with an equation so remarkable, that they offered
him an honorary position and the keys to his own office.
His name was George Price, and his equation addressed a problem that has vexed scientists since Charles Darwin published On The Origin of Species more than a century earlier. If we are selfish creatures, engaged in a battle for survival, why do we display altruism? Why do we show kindness to others even at a cost to ourselves?
Price's equation explained how altruism could thrive, even amongst groups of selfish people.
It built on the work of a number of other scientists, arguably beginning with JBS Haldane, a British biologist who developed a theory in the early 1950s. Haldane's reasoning was a simplistic explanation of a theory that has come to dominate evolutionary biology - that of "kin selection".
Since he would share 50% of each brother's genetic makeup, and 12.5% of each cousin's, his genes would survive even if he were to die.
It took until the early 1960s for another scientist, William Donald Hamilton, to popularise the theory.
He wrote a simple equation to explain that an organism
would demonstrate self-sacrificing behaviour if it would enhance the
reproductive chances of those it was closely related to.
In 1967 Price arrived in London from the United States, where he had been a scientist and journalist, but with no background in the field of evolutionary biology.
He discovered Hamilton's theory in a public library and thought he could improve upon it. Working in seclusion, he rewrote the equation in a simpler but more wide-reaching way. It explained the relationship between different generations of a population, and could be used to show how the prevalence of particular traits would change over time.
Although it was a fairly simple statement, it had never been expressed in clear mathematical terms, and the staff at the University College London recognised his insight as wildly original.
A debate about the scientific roots of altruism still rages to this day, but kin selection remains a hugely influential theory, and Price's contribution is held in high regard by many.
But Price began to find the implications of his work very difficult to deal with, according to Harman. If altruism was simply an attempt to ensure the survival of one's own genes, could it be considered altruism at all?
Price began giving money to homeless people, and invited many of them to live with him in his flat near Oxford Circus. His increasingly erratic behaviour left him penniless. And in the winter of 1975, Price took his own life.
For Harman, the two are inextricably linked. "I think the fact that George killed himself due to his interpretation of the equation really focuses the problem to the utmost degree."
Samir Okasha, professor of the philosophy of science at Bristol University, thinks not. "The idea that what evolutionary theory shows is that altruism is self-interest in disguise is, to my mind, a questionable thing to say."
Behaviour in some animal species is indeed genetically determined, he says, but with humans "that certainly isn't the case". He argues that culture sets us apart from animals in that respect, and points to the huge variance in social norms in different countries, and over short periods of time." BBC
So why do some humans express 'altruism"? So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; Genesis 1:27
His name was George Price, and his equation addressed a problem that has vexed scientists since Charles Darwin published On The Origin of Species more than a century earlier. If we are selfish creatures, engaged in a battle for survival, why do we display altruism? Why do we show kindness to others even at a cost to ourselves?
Price's equation explained how altruism could thrive, even amongst groups of selfish people.
It built on the work of a number of other scientists, arguably beginning with JBS Haldane, a British biologist who developed a theory in the early 1950s. Haldane's reasoning was a simplistic explanation of a theory that has come to dominate evolutionary biology - that of "kin selection".
Since he would share 50% of each brother's genetic makeup, and 12.5% of each cousin's, his genes would survive even if he were to die.
It took until the early 1960s for another scientist, William Donald Hamilton, to popularise the theory.
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| George Price |
In 1967 Price arrived in London from the United States, where he had been a scientist and journalist, but with no background in the field of evolutionary biology.
He discovered Hamilton's theory in a public library and thought he could improve upon it. Working in seclusion, he rewrote the equation in a simpler but more wide-reaching way. It explained the relationship between different generations of a population, and could be used to show how the prevalence of particular traits would change over time.
Although it was a fairly simple statement, it had never been expressed in clear mathematical terms, and the staff at the University College London recognised his insight as wildly original.
A debate about the scientific roots of altruism still rages to this day, but kin selection remains a hugely influential theory, and Price's contribution is held in high regard by many.
But Price began to find the implications of his work very difficult to deal with, according to Harman. If altruism was simply an attempt to ensure the survival of one's own genes, could it be considered altruism at all?
Price began giving money to homeless people, and invited many of them to live with him in his flat near Oxford Circus. His increasingly erratic behaviour left him penniless. And in the winter of 1975, Price took his own life.
For Harman, the two are inextricably linked. "I think the fact that George killed himself due to his interpretation of the equation really focuses the problem to the utmost degree."
Samir Okasha, professor of the philosophy of science at Bristol University, thinks not. "The idea that what evolutionary theory shows is that altruism is self-interest in disguise is, to my mind, a questionable thing to say."
Behaviour in some animal species is indeed genetically determined, he says, but with humans "that certainly isn't the case". He argues that culture sets us apart from animals in that respect, and points to the huge variance in social norms in different countries, and over short periods of time." BBC
So why do some humans express 'altruism"? So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; Genesis 1:27
