Dean Wampler:
>Darwin himself puzzled over the question of how sacrificial altruism could
>evolve through natural selection, since the "altruist" is more likely to become
>"lunch" and less likely to become "Mom" or "Dad".

Darwin's puzzlement was undoubtably increased due to the fact that
Mendelian genetics were unknown to him. We tend to forget the fact
that he wrote the "Origin of the Species" and formulated the mechanics
of natural selection even though the basic details of how inheritance
works had yet to be worked out.

>The net affect of kin selection is that alturism in many forms is favored.

In the strictest sense, the net affect is that such behavior is not
altruism...

- Don Baccus, Portland OR <donb at rational.com>