It is said that the forceps … for delivering babies … was invented by a doctor working in the American Midwest* who used it only to deliver the babies of people to whom he was related. The forceps caused babies who might have died during childbirth to live and may have increased the survivorship of the mothers as well. In this way, inclusive reproductive success of Dr. Forceps increased significantly. Presumably, as more people moved into the region, and still more were born there, and the land was divided up and farmed, competition between farmsteads would have increased. By using the forceps to benefit his own kin, and by NOT using it for others (he was the doctor delivering the babies) or even telling anyone else about it, Dr. Forceps increased his own fitness at the expense of everyone else’s. Hiding this new and amazing technology was probably an effective Darwinian strategy for him.
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