Selfish genes? Animals that help each other (animal altruists) show that Darwin's theory is badly flawed.
Animal altruists
Why are there helpful animals?
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There are many examples of animals helping other animals, which
shows that the evolutionary idea of “survival of the
fittest” is flawed. We believe that the better explanation
for helpful animals is not found in a purposeless theory like
evolution, but rather in understanding that God the Creator has
placed the world's array of animals on earth for His glory as they
fill particular roles in the planet's ecology.
You would think it wouldn't pay to be a meerkat. These mongoose-like animals from the dry regions of southern Africa will postpone meals to help with the baby-sitting. And they will stay home so their family and friends can go out to supper.
Helpful animals? Whatever happened to the evolutionary idea of “survival of the fittest”?
And what about the helpful “watchman” bird that lets out a loud squawk when it sees a hawk approaching? All the neighboring flocks know to fly off quickly, which confuses the advancing predator. Yet the alarm-caller puts itself in danger when it calls out. Its give-away squawk may make it a target for attack, while those who heed its alarm get away.
Helpful birds? That seems contrary to “survival of the fittest” too.
Many helpful animals
The animal kingdom abounds with animals who help (“animal altruism” it's called). Whales may support a sick member of their pod, or refuse to leave a wounded or distressed member. Monkeys will pick through the fur of other monkeys to clean off fleas and other parasites. A honeybee may sting you if you go near its hive, thereby ending its life in an attempt to protect the colony. Wolves and wild dogs bring back food to members of the pack who have taken no part in the hunt.
In controlled experiments, researchers found that when rats and monkeys learned to press a lever to obtain food, the animals would slow their rate of pressing the lever if the lever also sent an electric shock to a nearby rat or monkey.
Can evolution explain this caring behavior? After all, evolutionary theory states that “those who do not struggle to survive and reproduce will be wiped out in the ruthless competition known as natural selection.”
‘Survival of the fittest’ questioned
Charles Darwin's explanation of evolution by natural selection, or “survival of the fittest,” promoted the idea that individuals having any advantage over others, however slight, “would have the best chance of surviving and of procreating their kind.”
Green insects that feed on green leaves, and mottled-gray bark-feeders that sit on mottled-gray tree bark, are more difficult for a bird to see and capture than are insects of a more visible color. So animals with any advantage are more likely to survive and reproduce.
This seems like a sound and sensible observation. But Darwin went further. He also taught that the slightest variation that harmed the individual would be eradicated: “… we may feel sure,” he said, “that any variation in the least degree injurious would be rigidly destroyed. This preservation of favorable individual differences and variations, and the destruction of those which are injurious, I have called Natural Selection, or the Survival of the Fittest.” 1
Darwin's theory was flawed!
Why are there so many helpful animals if Darwin's theory is correct? Helpful animals use energy helping others with no direct advantage to themselves. Some put their lives in danger to help or care for others.
What would cause a porpoise to waste enormous energy caring for the body of its stillborn calf until the body rots away? Surely such useless expenditure of energy on something completely unproductive would have been eradicated during the porpoise's alleged evolution, if Darwin was correct.
What about the baboon that helps another in a fight? What about zebras that turn towards an attacker to protect the foals in the herd, putting themselves in danger instead of running to escape? And what about the meerkat we mentioned, who will waste energy caring for young that are not even its own?
Problems are obvious
Evolutionists have seen the problems. Helpful animals seem to defy Darwin's theory. Some evolutionists have tried to come up with explanations. In 1962, Wynne-Edwards put forward the idea that altruism evolved for the good of the group, or for the good of the species. The idea is that groups with altruists — helpful or caring animals — do better than groups of selfish animals, so the altruistic groups endure better.
But even evolutionists admit flaws in this idea. What if a “selfish” mutant individual arose in a group of altruists, and was able to avoid the cost of being helpful while still benefiting from the group's altruism? Evolutionists admit that as this “selfish gene” spread through the group, “the whole system would then break down.” 2
Another theory was proposed: the theory of kin selection. This theory tries to take into account that most beneficiaries of altruistic behavior are relatives of the “good Samaritan” animal. In its basic form, this theory states that “a brother or sister shares as many of your genes (half) as a child, so that in helping a sister or brother to survive or reproduce you are helping to perpetuate your own genes (or, to put it another way, making a gain in genetic fitness) as much as if you protect your own child.” 3
Flaws in this idea too
But evolutionists admit flaws in this idea too. There would be little gain in genetic fitness when the recipient of the helpful act is an elderly brother, sister, or other relative that is unlikely to survive much longer anyway.
And even if the net result to relatives is beneficial, what about the many examples of help given to non-relatives? There are instances where dolphins and whales have supported ill animals of a different species.4
In some cases dolphins have aided humans who were drowning.5 And those birds that squawk when they see an approaching hawk are warning every animal within earshot. They are not counting how many genes they have in common with other birds and animals while the hawk closes in.
Any evolutionary answer?
Do evolutionists have an answer to this? Well, sort of, but they wouldn't win a debate with it. The idea is based on one suggested by Robert L. Trivers in 1971. It is called reciprocal altruism.This idea is that cross-species altruism (giving help to non-relatives) occurs because an animal that is helped now will be able to return aid at a later date. The animals are supposed to be saying, “I'll do you a favor now if you do me a favor in the future.”
But wait a minute. Isn't this exactly what Darwin's theory of “survival of the fittest” said couldn't happen? The fittest animals are supposed to survive while the weak ones perish. What's a fit dolphin doing helping a drowning man or a helpless animal not even in its own species? What's a fit meerkat doing staying at home to look after the kids while the rest of the group has a day out with the yellow mongooses across the Kalahari?
The honest answer is that the true explanation for helpful animals cannot be found in a purposeless theory like evolution, but rather in understanding that God the Creator has placed the world's array of animals on earth for His glory as they fill particular roles in the planet's ecology. That some creatures should help others in maintaining that role is no surprise to those who know that God, not evolution, created life on earth.
References
- Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species, sixth edn, Mentor, New York (New York), 1958, p. 88.
- The Evolution of Life, eds Linda Gamlin and Gail Vines, Guild Publishing, London, 1986, p. 15.
- Charles Darwin, The Illustrated origin of Species, abridged and introduced by Richard E. Leakey, Faber and Faber, London, 1979, pp. 42-3.
- Same as Ref. 2.
- Same as Ref. 2.
Dolphins help swimmer
Martin Richardson was swimming in the Red Sea off the Sinai Peninsula when a shark attacked him. It bit into his arm and ribs. As he screamed for help, three bottle-nosed dolphins arrived and circled him — creating turbulence with their tails and fins to frighten away the shark. The dolphins kept this up until Richardson's friends arrived in a boat and rescued him.
(From Strange Tails, by John J. Kohut and Roland Sweet, Michael O'Mara Books Limited, London, 2000, p. 38.)
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