So niceness has individual hedonic benefits but results in fewer offspring?
That seems plausible to me. I find it easy to imagine that being nicer than the reproductive optimum could make one happier, even in the ancestral environment. Of course, there are stupid ways to be nice that wouldn’t make one happier. And I’m sure that one can be too nice. But why would we expect that the hedonic and reproductive optima were ever the same?
That seems plausible to me. I find it easy to imagine that being nicer than the reproductive optimum could make one happier, even in the ancestral environment. Of course, there are stupid ways to be nice that wouldn’t make one happier. And I’m sure that one can be too nice. But why would we expect that the hedonic and reproductive optima were ever the same?