Fairness may have darker evolutionary roots than expected, a new study suggests. Rather than evolving from the development of morality, fairness can evolve from the antisocial behaviour of spite, according to findings published today in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. “A lot of biologists these days think that fairness and the evolution of fairness is tied up…
Several years ago, an energetic young mother, Tia, was out and about with her infant Aimee when disaster struck: a group of men, accompanied by vicious dogs, surrounded the pair, snatched up Aimee, and brutalized Tia. They left her helpless and without her daughter. Aimee was eventually rescued. But Tia was too battered to look after her. While Tia tended…