Altruism VS The Selfish Gene Essay

“In their natural homes in the wild, chimpanzees humans’ closest living genetic relatives”, who are more like us than they’re like gorillas are never separated from their families and troops . “Profoundly social beings, they spend every day together exploring, crafting and using tools to solve problems, foraging, playing, grooming each other, and making soft nests for sleeping each night” . They care deeply for their families and forge lifelong friendships . Chimpanzee mothers are loving and protective, nursing their infants and sharing their nests with them for four to six years . They have excellent memories and share cultural traditions with their children and peers . They empathize with one another and console their friends when they’re upset . They help others, even at a personal cost to themselves . When one of another

In the first two paragraphs Lewis Thomas describes altruism as acts of self sacrifice but in the next paragraph, he specifies altruism is a human behaviour as opposed to any animal or insect’s behaviour. Thomas states that animals don’t have human brains to think things through, in other words, they are mechanical, they just do things without justification and therefore the term “altruism” does not apply to them. Animals don’t have the ability to do things and be concerned about consequences, in other words, they don’t consciously intend to act a certain way, therefore animals have no connection to altruism, for altruism is a human behaviour.

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

Philosophers have debated for centuries the question “Are humans are selfish or selfless?” There are two main arguments for debating human nature, ethical egoists and ethical altruists. Ethical egoists believe that “even though we can act in others’ interests because we are concerned for others, we ought always to act in our own interest” (Solomon et al 2012 p. 460). Ethical altruists believe quite the opposite; ethical altruism is the belief that “people ought to act with each other’s interests in mind” (Solomon et al 2012 p. 461). In discussing the four theories, psychological egoism, psychological altruism, ethical egoism, and ethical altruism, with my husband, there was not a clear dividing line for whether humans are selfish or selfless in nature. After much debate, we concluded that humans are born ethical egoists; however, ethical altruists are made through proper training, care, and nurture.

From the reading “From an Ethic of Altruism to Possibilities of Transformation in Teacher Candidates Community Involvement” by Solomon, Manoukian, and Clarke. I thought the narratives were the highlight to the reading. I felt I could connect with previous teacher candidate’s experiences, but also learn from them. In this reading two approaches are discussed about student’s perceptions of servicing learning either a charity orientation or a change orientation. From this reading, I realized that I am taking on a change orientation. Though I am at my community centre once a week I can see the difference the other teacher candidates and I have made. In the reading, it talks about a change orientation which involves developing caring relationships

Moreover, one of the key elements of biological anthropology is the concept of the behavioral aspects of humans and non-human primates, as well as their correlation to one another as ancestors. Not only does this piece discuss the behavior of the great apes, but it also compares those behaviors to that of humans. The understanding of false beliefs among great apes is only one of a multitude of way that humans and non-human primates share similarities. The evidence provided further establishes the importance of studying the two in relation to one another. Therefore, there is a direct tie to this field of anthropology in this

The beginnings of conspecific care are currently unknown; however, researchers do note that other primates, including chimpanzees, participate in altruistic care of conspecifics (Hublin, 2009). Hublin (2009) decided to compare the Neanderthal SH14 and Salé specimens to data collected on chimpanzee behavior. SH14 was an individual that did not make it to adulthood due to cranial malformation and would have required constant aid to stay alive for as long as it did. The Salé specimen was a young adult female that suffered from cranial distortion and muscular trauma (Hublin, 2009). Both specimens would have relied on relatives or peers to

Understanding if primates display grief, or what could potentially be interpreted as compassion, and how they might express it is just one of the emotional responses which can be explored. Whether or not non-human primates are capable of grief has been heavily debated, but outside of responses to infant death the response to death of primates is not highly observed. One of the most detailed descriptions of a chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) group’s response to an unexpected death of an adult is described by Teleki (1973) and resulted in excited and aggressive behaviours by the group members. This group was wild and based in Gombe and the responses appear to differ greatly from

Prosocial behavior refers to "voluntary actions that are intended to help or benefit another individual or group of individuals" (Eisenberg and Mussen 1989). This definition refers to consequences of the people who do the actions rather than the motivations behind those actions. These behaviors include a broad range of activities: sharing, comforting, rescuing, and helping. Though prosocial behavior can be confused with altruism, they are, in fact, two distinct concepts. Prosocial behavior refers to a pattern of activity, whereas, altruism is the motivation to help others out of pure regard for their needs rather than

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).

Research by Yamamoto, Humle and Tanaka in 2009 concluded that chimpanzees show altruism only when prompted or pressured rather than voluntarily [5]. This particular empirical research challenges the evidence proposed by prior researchers and tests the limits of chimpanzee’s altruistic nature. Using colour-coded tokens, one of which allowed for a partner to share the reward with the test subject and one of which gave the test subject all of the reward, several chimps were tested as to their response. Results showed a tendency for the chimpanzee to take the prosocial option in situations both with and without peer pressure. Abnormally results showed that pressure or harassment from partners reduced the chimpanzee’s inclination to take the prosocial option. Although these results challenge prior research [5] they are limited as they are not conclusive and raise questions of their own to reach a complete understanding. These research results are significant in challenging an already established understanding of chimpanzee’s altruistic traits and acts as a good contrast to other references. This resource stands out as it does not make conclusive statements out of abnormal results but rather opens up a reader’s opinion and presents issues further

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

In this class I did not expect to become so intrigued about early life and the growth of how early hominids developed. I thought that I was taught most of how we early humans developed and came to be. Realizing that I did not I looked deeper into the study of different types of monkeys, apes, and gorillas, especially the study Dian Fossey did on Titus. With this study it began to separate how us humans and primates use altruistic behaviors. Figuring out the different motives humans and primates had and how they came to interact between there communities I began to see we have behaviors that are similar. Although altruistic behaviors has to do with relatives and their families, I see that those behaviors can be used even when there is no

Prosocial behaviors are a huge aspect to human social life; it involves helping, encouraging, and/or sharing information. Sympathy and empathy are the main characteristics for prosocial behaviors. Sympathy portrays feelings of pity and compassion for someone else’s ill fortune, while empathy means having the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. Sympathy and empathy are known to be crucial skills needed to keep up with the complicated social life of humans. People who are sympathetic or empathic are commonly more prone to act in prosocial ways and commonly less prone to convey antisocial behaviors (i.e aggression). People have argued that humans are the only species that show selfless behaviors, while others have proposed that it is impossible for selfless behaviors to only be in humans. In article by Katja Liebal, Amrisha Vaish, Daniel Haun, and Michael Tomasello called, “Does Sympathy Motivate Prosocial Behaviour in Great Apes?”, these researchers studied whether the prosocial behavior of four species of great apes (orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos) is provoked by sympathy for others. The researchers wanted to find out whether or not the great apes show more prosocial behavior towards a harmed species than towards a non-harmed species. A higher prosocial behavior towards a harmed species would mean that sympathy leads prosocial behavior in apes the same way it does in humans. They

Rapoport and Docquier (2006), gives a unified framework for theoretically modelling the different motives why migrants remit. There framework clearly points out that altruism is the main motive for remitting. The other motives like exchange, family loan arrangements, insurance, investment and other mixed motives which they clearly point out are referred to as “enlightened selfishness” by Lucas and Stark (1985). The current study just provides a brief summary of the main theories of why migrants do transfer based on Rapoport and Docquier (2006) and Lucas and Stark (1985).