The cynicism is assuming that people are following a motive which leads them to promote their own genetic fitness.
They're not. This motive isn't explicitly represented anywhere in their brains, for the most part. People usually don't, consciously or subconsciously, worry about whether what they're doing increases their genetic fitness. They follow a variety of emotions - fear and anger, love and friendship and loyalty, hate and curiosity and a host of others. Now, it's quite likely true that those emotions are what they are because, in an ancestr... (read more)
Tim Tyler:
The cynicism is assuming that people are following a motive which leads them to promote their own genetic fitness.
They're not. This motive isn't explicitly represented anywhere in their brains, for the most part. People usually don't, consciously or subconsciously, worry about whether what they're doing increases their genetic fitness. They follow a variety of emotions - fear and anger, love and friendship and loyalty, hate and curiosity and a host of others. Now, it's quite likely true that those emotions are what they are because, in an ancestr... (read more)