首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
考研
At some point during their education, biology students are told about a conversation in a pub that took place over 50 years ago.
At some point during their education, biology students are told about a conversation in a pub that took place over 50 years ago.
admin
2009-04-26
66
问题
At some point during their education, biology students are told about a conversation in a pub that took place over 50 years ago. J.B.S. Haldane, a British geneticist, was asked whether he would lay down his life for his country. After doing a quick calculation on the back of a napkin, he said he would do so for two brothers or eight cousins. In other words, he would die to protect the equivalent of his genetic contribution to the next generation.
The theory of kin selection—the idea that animals can pass on their genes by helping their close relatives—is biology’s explanation for seemingly altruistic acts. An individual carrying genes that promote altruism might be expected to die younger than one with "selfish" genes, and thus to have a reduced contribution to the next generation’s genetic pool. But if the same individual acts altruistically to protect its relatives, genes for altruistic behavior might nevertheless propagate.
Acts of apparent altruism to non-relatives can also be explained away, in what has become a cottage industry within biology. An animal might care for the offspring of another that it is unrelated to because it hopes to obtain the same benefits for itself later on (a phenomenon known as reciprocal altruism). The hunter who generously shares his spoils with others may be doing so in order to signal his superior status to females, and ultimately boost his breeding success. These apparently selfless acts are therefore disguised acts of self interest.
All of these examples fit economists’ arguments that Homo sapiens is also Homo economicus—maximizing something that economists call utility, and biologists fitness. But there is a residuum of human activity that defies such explanations: people contribute to charities for the homeless, return lost wallets, do voluntary work and tip waiters in restaurants to which they do not plan to return. Both economic rationalism and natural selection offer few explanations for such random acts of kindness. Nor can they easily explain the opposite: spiteful behavior, when someone harms his own interest in order to damage that of another. But people are now trying to find answers.
When a new phenomenon is recognized by science, a name always helps. In a paper in Human Nature, Dr. Fehr and his colleagues argue for a behavioral propensity they call "strong reciprocity". This name is intended to distinguish it from reciprocal altruism. According to Dr. Fehr, a person is a strong reciprocator if he is willing to sacrifice resources to be kind to those who are being kind, and to punish those who are being unkind. Significantly, strong reciprocators will behave this way even if doing so provides no prospect of material rewards in the future.
选项
A、to honor his unusual altruistic acts.
B、to show how he contributed to his offspring.
C、to introduce the topic of human altruism.
D、to give an episode of his calculation abilities.
答案
C
解析
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/fei4777K
0
考研英语一
相关试题推荐
Themainideaofthefirstparagraphisthat______.Whatdoestheword"disruptive"(Paragraph3)mostprobablymean?
Animportantfactorofleadershipisattraction.Thisdoesnotmeanattractivenessintheordinarysense,forthatisabornqua
Animportantfactorofleadershipisattraction.Thisdoesnotmeanattractivenessintheordinarysense,forthatisabornqua
Animportantfactorofleadershipisattraction.Thisdoesnotmeanattractivenessintheordinarysense,forthatisabornqua
Theauthorthinksthatpullfactors______.Peoplemovingwithincountrybordersareoftenmotivatedbythedesireto______.
Bysayingthatacountry’sagriculturalsurplusesoften"complicate"itseconomy,theauthormeans______.Accordingtothepas
Thebesttitleforthispassagewouldbe______.Accordingtotheauthor,whichofthefollowingisNOTnecessarilythecase?
OlympicGamesareheldeveryfouryearsatadifferentsite,inwhichathletes【1】differentnationscompeteagainsteachotherin
Inthefirstyearsofthe21stcentury,noareaoftheAmericaneconomyhasexcitedmoreemotionthanthepropertymarket.First
随机试题
由商品的价格变动所引起的商品相对价格的变动,进而由商品的相对价格变动所引起的商品需求量的变动,称为()。
Formillionsofpeople,theAmericandreamofowningahomeseemstobeslippingoutofreach:"Maybeyoungcouplescannol
SARS-CoV不常侵染的细胞是
接种卡介苗的正确部位及方法是()
某拟建工业生产项目,基础数据如下。1.建设投资5000万元(其中含无形资产600万元)。建设期2年,运营期8年。2.资金来源为银行贷款和项目资本金。贷款总额为2000万元,在建设期内每年均匀投入贷款资金1000万元。贷款年利率为10%。贷款
证券承销业务只能采取代销方式。()
下列()是中国银行的信用卡。
新《幼儿园教育指导纲要(试行)》的理念是什么?
根据下面材料,作答问题。王某是一位全职太太,她的孩子在一所小学上学。王某因琐事与老师产生了矛盾,一气之下把孩子领回家,自己在家对孩子进行辅导教育。后来经过教育主管部门与社区的劝解,加之王某自己对有些学科完全无法辅导,只好又把孩子送回学校。(1)从教育法
AuctionsAuctionsarepublicsalesofgoods,conductedbyanofficiallyapprovedauctioneer.Heaskedthecrowdassembledi
最新回复
(
0
)