Why do animals mate, expending effort and calories, often risking their lives? Distal explanation: because it allows you to leave copies of your genes in the next generation. Proximal explanation: it feels good. Why punish cheaters when it’s costly? The distal explanation is what we’ve been discussing—because reliably and collectively sharing the costs benefits everyone. But it is when we look for a proximal explanation that we see how it’s going to be so damn hard to get people to proclaim the lack of free will and just quarantine the dangerous. Why punish cheaters when it’s costly?
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