Hamilton's Rule

Hamilton’s Rule explains why organisms sometimes help relatives at their own expense. It states that an individual will perform altruistic actions if the genetic benefit to its relatives, weighted by how closely related they are, exceeds the cost to itself. Mathematically, it’s expressed as r × B > C, where r is genetic relatedness, B is the benefit to the recipient, and C is the cost to the actor. This rule helps explain behaviors like family cooperation and why animals might assist their kin, promoting the survival of shared genes across generations.