Do we, humans, also practice the animalistic ESS, “if resident, attack; if intruder, retreat”, as described in The Selfish Gene (80)? I believe we do: Males commonly fight over girls, but it considered chivalrous if the one who “saw her first” or “called her” is allowed to “keep” her by peaceful means. Is this a system that has developed within our genes, or among ethical standards?
If we look at it from the genetic point of view, we could understand how fighting for a girl might not help the individuals’ survival: friendships might crumble, leading to less aid in time of need. If we inspect the morals involved in chivalry, we see that through honor, peace could be achieved. If both parties fight for the girl, one will get her, and, seeing how we are historical beings (remembering past events), another relationship would be broken. On the other hand, if we accept defeat when we are “intruders”, we can end up with at least one solid relationship. The other person, the “victor”, would finish having two good relationships in place of one (if the other system would take effect). In this way, irrefutable systems such as flipping coins are primordial to establishing relationships and thus maintaining a good social position, being everyone’s friend.
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