RE: virus: Altruism, Empathy, the Superorganism, and the Prisoner's

Robin Faichney (r.j.faichney@stir.ac.uk)
Fri, 18 Apr 1997 09:39:00 +0100

konsler@ascat.harvard.edu wrote:
>Obviously we are
>altruistic...in the sense that we can engage in trade, that we can delay
>gratification, that we are willing to "invest" effort today on the
>assumption that there will be return with interest at a later date.

Sorry, that's not altruism.

http://humanities.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/WEBSTER.sh?WORD=altruism

Regard for others, both natural and moral; devotion to the interests of
others; brotherly kindness; -- opposed to egoism or selfishness.

--
Robin Faichney
r.j.faichney@stirling.ac.uk
http://www.stir.ac.uk/envsci/staff/rjf1/