Better living through physics

摘要

Nowak and colleagues' explanation of the evolution of altruism in terms of individual-level selection might be reconciled with the views of their kin-selection opponents by striking an analogy with statistical mechanical and thermodynamic treatments in physics.rnStatistical mechanics provides the microscopic basis for the macroscopic variables in thermodynamics, which is an equilibrium theory treating aggregate variables. As with thermodynamics, traditional multilevel selection theory is based on equilibrium solutions operating on nominal, aggregate variables.