Book 10 of 2016: Does Altruism Exist?

Does Altruism Exist? Great topic, not so great book.  I read this book for the Evolution Table discussion group at Franklin and Marshall College.

Every other week, the discussion turned to soldiers and first responders.  Why do soldiers throw themselves on grenades and face withering fire to rescue a comrade?  What led hundreds of police and fire fighters to enter the doomed towers on September 11, 2001?

This book by David Sloan Wilson has no direct answer.

We read this book because it was written partly as an answer to the Fall Semester book:  “The Selfish Gene” by Richard Dawkins.

Dawkins says altruism has no place in a discussion of genetics.  Wilson says altruism has a genetic basis and that evolution favors altruism in the struggle between and among groups. 

I thought Wilson made a convincing argument, but each week we discussed another chapter.  And each week the biologists, physicists, psychologists and other researchers in the discussion poked holes in Wilson’s arguments.  Interestingly, they poked more and bigger holes in Wilson’s arguments than they did in those of Dawkins the previous semester. 

If you read just these two books to decide whether you think Evolution is driven by individuals only or occurs among groups, then Dawkins will win.  Of the two, I am much more convinced by Dawkins.  I say this as a Believer, knowing that Dawkins dismisses all belief.  Evolution is biology, so on the strictly material level, it is interesting to know how and why growth and change occur, which they do everywhere, and all the time.  I have no trouble imagining Evolution as a predator, killing the weak and perpetuating itself through strength and power.

That puts nature below spirituality and puts sacrifice above and apart from mere nature.  For me, the weakness of Wilson’s argument is his attempt to put a scientific dimension on a metaphysical dimension of life.  Mother Teresa is best explained by her passion to honor her Lord and Savior.  Mere genetics does not lift lepers from gutters. 

Soldiers are trained to save their brothers and sisters on the battlefield while destroying the enemy.  But bravery either in rescue or fighting is something beyond mere genetics.  Wilson says as much, but is not convincing.

First Names with Everybody! Civilian Life Has No Rank

The Hierarchy of the Ancient Greek Army

Not much different in Modern Armies

The next time I see General Perry, he will be Scott.  I just sent a message to my company commander in Iraq and called him Bryson.  My former Brigade Commander and Command Sergeant Major are now Dennis and Dell.  

For one thing, I am older than all these men and women.  For another, I am really a civilian.  

Someone asked me yesterday if I could get called back to service.  At my age, and since I am not collecting a retirement, the nation would have to recall every reservist, every retiree, and re-institute the draft before I could be called back.  I am as thoroughly civilian as I could be.  So all of the men and women I served with are Andrea, Chris and Bob.  They just lost that other first name: Captain, Major or Sergeant.

In 1980, when I left the Army and got a civilian job, the transition from business hierarchy to flat organizations was already in full swing.  When I was a high school kid, the boss of the warehouse where I swept floors was Mr. Rodman.

My first job after the Army was with the Elizabethtown Chronicle.  The editor was Julian, not Mr. Richter.  One the dock at Yellow Freight, we were on a first-name basis with all the supervisors. At Godfrey Advertising the owner was Denny.  I worked for a global chemical company in the late 90s. The CEO of this billion-dollar company with operations on five continents was "Bob."

When I re-enlisted in 2007, I had no trouble reverting Sergeant and Caption and Sir instead of first names.

But now the switch in the other direction will be fun.  Even the generals I know are younger than me, so they are now Walt, Scott, John, etc.  

More of My Favorite People from the Aviation Ball

Sgt. Maj. Dell Christine who got me out of the motor pool in Iraq and set me up 

taking pictures and writing about soldiers.  Most of the great stuff I have had a chance to do in Iraq and after is because of Dell Christine.

LTC DeVincenzo Fellow Lancastrian and first-rate Chinook Pilot.

Very dry sense of humor.

Jeff Huttle, one of the best First Sergeants I have ever served under and now a great Sergeant Major.

Serious athlete and life-long aviation guy.

My wife Annalisa talking math at the Aviation Ball!

May the Fourth Be With Me: Today I Am a Civilian

Today at a minute after midnight I became a civilian.  I do not have enough years to retire, so I my enlistment expired and my Army career ended.

Cinderella, One Minute After Midnight

Like Cinderella at one minute after midnight, the party is over and I am just another former soldier with uniforms in my closet and memories.

In the sticky way that social media softens the line between life events, my Facebook page is full of birthday greetings from soldiers, along with family and friends who wished me well in serving in the Army.  So I had one last Happy Army Birthday courtesy of Facebook.

From now on, I will be posting as a civilian, a former soldier who served during the Vietnam War, the Cold War, the Afghanistan War and in the Iraq War.

Sadly, the only war we won that I served in was the Cold War.  The others, we lost.  But like so many successful armies, the reason we lost the wars since World War II is partly because of winning that war.

Winning makes people and countries think they are in control.  In the wake of World War II, we made compromises and mistakes that led to the Cold War, the Vietnam War, and to the terrorism we live with now.

I enlisted during the Vietnam War knowing how terribly unpopular the war was, but I was enlisting to get a better job, not for any great purpose.  And I had a vague idea that the military would help me to grow up.

When I re-enlisted in 2007, I had a vague idea about serving my country, but it was also an adventure.
And now the coach is just a pumpkin again.  So I will have to find the next adventure.

Aviation Ball Photos--Some Really Great People I Served With

Tim Blosser and his friend Jen.  Tim and I deployed to Iraq in 2009-10. 

He makes as many bad jokes as I do.

Pilots and commanders from the deployment in 2009-10 and after.

Four really great soldiers.

Delta Company's long-time first sergeant Gary Williard and his wife.

The McCrackens, Melanie and Mike, maintenance leaders in Delta.

Darren "Doc" Dreher and his wife Kate.  More deployments as a 

Blackhawk pilot than I can remember.  Great guy.  We argued politics through the 

whole deployment. I am his favorite Liberal. 

Mr. Smith and his wife.  Dry sense of humor.

Real aviation expert.

Adding Army Information to Wikipedia

Yesterday I went to a monthly open workshop on how to contribute to Wikipedia.  The organizer of the workshop is Mary Mark Ockerbloom, the Wikipedian-In-Residence at Chemical Heritage Foundation, the place where I used to work.

This month, with Mary's help, I contributed to three Army-related pages.  My first question was whether I could add all the information I compiled in spreadsheet about all the tanks in service around the world.  I got the info from a Wikipedia page, my spreadsheet just made it possible to sort it and get totals.  As it turns out, it is not possible to add spreadsheets to a Wikipedia page, but I could add a one-paragraph summary of the data with a link to my blog post offering the spreadsheet to anyone who wants it.

And I did just that.  Here's the page listing all of the main battle tanks by country.  Scroll to the end of table and just after tanks in the Army of Zimbabwe is the paragraph summary I added.

By the way, I just love the data on that page.  Particularly that Mali has just one tank, a 50-year-old Soviet-built T-55 tank.  Imagine the pressure on the guy in charge of that one tank.

Mary also helped me to add the video I did comparing C-Rations and MREs to the Wikipedia pages on C-Rations and MREs.

I'll be going back next month to learn more about adding photos to the Wiki Commons.

Blog Milestone: 250,000 Page Views

Milestone

Yesterday, Blogger told me this blog went over 250,000 page views, or about 35,000 per year.

Still the most popular post ever is about the trailers we lived in at Camp Adder with 2,750 views

With CSM Kepner a close second at 2,650.

Recently, the most popular post is about the new Russian T-14 Armata tank.

And for the past several months, I have had more page views of posts about the Cold War than about my recent service in the Army.  I will keep writing about the Cold War after my enlistment ends.  I will also be writing about things I could not write about as a soldier.  On May 4th I will be a civilian, not a retiree.  So I will be free to talk about the Army as I see it.

Let me know what you think.