Group Selection

Group selection is the natural selection of group characteristics. It happens through the interaction of two distinct evolutionary processes on two different scales: the level of the gene, and the level of group (or meme). It is a special case of multilevel selection, where two processes of natural selection interact with each other. In group selection, different forms of replicators support each other: genes increase the fitness of the memes in the groups of the individuals, and memes increase in turn the fitness of genes in their groups.

Links

see also

• Wikipedia Entry for Group Selection

• Nicholas S. Thompson, Shifting the Natural Selection Metaphor to the Group Level, Behavior and Philosophy, 28, 83-101 (2000)

• David S. Wilson & Elliott Sober, Reintroducing group selection to the human behavioral sciences, Behavioral and Brain Sciences 17 (4) (1994) 585-654