WEBVTT - How Altruism Works

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<v Speaker 1>Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve Camray.

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<v Speaker 1>It's ready. Are you welcome to stuff you should know

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<v Speaker 1>from how Stuff Works dot Com? You're getting smarter. I

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<v Speaker 1>am welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark, a staff

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<v Speaker 1>writer here at how Stuff Works dot Com. With me

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<v Speaker 1>is Trusty Edit Tricks Candice Gibson. Candice, what are we

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<v Speaker 1>talking about today? The question is is there such a

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<v Speaker 1>thing as a truly unselfish act? And what do you

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<v Speaker 1>think is there? I don't know. I'm sort of on

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<v Speaker 1>the fence about this one, but one of my favorite

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<v Speaker 1>sitcoms of all time, Friends had an episode in which

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<v Speaker 1>they sought to answer the question, and this episode was

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<v Speaker 1>called the one where Phoebe hates PBS five I remember

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<v Speaker 1>exactly and um, just to bring up to speed, she

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<v Speaker 1>had just given birth to her brother's triplets and Joey

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<v Speaker 1>said that wasn't really an unselfish thing to do because

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<v Speaker 1>it made her feel so good. So she sets out

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<v Speaker 1>to find something that is good for someone else but

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<v Speaker 1>not good for her in any way, and she stumped,

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<v Speaker 1>and finally she decides to let a bee sting her

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<v Speaker 1>because it'll help the be look cool in front of

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<v Speaker 1>his b friends that that didn't work though, right, no,

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<v Speaker 1>because they be died. So finally, towards the end of

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<v Speaker 1>the show, she decides that she is going to make

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<v Speaker 1>a pledge to PBS and Jerry is taking pledges and

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<v Speaker 1>when he receives Phoebes, he actually gets to be on

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<v Speaker 1>TV and that does something good for him and the

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<v Speaker 1>planet is foiled because Phoebe feels great. Yes, so her

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<v Speaker 1>altruistic act is ruined. No, So, in the span of

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<v Speaker 1>about what at thirty minutes sitcom, that question couldn't be answered.

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<v Speaker 1>But there have been some deeper perspectives throughout the centuries. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>and I'm sure you already know this, but what Phoebe

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<v Speaker 1>and Joey were engaged in is a centuries old philosophical debate.

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<v Speaker 1>Is there such a thing as a truly unselfish act

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<v Speaker 1>or an altruistic act? We should probably define that real

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<v Speaker 1>quick um. Altruism is performing some self sacrificing act for

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<v Speaker 1>the benefit of another person. Clear enough, I don't think

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<v Speaker 1>we'd be even having the discussion if that was it.

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<v Speaker 1>But there's one caveat to that, and which was posed

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<v Speaker 1>by philosopher Emmanuel Kant who liked to shake things up. Um,

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<v Speaker 1>and that was that the person performing the unselfish act

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<v Speaker 1>can't get anything out of it. And we're not just

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<v Speaker 1>talking about tangible things. We're talking about the intangible warm fuzzy.

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<v Speaker 1>Sure sure, now, Um, this has already been shown to

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<v Speaker 1>actually have an effect on us humans, these warm fuzzies

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<v Speaker 1>you just describe and uh, using MRI machines, we we've

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<v Speaker 1>seen that by at least donating to charity, the pleasure center,

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<v Speaker 1>the reward center in our brain sets off a flow

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<v Speaker 1>of endorphins and we feel just as good giving out

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<v Speaker 1>money as we do receiving money. Um. So clearly there

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<v Speaker 1>are warm fuzzies, which kind of supports Kant's idea that

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<v Speaker 1>there is no such thing as an altruistic act. But

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<v Speaker 1>so too does evolution. Right. Yeah, So in the Nashville world,

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<v Speaker 1>there's also a couple of perspectives on dust. And we

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<v Speaker 1>look at something, um, from the flora side. We have

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<v Speaker 1>a tree, and when the tree sheds its sleep and fall,

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<v Speaker 1>essentially what it's doing is it's providing a kitschien of

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<v Speaker 1>warmth to protect its roots throughout the winter so that

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<v Speaker 1>it can regenerate again when there's warmer weather. So it's

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<v Speaker 1>propagating itself for future generations. And you could say the

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<v Speaker 1>same holds true for a mother who protects her child

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<v Speaker 1>and in the face of adversity too, she's also trying

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<v Speaker 1>to protect her lineage. But again, you know, both of

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<v Speaker 1>these things, the tree and the mother, they get something

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<v Speaker 1>in return. The tree gets longer life, the mother gets

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<v Speaker 1>the love and loyalty of her child. Well, let me

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<v Speaker 1>ask you this. What happens if the mother sees her

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<v Speaker 1>child in the street about to be hit by an

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<v Speaker 1>eighteen wheeler, runs out, pushes her child out of the way,

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<v Speaker 1>and it's hit herself. She's not getting anything out of that,

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<v Speaker 1>is she? Well, I don't know. I guess at that

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<v Speaker 1>point you're sort of tapping into religion and storing up

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<v Speaker 1>good deeds for the afterlife and final judgment, aren't you.

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<v Speaker 1>I guess. So that's one way to look in might

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<v Speaker 1>be a question for another day, though, And we have

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<v Speaker 1>to talk about Josh's favorite philosopher, a meal der Kind.

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<v Speaker 1>Their kin was here's a pretty heavy fellow. He um

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<v Speaker 1>he had the impression that altruism was merely a social

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<v Speaker 1>construct that was used to control people. Um it basically

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<v Speaker 1>if if we just all went around stabbing one another

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<v Speaker 1>because we needed money, and rather than just going out

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<v Speaker 1>and working for it or borrowing it, society would fall apart. Um.

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<v Speaker 1>To Dirkheim, one of the things we have to have

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<v Speaker 1>to function as a society is something like altruism, self

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<v Speaker 1>sacrifice for the greater good. Um. But Dirkheim's view kind

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<v Speaker 1>of makes us all look a little bit like dopes. Actually,

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<v Speaker 1>like we're performing on these self sacrificial acts, and under

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<v Speaker 1>his view, the person who's benefiting from it isn't really

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<v Speaker 1>benefiting from it. It's really all for society, which is

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<v Speaker 1>about as depressing a view of altruism as as can be.

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<v Speaker 1>So clearly, once again, the philosophers, sociologists and evolutionists have

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<v Speaker 1>really screwed up the warm fuzzies had in there. They

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<v Speaker 1>really have. They're trying to take the heart out of

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<v Speaker 1>the issue. But you know, at the end of day,

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<v Speaker 1>it's all the same. If you do something nice for

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<v Speaker 1>someone else and you happen to feel good in return,

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<v Speaker 1>I don't think there's anything wrong with that at all.

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<v Speaker 1>I think I agree with you. Actually, Well, Candice and

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<v Speaker 1>I are going to go not stab anyone for money,

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<v Speaker 1>so We'll be performing your own altruistic acts. Be sure

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<v Speaker 1>to read is there such a thing as a truly

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<v Speaker 1>unselfish act? On how stuff works dot com For more

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<v Speaker 1>on this and thousands of other topics. This is how

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<v Speaker 1>stuff works dot com. Let us know what you think.

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