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Politics : Evolution -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Akula who wrote (926)	9/21/1999 11:01:00 PM
From: Tunica Albuginea	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 69300

Akula: " to die for a stranger". This has occurred.Several recorded instances of people offering up their lives for a non-relative,. Some have been made saints; some are nuns; some are priests; many are lay people. Many are war Veterans None of their relatives were immediately threatened Vietnam is an example. Many could have fought conscription but instead decided to do the honorable thing & enroll. These people knew that they had a good chance of dying. knew that it was not absolutely necessary for them to go( i.e. not done therefore to immediately or even remotely protect family.Vietnam was not going to come here . knew that they could have done the evolutionary smart thing to do: escape to Canada (as many did). Yet they did not. They committed evolutionary suicide. You can call it stupidity. The Nation has decided to call them heroes. There is no trace of heroes in animal Kingdom. Your explanation for all above? Dawkins offers no explanation for war heroes unless I missed something; please give a specific reference if I did, TA Message #926 from Akula at Sep 21 1999 8:20PM Because it is absolutely irrational to " die for your brother ". - This is an absolutely stupid idea. It is rational to die for one's relatives in certain situations from an evolutionary point of view. For example, I share 1/2 of my genes with each of my siblings. From the POV of my genes, it is logical to die to protect several siblings. For a more complete treatment of the subject I suggest "The Selfish Gene" by Richard Dawkins.