<p>mm i think what iceQube said is okay. characteristics of the human species are things which were helpful to humans in their ancestral environment. that seems strongly true.</p>
<p>and, sure, they could be framed as arising as a response to changing conditions. </p>
<p>the observation of kin selection seems to have to do more with empathy than care to me. I don’t know, i associate more complexity to ‘care’ than i do to ‘empathy’. maybe a mother belonging to a group of social mammals cares for her young, but the thing that makes more closely related social mammals help each other out more? that is more like hardwired increased empathy for your families’ problems. </p>
<p>and anyway kin selection was just like an emergent evolutionary strategy that miraculously arose in species of prey the face of carnivorous predators or whatever the conditions were that made empathy a plus. it helps reproductive fitness in the species it exists in, just like other things observed about social mammals do. (and not just for your family of course, but on average for you too).</p>