Altruism In Species

Chimpanzees are great apes that are the closest living relatives to humans (Larsen, 2014). These primates have been studied and observed intently for decades, and there are many theories that explain why they are the way they are. Chimpanzees learn the necessary skills of survival through social and cultural contexts and pass these traits along to their offspring. In researching these smart and interesting primates I have understood the social and cultural roles chimpanzees have that are necessary for survival. The mother- infant bond is crucial to the development of young chimpanzees and these females are known for teaching their young social roles and behavior, communication

Within this essay, we will study more in depth the behavioral as well as physical traits of two primates at a zoo from their interaction with their peers to their place in the group. This observation would enable us to further understand the possible existing correlation between humans and primates. First, I studied a female chimpanzee with her baby, and then, a dominant male gorilla, in San Francisco Zoo at about noon, on May 23, 2015, for an hour each. Even though they share some similarities such as having a large brain, living for a long time, and being bored in their enclosure, they are still different; when gorillas are the largest, chimpanzees are the smartest. In fact, chimps use tools to catch food, they would not be able to reach

Dawkins (1976) also provides evidence that altruism is ultimately selfish. He separated individuals into three categories in regards to prosocial behaviour displayed. These were grudgers, cheats and suckers. Grudgers were deemed to be the most evolutionary stable category, as they could control and ‘punish’

A chimp named Judy was given a box to solve that consisted of a wheel that must be turned to drop the treat, and then a lever to be pushed that would open the door. She figured it out quite quickly, but what was interesting was that other types of apes in nearby cages learned how to do it by watching Judy and her cage mates. Social species also need to be able to cooperate to a certain extent to make themselves and others better off. Apes possess some cooperative skills, but they still come up far short of humans. Several reasons for this limit on cooperation are emotional issues, rivalry, violence, and impulsiveness. In an experiment where two apes were placed together in adjacent cages, one ape had two pieces of rope connected to a board with food on it. To obtain the food, both pieces of rope had to be pulled at the same time, but that required the help of another ape. One chimp realized he needed help and opened the door of the cage to let the other chimp in. Together, they pulled the board to the cage and received their treat. What the experimenters found was that the helper needed to be a friend and that the food must be in separate dishes for this to occur. However, bonobos, being incredibly social apes, were able to pull it together and eat out of one singular dish. This means that somewhere along the phylogeny of hominid evolution, humans were able to continue selection for the

In Sally Satel 's “When Altruism Isn 't Moral” discusses the problem with the outrageous expectation the healthcare system has for organ donation and reception. Satel says “it is lethally obvious that altruism is not a valid basis for transplant policy. If we keep thinking of organs solely as gifts, there will never be enough of them.” I agree with Satel; the social requirements that a donor has to meet before being able to donate an organ is too restricted and is one of the many issues with our current mindset when it come to the care of the dying. As well as having obnoxious requirements in the altruism-only system of donating, the actual system is faulty. This altruism-only system causes social dilemmas and problems not unlike the ones that people fear with a compensation/incentive donation program.

Sarah-Elizabeth Atunrase Final Paper 5/9/18 Final Paper The two behavioral concepts I recognized in the DeWaal paper were true altruism and empathy. Altruism is defined as “altruism without obvious advantages for the actor” (DeWaal). Reciprocal altruism is the act of giving aid or preforming an act of kindness in order to receive delayed benefits or even immediate benefits (Lecture 23: Empathy and Altruism). In order to participate in altruistic acts the species must have empathy. Empathy is important because in order to perform these acts of kindness one has to understand the emotion of another and be able to imagine what someone else is going through. Dewaal discusses how altruism in animals must stem from something other than actions with

People have always been considered the epitome of sociality, among other behaviors, that separate them from animals. However, with recent research, these set of characteristics have now been widened to include animals as well. Animals are no longer considered totally mindless beings that act the way they do because they have been made that way and will continue to live within those defined behaviors. For instance, dogs were considered mindless as they seemed to have no will except to follow what their owners instructed them to do. However, by watching dogs, this turns out to not be the case. One thing to take into consideration is that when using words to describe certain behaviors of animals that are associated with humans, it is important to not anthromorphise but to treat the behaviors as specific and distinct to that animal. Moreover, the behaviors that we label are relative between species and even within species, so it is better to describe things in broad terms rather than have specific categories for it will help broaden our understanding of animal behavior. As for dogs, they have easy sociability because of the different ways they interact with other dogs and with human companions through the three clusters of cooperation, empathy, and justice.

Yerkes, highlights that both chimpanzees and humans are influenced by the public in which they engage characteristics of mingling, ranks and ownership (Glick, 105). Mingling is an important feature because knowing that chimps like to socialize means that they like engaging in conversations and surrounding themselves with others but just like humans without socializing it can have a negative effect on one. Besides socializing also comes with having a leader hence managing the group and making important decisions in the community. These are just some examples of anthropodenial between humans and primates that are

In psychology, altruism and egoism are two contrasting views on morality, one holding that one should value principles/actions that benefit others over oneself, the other holding that not only are we innately selfish species, but that selfishness is how one ought to act. While both theories of morality are prevalent throughout history and cultures around the world, I will be examining the two sides of egoism: physiological and ethical, and how these can be connected to altruism. These theories are essential because they provide a foundation, development and a further understanding of one’s needs.

On chapter 7. I watched a lots of interesting video. especially on Frans de Waal Ted talk video. It shows how chimpanzee cooperate each other even they know how to show their emotions, cand equitableness seem like human characters. After watched video I searched about Dr. Frans de Waal professor. Dr. Frans de Waal is a biologist and primatologist known for his work on the behavior and social intelligence of primates I'm still remember one of examples. When video showed old video about experiments on cooperation. there was a pretty heavy box then it require at least 2 chimpanzees. I was surprised that they cooperate such as human. even that experiment video was recorded 100 years ago(03:28).

‘Tit-for-Tat’ displays the perfect example of altruism as well as reciprocal altruism within human society. Basically if one individual does a favor for another individual, the other individual is more likely to return the favor (co-operation). However, if an individual does a favor for one person and that person commits some form of subtle cheating or does not repay the favor; the first individual might not do another favor for that person (defection). Nonetheless being ‘nice’ might not always benefit in society because there are always social factors that display selfishness thus trying to cheat the altruistic individual. Therefore, ‘tit-for-tat’s’ strategy for copying the opponent goes a long way. Furthermore, this strategy sheds light on how altruism might actually benefit from functioning in a similar manner thus preventing biases and forms of subtle cheating by members of society. It also assists in understanding the basis of cooperation and why we might decide to help out individuals we are not related

Yes, the article provided that cooperation is a more effective way to success and survive for human and primates. Also, human and apes are generally prefer to cooperate with each other. For example, chimpanzees try to avoid conflict as well as people offer each other support and live in peace. Furthermore, people and primates use social networking strategies to make life better, like making friends, building teams. This is what the article provide the equal behavior between human and primates.

An oxymoron appeared to exist between Darwin’s theory of natural selection (1859) and the definition of altruism (West et al., 2006). Hamilton’s theory of inclusive fitness (1964) appeared to mediate this problem. However, the theory does not explain altruistic acts towards non-kin in line with natural selection. Reciprocal altruism (Trivers, 1971), indirect altruism (Alexander, 1987) and strong reciprocity (Gintis, 2000) have been proposed to resolve this conflict. It is of note that behaviour in all theories has been noted in animals, but will not be discussed further. Instead, the essay will focus on which theories are most relevant when understanding human sociality, with the author explaining why no sole theory is seen to describe the phenomenon. All theories will be discussed in relation to evolutionary stable strategies (ESS), which refers to plans that when adopted by a majority of members in a population that restrict any other action existing, which could yield higher reproductive success (Smith & Price, 1973).

Also, recent news has reported that chimpanzees (Choi, 2007) and toddlers (China Daily, 2006) have shown true altruistic behaviour.

Why do we show altruism? Social and evolutionary biologists, psychologists, economists and philosophers alike have made many attempts at providing an explanation for altruism. As a result, many opposing theories have developed over the years. In this essay, I will attempt to explain altruism as the presence of an altruistic gene which is selected for by natural selection in terms of kin selection. I will explore evidence supporting this theory, as well as evidence pointing to psychological explanations such as reciprocal altruism, social norms and primitive sympathy.