#biology Created at 2023-01-04 # [Anonymous feedback](https://www.admonymous.co/louis030195) # [[Epistemic status]] #shower-thought Last modified date: 2023-01-04 Commit: 0 # Related - [[Effective Altruism]] - [[Philosophy/Rationality/Models/Egoism]] - [[Mathematic/Game Theory/Egoism is altruism]] - [[Biology/Evolution/Kin selection]] - [[Readwise/Articles/en.wikipedia.org - Reciprocal Altruism - Wikipedia]] - [[Biology/Eugenics]] - [[Selfish gene]] # TODO > [!TODO] TODO # Biology and altruism and egoism %% Dawkins' analogy of individuals, or survival machines, being egoistic in their behaviour, while unconsciously being driven by their microscopic biology, genes, who tell them to be altruistic regarding the species which carry their copies. A bit like genes being distributed animals across survival machines. Also mention this kind of Red Queen competition between our genes telling us to be altruistic vs the macroscopic wanting to be egoistic, seek status, power, wealth. %% Richard Dawkins famously compared individuals to survival machines, driven by their genes in order to replicate and perpetuate their copies through the generations. At an unconscious level, this means that individuals are driven by their genes to act altruistically towards their species, despite the fact that their conscious minds may wish to be more egoistic, seeking status, power, and wealth. This creates a kind of Red Queen competition between our genes, which push us to be altruistic, and our conscious "macroscopic" desires, which may be more selfish. <iframe src="https://app.excalidraw.com/l/5MKXLddifTr/Aa3mqpkRK4u" width="100%" height="800px"/>