Rethinking the roots of altruism
For decades, researchers working to understand how altruistic behavior evolved have relied on a concept known as inclusive fitness, which holds that organisms receive an evolutionary benefit — and are able to pass on their genes — through cooperative behavior. Now Harvard scientists say the theory is mathematically flawed and unnecessarily complicates the story of altruism’s evolution. In a new study, Martin Nowak, a professor of mathematics and of biology, E.O. Wilson, the Pellegrino University Professor Emeritus, and Benjamin Allen, a research associate in mathematical biology and an assistant professor at Emmanuel College, find that not only is inclusive fitness impossible to calculate in most cases, but also that it often leads to incorrect conclusions. The research is described in a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. “Our main goal is to develop a rigorous mathematical theory of evolution,” Nowak said. “Inclusive fitness is an antiquated concept. Its...