George Williams We Are Naturally Selfish Summary

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In the article “ We Are Naturally Selfish”, by George C. Williams, Williams claims that we as humans are naturally selfish. This is especially true in terms of genes, because if our genetics were not selfish then we would not be here. Williams states that people can win this genetics contest by mainly surviving to maturity and then competing successfully for the resources needed for their own reproduction. In all actuality though just because humans are selfish does not mean that we are completely incapable of being selfless. Williams states that it has been seen that individuals can and often do help others in gaining resources and avoiding any losses or damages. The most obvious and common example is parents caring for their offspring. Parents do this to ensure the successful continuation of their genes. …show more content…

With that being said Williams goes on to state that from a parent’s point of view, their child is genetically half as important as itself and the offspring’s reproduction is only hal as important as its own, in terms of the continuation of their genes. Williams states that it may be perceived as genetic selfishness of a person to be helpful to their relatives and not just their offspring because their share a set of genes. This kind of behavior stems from kin selection, which is natural selection for the adaptive use of cues that indicate the degrees and probability of relationships. The is the reason as to why an individual favors relatives over non relatives and close relatives as opposed to distant relatives. Williams states that kin selection is one of the factors that causes selfless like behavior amongst humans. But in all reality we are in fact selfish individuals whose main concern is to continue the succession of our

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