1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:06,560 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey 2 00:00:06,600 --> 00:00:09,840 Speaker 1: brain Stuff, Lauren Vogelbam. Here is there such a thing 3 00:00:09,880 --> 00:00:13,640 Speaker 1: as a truly unselfish altruistic act? One in which someone 4 00:00:13,720 --> 00:00:17,000 Speaker 1: benefits while the person performing the act receives nothing in return. 5 00:00:17,680 --> 00:00:20,159 Speaker 1: You could debate the philosophy of harm and good, of 6 00:00:20,239 --> 00:00:23,720 Speaker 1: cause and effect, of intent and result, and philosophers have 7 00:00:23,920 --> 00:00:27,320 Speaker 1: for pretty much ever. But looking at it from another angle, 8 00:00:27,720 --> 00:00:31,159 Speaker 1: why would we humans possess a sense of selflessness or 9 00:00:31,240 --> 00:00:34,760 Speaker 1: altruism in the first place? Is there a biological basis 10 00:00:34,800 --> 00:00:39,479 Speaker 1: for your good deeds? Whenever researchers use magnetic residence imaging 11 00:00:39,600 --> 00:00:42,120 Speaker 1: or mri I to observe test subjects as they perform 12 00:00:42,159 --> 00:00:44,800 Speaker 1: a particular task, it seems that some new secret of 13 00:00:44,800 --> 00:00:48,800 Speaker 1: our brains is unlocked, and altruism is no exception. One 14 00:00:48,840 --> 00:00:52,640 Speaker 1: two six study focused on anonymous charitable donations, which are 15 00:00:52,680 --> 00:00:56,880 Speaker 1: pretty specific altruistic acts. The giver receives no tangible reward. 16 00:00:57,240 --> 00:01:00,360 Speaker 1: They give away hard earned money to benefit a total ranger, 17 00:01:00,600 --> 00:01:03,800 Speaker 1: and they can't expect any thinks because the donation is anonymous. 18 00:01:04,160 --> 00:01:08,920 Speaker 1: It's altruism, and perhaps it's purest. But researchers found that 19 00:01:08,920 --> 00:01:12,039 Speaker 1: the subjects who contributed to charities did receive some benefit 20 00:01:12,400 --> 00:01:15,880 Speaker 1: the warm fuzzies. In the study, the volunteers had a choice. 21 00:01:16,160 --> 00:01:18,880 Speaker 1: They could keep money or donate it to charities of 22 00:01:18,920 --> 00:01:23,080 Speaker 1: differing ideologies. The researchers found that giving money activated the 23 00:01:23,120 --> 00:01:25,560 Speaker 1: same reward center in the brain that was activated when 24 00:01:25,560 --> 00:01:30,120 Speaker 1: the participants received money. Another study in two thousand seven 25 00:01:30,200 --> 00:01:32,839 Speaker 1: also used m ri I to study the phenomenon of altruism. 26 00:01:33,200 --> 00:01:36,760 Speaker 1: These researchers, however, concluded that people aren't altruistic because they 27 00:01:36,800 --> 00:01:39,080 Speaker 1: receive a good feeling when they perform a selfless act, 28 00:01:39,280 --> 00:01:41,959 Speaker 1: but because they perceived that others are likely to return 29 00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:44,800 Speaker 1: the favor. The researchers found that the area of the 30 00:01:44,840 --> 00:01:48,960 Speaker 1: brain that's activated when people analyze social bonds indicates that 31 00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:51,680 Speaker 1: before we do something nice for someone else, we might 32 00:01:51,760 --> 00:01:54,600 Speaker 1: first examine whether or not that person would reciprocate if 33 00:01:54,600 --> 00:01:56,760 Speaker 1: the shoe were on the other foot. If we think 34 00:01:56,760 --> 00:02:00,120 Speaker 1: someone else would act altruistically toward us, the study suggests 35 00:02:00,160 --> 00:02:03,600 Speaker 1: we would be more likely to act altruistically toward that person. 36 00:02:05,040 --> 00:02:08,959 Speaker 1: According to evolutionary theory, however, behaviors develop when they help 37 00:02:09,000 --> 00:02:12,720 Speaker 1: living things to survive. Animals feel discomfort when they're hungry, 38 00:02:12,760 --> 00:02:15,320 Speaker 1: signaling its time to eat. A plant might shed its 39 00:02:15,400 --> 00:02:17,880 Speaker 1: leaves in the fall to create a protective mulch barrier 40 00:02:17,919 --> 00:02:20,800 Speaker 1: to keep its roots warm during the winter. Flora and 41 00:02:20,800 --> 00:02:24,360 Speaker 1: fauna survive by looking out for themselves. By this logic, 42 00:02:24,360 --> 00:02:27,480 Speaker 1: altruism shouldn't even exist, because behaviors that make it through 43 00:02:27,520 --> 00:02:30,480 Speaker 1: the process of natural selection need to help that creature, 44 00:02:30,840 --> 00:02:35,640 Speaker 1: or at least its genetic material, survive. So the idea 45 00:02:35,680 --> 00:02:38,080 Speaker 1: that we have a natural imperative to help others at 46 00:02:38,080 --> 00:02:41,000 Speaker 1: our own detriment flies in the face of evolutionary theory. 47 00:02:41,440 --> 00:02:44,840 Speaker 1: Altruism must serve some unseen purpose that favors our survival. 48 00:02:45,960 --> 00:02:48,519 Speaker 1: Take the example of apparent risking their life to save 49 00:02:48,560 --> 00:02:51,079 Speaker 1: their childs or helping your sibling out with a loan 50 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:53,959 Speaker 1: when they're in a crunch. These both support the belief 51 00:02:54,000 --> 00:02:57,400 Speaker 1: that altruism is kinship based, meaning our blood relatives are 52 00:02:57,440 --> 00:03:00,960 Speaker 1: generally the beneficiaries of our altruism, which lends itself to 53 00:03:01,000 --> 00:03:04,360 Speaker 1: an extension that altruism exists to protect the genetic line. 54 00:03:05,639 --> 00:03:08,919 Speaker 1: Author Richard Dawkins, in his book The Selfish Gene, considers 55 00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:12,160 Speaker 1: humans as mere vehicles for a genetic line Since we 56 00:03:12,280 --> 00:03:14,640 Speaker 1: pass on half of our genes. When we protect our 57 00:03:14,680 --> 00:03:17,320 Speaker 1: offspring or blood relatives at the risk of our own lives, 58 00:03:17,480 --> 00:03:20,519 Speaker 1: our altruistic behavior is merely our genes acting to protect 59 00:03:20,600 --> 00:03:25,680 Speaker 1: their lineage. There are other interpretations of altruism within the sciences. However, 60 00:03:26,240 --> 00:03:29,960 Speaker 1: one explanation posits that altruism lies not within some genetic urge, 61 00:03:30,160 --> 00:03:35,080 Speaker 1: but outside of ourselves. French sociologist Emil dirk Hem stripped 62 00:03:35,120 --> 00:03:37,960 Speaker 1: any application of terms like good to describe acts of 63 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:42,160 Speaker 1: altruism in his theories concerning morality. To dirk Hm, altruism 64 00:03:42,160 --> 00:03:45,760 Speaker 1: existed outside of the individual. It was an external social force, 65 00:03:45,880 --> 00:03:49,080 Speaker 1: prescribed and demanded not for the benefit of any individual, 66 00:03:49,240 --> 00:03:52,640 Speaker 1: but for the benefit of society, simply to keep society intact. 67 00:03:53,440 --> 00:03:57,160 Speaker 1: Dirk Hem defined altruism as the violent and voluntary act 68 00:03:57,320 --> 00:04:00,840 Speaker 1: of self destruction for no personal benefit, and the opposite 69 00:04:00,880 --> 00:04:05,600 Speaker 1: of rational self interest. To the sociologist, behaviors like altruism 70 00:04:05,640 --> 00:04:07,760 Speaker 1: exist because the needs of the society and the needs 71 00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:11,280 Speaker 1: of the individual are at odds. Since people perceive the 72 00:04:11,320 --> 00:04:14,280 Speaker 1: collective group to be more important than the individual, self 73 00:04:14,320 --> 00:04:18,080 Speaker 1: sacrificing behavioral concepts like altruism are required to keep the 74 00:04:18,120 --> 00:04:22,359 Speaker 1: individual in line and subservient to the greater good. Although 75 00:04:22,400 --> 00:04:24,760 Speaker 1: derk Hem's critics say he jumps to conclusions in his 76 00:04:24,800 --> 00:04:29,080 Speaker 1: explanation for altruism and morality in general, other anthropologists side 77 00:04:29,120 --> 00:04:32,920 Speaker 1: with his interpretation. Some consider it an impossibility for society 78 00:04:32,920 --> 00:04:37,159 Speaker 1: to have developed without the cooperation that altruism fosters. The 79 00:04:37,200 --> 00:04:40,800 Speaker 1: implication that altruism is an external social mechanism is sometimes 80 00:04:40,800 --> 00:04:44,599 Speaker 1: called social subjectivism, which is more widely defined as the 81 00:04:44,600 --> 00:04:48,760 Speaker 1: belief that groups of people, not individuals, collectively create our 82 00:04:48,800 --> 00:04:53,680 Speaker 1: reality and perhaps especially concepts of truth and morality. It 83 00:04:53,760 --> 00:04:55,920 Speaker 1: means that we as a group have managed to create 84 00:04:55,960 --> 00:05:00,280 Speaker 1: an intangible ideal like altruism and created its high value 85 00:05:00,279 --> 00:05:03,880 Speaker 1: as well. People see those who make personal sacrifices for 86 00:05:03,880 --> 00:05:06,120 Speaker 1: the common good or for the good of another person 87 00:05:06,320 --> 00:05:10,160 Speaker 1: as noble and admirable. If Derkham and others who share 88 00:05:10,279 --> 00:05:13,040 Speaker 1: like mind about altruism are correct, then we have bought 89 00:05:13,040 --> 00:05:16,240 Speaker 1: into altruism so deeply that our brains have evolved to 90 00:05:16,279 --> 00:05:20,479 Speaker 1: deliver pleasure to us when we perform selfless acts. Two 91 00:05:20,640 --> 00:05:24,200 Speaker 1: individualists or egoists or objectivists. On the other hand, the 92 00:05:24,240 --> 00:05:27,600 Speaker 1: concept of altruism as a social fabrication is a dangerous thing, 93 00:05:28,080 --> 00:05:31,920 Speaker 1: something that defies true human nature. The idea here is 94 00:05:31,960 --> 00:05:34,960 Speaker 1: that every person is responsible for their own life and happiness, 95 00:05:35,240 --> 00:05:37,880 Speaker 1: and that we must let every other person be equally 96 00:05:37,920 --> 00:05:42,960 Speaker 1: self responsible. This belief follows that altruistic behavior allows people 97 00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:46,440 Speaker 1: to be exploited by totalitarian governments trying to control people's 98 00:05:46,480 --> 00:05:50,920 Speaker 1: lives write down to people's moral right to exist. Altruism, 99 00:05:50,960 --> 00:05:53,680 Speaker 1: in this view, is an aspect of subservience with a 100 00:05:53,800 --> 00:05:58,640 Speaker 1: dubious benefit of having been duped into feeling good about it. 101 00:05:58,640 --> 00:06:00,640 Speaker 1: It seems we've gone a bit far our field to 102 00:06:00,680 --> 00:06:03,560 Speaker 1: answer such a seemingly simple question. Is there such a 103 00:06:03,600 --> 00:06:06,799 Speaker 1: thing as a truly unselfish act? If mri I evidence 104 00:06:06,880 --> 00:06:09,520 Speaker 1: is accurate, then we have the reward system to contend with. 105 00:06:10,080 --> 00:06:13,359 Speaker 1: If evolutionists are correct, then we perform altruistic acts in 106 00:06:13,440 --> 00:06:15,960 Speaker 1: order to ensure the survival of our genes. And if 107 00:06:16,000 --> 00:06:19,880 Speaker 1: subjectivists or objectivists are right, then we're altruistic merely because 108 00:06:19,880 --> 00:06:23,520 Speaker 1: we conform to social standards. So far, the existence for 109 00:06:23,640 --> 00:06:28,080 Speaker 1: a truly unselfish act isn't looking good, But there are 110 00:06:28,120 --> 00:06:31,120 Speaker 1: two silver linings to this admittedly sort of dark cloud. 111 00:06:31,800 --> 00:06:34,320 Speaker 1: Although we are rewarded one way or another by performing 112 00:06:34,360 --> 00:06:37,240 Speaker 1: an altruistic act, it still remains up to the individual 113 00:06:37,320 --> 00:06:40,040 Speaker 1: whether or not to perform one and if helping one 114 00:06:40,080 --> 00:06:42,760 Speaker 1: another feels good, does that make it any less worthwhile. 115 00:06:47,880 --> 00:06:50,280 Speaker 1: Today's episode was written by Josh Clark and produced by 116 00:06:50,279 --> 00:06:52,760 Speaker 1: Tyler Clang. To hear more from Josh, check out his 117 00:06:52,800 --> 00:06:55,600 Speaker 1: podcast The End of the World with Josh Clark. Brain 118 00:06:55,600 --> 00:06:57,840 Speaker 1: Stuff is a production of I Heart Radio's How Stuff Works. 119 00:06:58,160 --> 00:07:00,000 Speaker 1: For more on this and lots of other sticky top 120 00:07:00,320 --> 00:07:02,760 Speaker 1: visit our home planet, how stuff Works dot com and 121 00:07:02,920 --> 00:07:05,159 Speaker 1: for more podcasts for my heart Radio, visit the I 122 00:07:05,200 --> 00:07:07,919 Speaker 1: heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to 123 00:07:07,920 --> 00:07:08,719 Speaker 1: your favorite shows.