Kin Selection Vs Multilevel Selection Essay

Kin Selection vs. Multilevel Selection
In The Social Conquest of Earth by Edward Wilson, he argues that kin selection is not a valid theory and proposes a better theory called multilevel selection. This has been seen as a controversial proposal because for generations previous to multilevel selection, kin selection was the standard explanation of evolution. Through the use of various examples, Wilson makes a convincing pro-multilevel-selection argument.
Kin Selection, also known as inclusive fitness theory, says that “The more closely related individuals in a group are, the more likely they are to be altruistic and cooperative, hence the more likely are the species that formed such groups to evolve into eusociality” as Wilson put it. It basically states that people will tend to help those related to them directly because it will increase the ability for their genes to be passed on to future generations. It suggests that altruism will occur towards those with kinship. Multilevel selection, on the other hand, is a combination of group selection and individual selection and it states that those two forms of selection, without regard to kinship,
However, multilevel selection can be applied to almost every case of evolution. One reason for this is that kin selection possesses several countervailing selection forces that tend to make close kinship antagonistic to the evolution of altruism. In the book, Wilson gives specific examples of this such as the pogonomyrmex occidentalis and Acromyrmex echinatior ants and how group selection, not kin selection, provides them with greater genetic variability which gives them more resistance to disease. Thus he argues that kin selection does not promote genetic diversity while multilevel selection does. Further, Wilson says that the relatedness aspect of kin selection does not work for Hamilton’s equality in the majority of real and theoretical