Jef_Allbright comments on Ethical Inhibitions - Less Wrong

21 Post author: Eliezer_Yudkowsky 19 October 2008 08:44PM

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Comment author: Jef_Allbright 20 October 2008 07:42:10PM 0 points [-]

Eliezer: "The problem is that it's nigh mathematically impossible for group selection to overcome a countervailing individual selection pressure..."

While Eliezer's point here is quite correct within its limited context of individual selection versus group selection, it seems obvious, supported by numerous examples in nature around us, that his case is overly simplistic, failing to address multi-level or hierarchical selection effects, and in particular, the dynamics of **selection between groups**.

This would appear to bear also on difficulty comprehending selection between (and also within) multi-level agencies in the moral domain.