Video: a snarky take on the kin selection debate

I'm very late on this, but it might be new to some readers, so here goes. Back in 2010 prominent evolutionary theorist Martin Nowak and two of his Harvard colleagues (one of whom is the even more prominent E. O. Wilson) published a lengthy and quite strident Nature paper attacking kin selection and inclusive fitness theory as an explanation for eusociality. They drew some equally strident replies (one of which had 137 signatures!), which you can find at the above link. For commentary on what became a major and ongoing fight, see here, here, here, and here (and probably lots of other places).

Or, just watch this Xtranormal video, from evolutionary biologist, evolutionary cartoonist (Darwin Eats Cake), and poet Jon F. Wilkins:

I think the video actually works very well as a concise summary of the replies to Nowak et al. And I find the snark both pretty funny and arguably justified as a response to the stridency of Nowak et al. But I can definitely see where some folks would disagree with me on both counts, particularly as some of the snark is directed at the authors of Nowak et al. rather than the content. So if you're the sort of person who dislikes heated debates, or thinks that humor and satire have no place in scientific discourse, you're probably better off not watching the video. But if you're the sort of person whose reaction to heated debates is to grab some popcorn, you'll love it.

Some astute commentary and background from Wilkins on the science and politics of this debate, and why he made the video, is here.

Do I dare make an Xtranormal video about the IDH? I've already got some dialogue written...

p.s. Full disclosure: while I can't claim to be an expert on this debate, I do know more about it than the average bear from my work on the Price equation. I pretty much agree with the opponents of Nowak et al. on the substantive issues.