Born to cooperate? Altruism as exaptation, and the evolution of human sociality

In recent papers (e.g. Wilson D, 2007; Wilson E, 2007) it has been confirmed that the two standard solutions for the apparent paradox of the evolution of altruism and pro-social behaviours – Kin Selection, which leaves unsolved the question of population structure, and Group Selection – can indeed be consistent with one other. The result is a possible explanation of the ambiguity between deeply entrenched attitudes to cooperation inside social groups, and organized hostility among them (Bowles, 2008). Nevertheless, these models seem to undervalue the potential effects of “multilevel” evolution, and both notions remain strongly engaged with gene-centred interpretations of evolutionary dynamics – which lose their explanatory power when applied to group-living species that show unconditioned forms of altruism and pro-social feeling, especially when cultural evolution enters the process. In order to avoid “cultural discontinuity” hypotheses at the other extreme, I emphasize the importance of “functional cooptation”, or “exaptation” (Gould, Vrba, 1982; Gould, 2002) in arriving at a more satisfying explanation of the origins of free or reciprocal unselfishness, in group-living animals and in culture-bearing species.