Why Do Good?
Scott Huettel, associate professor of psychology at Duke University Medical Center, says, "Perhaps altruism did not grow out of a warm-glow feeling of doing good for others, but out of the simple recognition that that thing over there is a person that has intentions and goals. And therefore, I might want to treat them like I might want them to treat myself." Link via Boing Boing
Posted on January 23, 2007 by - Rudy Adler
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No Surprise
This seems very consistent with that wee bit of programming that is built into every cell of our bodies via our DNA - our survival circuitry. When asking why people act a certain way, it always (and I mean always) comes down to the basic human directive to survive. Altruism as genetic code? Absurd. Even worse - altruism as proof of the "dawning of the age of Aquarius". We're the same grizzly beasts (exactly the same) as were 10,000 years ago. As the article points out, we do good out of the 'eye for an eye' instinct - a more positive spin calls it 'do unto others'. We do good to reap good, whether we want to confess this or not. We do good because we hope that we benefit by living in a world where things are better for all of us, but most specifically for us and our family (again, the family unit is an external expression of the DNA). That the researchers were surprised by the results is the only surprise.
Posted on January 23, 2007 — by todbrilliant
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