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Charles Darwin's Theory Of Natural Selection

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Although scientists studying evolution had made several observations on anatomical changes in species over time, it was Charles Darwin who conceptualized the theory on evolution. According to the theory of natural selection, there are three requirements for evolution to occur namely variations; genetic component and selection (Buss, 2012). In short, Darwin’s theory of natural selection implied the notion of “survival of the fittest”. Evolutionary psychology stemmed from the goal to study human behavior by looking at evolved psychological mechanisms (Confer et al., 2010). While theory of natural selection was mainly applied on physiology and anatomy adaptations in the past, it has been extended to account for psychological adaptations that have contributed to human survival and …show more content…

According to KST, individuals can propagate their genes either through reproduction of their own offspring or ensuring the survival of their genetically-related relatives (Griffin & West, 2002). This theory anticipates that individuals are more likely to help their kin rather non-related people. Additionally, Hamilton’s rule states that when the benefits of helping their kin exceed the costs, individuals will choose to sacrifice themselves to help them (Krebs, 2011). Imagine a scenario whereby Person A can choose to either save himself and sacrifice his two genetic brothers or sacrifice himself and save his two brothers. In this case, KST predicts that Person A will choose to save his two brothers. This is because by sacrificing himself, it is twice likely that Person A’s genes can be propagated. Therefore, assuming that their kin share the same genes, altruistic gene will be passed down. Altruistic behaviors would be especially adaptive in the ancestral environment where there were constant competitions among different tribes for resources such as

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