Enerolisa Paredes

ENG 111
Prof. Bryant
Exercise 5

In "The Selfless Gene," Olivia Judson's fundamental point is to demonstrate how altruistic
behavior is something that is not adapted, but rather is an inborn hereditary characteristic.
In the story, The Birkenhead. a ship started to sink after hitting a rock near South Africa in
1852. With only three lifeboats for over six hundred passengers, seven of which were
women and thirteen children, the male sailors expressed their altruistic behavior by saving
women and children first, despite knowing that their own lives were at risk. The question
would arise if this was the activation of altruistic genes in the face of danger, or if the
upbringing of the heroes had an impact in their decision to sacrifice their own lives, just
like the bees.
In the moral instinct Parker states that moral is a concept that gives us humanity, and that
morality is a complex concept shape by evolution, neurobiology and culture. Morality is
subjective and is influenced by education, upbringing, and way of thinking of a person.
Morality is a subjective quality; individuals beyond any doubt have solid convictions about
what's good and bad. However, despite the fact that ethics can change from individual to
individual and society to culture, if presented with the same situation in which we need to
keep our offsprings safe, our perspective would see a shift and altruism might set in.
In the end, in one hand we have Judson arguing that altruism is hereditary, while Parker
states that is a matter of culture. It can be concluded that Judson and Parker definition of
morality and altruism can be define as a persons integrity.

1.

What have you or someone you know or heard/read about had to do something

that was ethically right, but was difficult? & How do you think they made the
decision?
1.- For a family to be face with the decision of taking away a ventilator from a loved one is
difficult because there is always hope that they might recuperate.
2.

What decision do you hope you never have to make? & Why not?

2.- If my daughter is on a high risk pregnancy, and having to decide which one of them to
keep alive. This is the type of decision that I will carry with me my whole life.
3.

When have you or someone you know or heard/read about done something

altruistic? & Why do you think they did what they did?
3.- Help an older lady to cross the street. This behavior could have been due to their moral
principles.
.

Name a novel or a movie you have seen that contains a dilemma of scientific

capability vs. ethical actuality? [Im thinking of Jurassic Park & the clear ability to
create dinosaurs vs. the ethical conundrum of doing so.]
4.- WIT the movie. A Physician enrolls a professor with terminal cancer on a drug trial.
The physician argues that it was going to be done for knowledge.
5.

What are three (3) common threads/ideas you see in these essays?

5.- Morality, ethics, altruism and integrity

6.

Youve answered questions about writers motives for writing essays. What are 2

common motives?
6.- Peoples behavior and human nature

7.

What are 2-3 of the most interesting scientific concepts you discovered in these

essays? & What is it about them that you find fascinating?

7.- In the moral instinct, Jonathan Cohen peers into peoples brain using functional MRI.
They sought to find signs of a conflict between brain areas associated with emotion and
areas dedicated to rational analysis. Judson, on the selfless gene, wrote about the behavior
of the baboons.
8.

What are 2-3 of the most interesting philosophical concepts you discovered in

these essays? & What is it about them that you find fascinating? & What is it about
each of them that you find fascinating
8.- Morality as the sixth sense, and altruism as an inherited character.
9.

What are 2-3 of the most interesting concepts about humans, behavior, or

psychology you discovered in these essays? & What is it about each of them that you
find fascinating?
9.- In the selfless gene peoples altruistic behavior, and disregard themselves in the face of
danger. On Moral Instinct, how morals defines people.
What are two (2) ideas in these essays you disagree with? & What would you use as
supporting evidence to support the ideas you disagree with?
10.- I disagree with the selfless gene as an inherited trait. Pinker has a broader spectrum
when it comes to defining the moral of a person. He takes into consideration many factors
such as the culture, and the persons upbringing in order to determine their moral values.