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"No, but I would to save two brothers or eight cousins."

— J. B. S. Haldane

January 1, 1970

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Added on April 10, 2026

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Science authors Non-fiction authors from England Biologists from England Chemists from England Geneticists

Original Language: English

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Reply when asked if he would give his life to save a drowning brother, as quoted in Mathematical Models of Social Evolution : A Guide for the Perplexed (2007) by Richard McElreath and Robert Boyd, p. 82; as you share on average half your alleles with a brother and one-eighth with a cousin, Haldane was giving the number of relatives one would have to save to "break even".

https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/J._B._S._Haldane

Reply when asked if he would give his life to save a drowning brother, as quoted in Mathematical Models of Social Evolution : A Guide for the Perplexed (2007) by Richard McElreath and Robert Boyd, p. 82; as you share on average half your alleles with a brother and one-eighth with a cousin, Haldane was giving the number of relatives one would have to save to "break even".