Thread: Dolphin altruism in light of the selfish gene

Are there any theories explaining dolphin altruism in terms of selfish genes? They've been known to spend hours helping other species.
It's possible that this manner of behaviour would cause humans to help them in return, but I doubt this can be said for the other species they've been known to help.

The altruism is a side effect of the adaptive altruism towards other dolphins. It's the same sort of thing that explains why humans feel affection for baby animals, it's a result of the adaptive emotion we feel towards human babies.

Originally Posted by i_feel_tiredsleepy

The altruism is a side effect of the adaptive altruism towards other dolphins. It's the same sort of thing that explains why humans feel affection for baby animals, it's a result of the adaptive emotion we feel towards human babies.

Not as large scale, but it's been hypothesised that this is also why we feel broader altruism towards humans we are not related to also. 100,000 years ago a human would rarely encounter another human to which they were not related.

Easier problem than I thought then, thanks.