Evolution is often perceived as an individual affair: Traits that are helpful to the individual get passed on and eventually spread throughout a population, while those that are unhelpful eventually die off along with those who have them.
While this simple model is useful, there are many things that it finds difficult to explain. Asexuality and same-sex relationships are prime examples. Religious celibacy is another. Found in cultures worldwide, it seems like the kind of thing that eventually would have disappeared if the simple model for evolution — in which selection acts primarily at the level of the individual — is a complete explanation.
Now, a new study examines the implications of sending a family member into the monastery and provides evidence that while celibacy might not be a great decision for that individual’s genetic lineage, it works wonders for that of the family.
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The team found that men with a monk brother had 1.75 times as many children as those without a sibling in the abbey, on par with the number of kids an only son could expect to have. These men are also wealthier than those without a monk in the family.
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So, while becoming a monk is bad news for the genes of the person entering the monastery, it is great news for the genes of the parents and grandparents, as well as those of siblings.
