Page |30 From Inclusive Fitness to Spiritual religion serves to extend love and Striving connection beyond kin. He further The notion of “selfish genes” argues that new developments in the (and, by extension, selfish organisms) sciences and long-standing traditions in —_—Ta 7: theology constitute fertile ground on was popularized in Richard Dawkins . : 1976 book by that title. Not long mitch to build new an hesiable afterwards, an article appeared in hypotheses regarding our fundamental . ° . human nature. Science that presented evidence that the most vicious members of a warlike tribe 1. S. Beckerman et al., Proc. Natl. in South America had the most wives Acad. Sci. U.S. A. 106, 8134 and children. The underlying notion was (May 19, 2009). one of (genetic) survival of the fittest: Those warriors who were particularly vicious were more likely to contribute their genes to the gene pool. Methodological objections have left this an open question, however, and new evidence now exists that calls this interpretation into question (1): the most aggressive warriors may have more children but they have /ower indices of reproductive success than their milder brethren in part perhaps because the most aggressive warriors and their offspring are also more likely to be the targets of revenge killings. These new data are entirely consistent with John Cacioppo’s argument that the content of the human gene pool has more to do with the reproductive success of one’s offspring than one’s own reproductive success. Cacioppo argued further that this genetic selection resulted in a social brain that seeks meaning and connection with individuals and with social entities (e.g., groups) that extend beyond other individuals. In the next chapter, theologian Don Browning also embraces the concept of inclusive fitness and, through the writings of Thomas Aquinas, shows how religion serves the human need for meaning and connection through the ethics they advocate, the congregations they form, th