Zane Rhyne

Mrs. Layton

English 1010

14 April 2019

The Sides of Altruism

Topic Introduction

Humans are innately social creatures - we are at our best character and performance when

we are surrounded by others. Our lives our intertwined and complement each other when we

surround ourselves with people whom we love and those we can trust. Those with whom we

associate ourselves with are most often those we are more likely to lend help to should the need

arise. Family members are, traditionally, people that we give assistance to without question -

their presence typically demands love, and with that love often comes unconditional

understanding and the present ability to help one another without much question. Close friends

also often fall into the realm of providing assistance and requesting or receiving help; this is not

surprising considering close friends are often regarded as part of one’s family. Sometimes, a

person may even be more inclined to give aid to of close friend more so than their own family.

People typically stay within their circle of influence when it comes to committing

gracious acts or providing assistance, whether that assistance is monetary, relational, or advisory.

Humans don’t often do gracious things for those outside of their circle - but some people do.

These people are called altruists - people that do extraordinary acts of kindness for people they

don’t even know. Altruists don’t expect anything in return, either - they do what they do and then

move on. Abigail Marsh, in her TED talk “Why some people are more altruistic than others”,
defines altruism as “a voluntary, costly behavior motivated by the desire to help another

individual.”

A common belief is that humans are innately selfish and care for themselves first and

more so than they care for others (Abigail Marsh). However, research noted by the Greater Good

Magazine research shows that the first impulse experienced when faced with a dilemma

concerning another individual is to cooperate rather than compete. Even toddlers attempt to lend

help to those in need out of concern for their welfare. Primates have also shown similar acts of

altruism towards other primates; such actions have been shown to increase the life expectancy

and survival of those involved (Greater Good Magazine).

Altruism has been around since the dawn of the first societies. Altruism may have been

one of the major things that helped our ancestors survive - cooperation through difficult events

and times throughout history ensured the survival of our species. People who shared supplies not

only helped other people but also helped conserve their limited resources.

In November 1958, the first bone marrow transplant was completed by Georges Mathé, a

French oncologist. A dangerous and highly meticulous task, bone marrow transplants are painful

but effective. Often, a relative of the patient is used for the closest match, but sometimes a

stranger donor must be found. These healthy strangers voluntarily undergo a painful procedure to

donate marrow to another patient whom they may never meet (Wikipedia).

In June 1950, the first successful kidney transplant took place. Kidney transplants are

dangerous and heavy operations - and one person has to be a donor. Someone has to willingly

undergo a procedure to remove one of their healthy, functioning kidneys so that it may be

delivered to someone, often a stranger, in need of one (Wikipedia).

 These donors are extreme altruists: painfully giving something they have to someone that

needs it and receiving nothing in return. While altruism doesn’t have to be this extreme, it goes

to show how far some will go to help their fellow man.

While the history of such a subject is fascinating, what is the science behind it? What are

the effects of being so generous? What causes some people to be so generous at a risk to

themselves, and, ultimately, what actually makes them different from others?

Major Debates and Commentary

As previously discussed, altruism comes in many forms: an altruist could lend roadside

assistance to a motorist in need, give money to someone who needs it, or even offer their own

kidney to a stranger in need. While the actions of altruists are easily observed, discussion of

altruists promotes multiple beliefs as to why they act in the way they do, and, more specifically,

whether or not a motive is involved in their actions.

A common belief is that humans are naturally hardwired for empathy (Altruism and

Wellbeing). This theory stems from how our ancestors survived harsh climates and difficult

times: cooperative behavior and sharing of resources among groups of people allowed the entire

group to conserve energy and survive. Today, even toddlers and primates continue to help others

due to a genuine concern for their wellbeing (Greater Good Magazine). However, in the case of

toddlers, their actions may not be preserved for life and the child may grow out of their altruistic

tendencies. One must stipulate, then, that if humans are naturally empathetic and altruistic

towards peers, why not everyone alive behaves in an altruistic manner and why most people fail

to continue being altruistic throughout their life after growing up.

 Another belief or theory is that humans are, quite simply, innately selfish, and typically

show no real care for others unless by helping, the helper will directly or indirectly be rewarded

in some way. There is evidence this is not the case, however, as research has shown that the first

impulse generally experienced is to cooperate, not compete (Greater Good Magazine);

furthermore, if all humans were innately selfish and cared only for themselves, everyone would

have to be classified as an egoist, which is untrue, especially were this definition applied to

genuine altruists. Alexander Moseley goes in-depth to describe egoism and its variants; egoists

are, put simply, wholly self-centered. Five types of egoistic tendencies manifest themselves in

egoists: psychological egoism, normative egoism, rational egoism, ethical egoism, and

conditional egoism, although the three latter types are subtypes of the normative variant.

Psychological egoism asserts that people are unable to act in the interest of others; their every

action ensures that they themselves will benefit, and any action seen as a form of altruism is a

disguise that exists only to benefit the egoist. Normative egoism states that egoism ought to come

before altruism and be placed “above other values” (Moseley); this form of egoism is defended

by the fact that one cannot help others unless their own needs are met first. An example of this in

the real world manifests in the airline industry: should an accident take place, passengers are to

apply their oxygen masks first before helping others do the same.

Normative egoism manifests itself in three forms: rational egoism, ethical egoism, and

conditional egoism. While all share the premise that egoistic tendencies should come before

altruistic tendencies, the reason behind the premise differs slightly between the variants.

Rational egoism is the first of three forms of normative egoism - it is quite similar to

normative egoism in that one’s own interests should come before the interests of others, the main

difference between the two being that rational egoism is based on reasoning. Put simply, rational
egoism states that “not only is it rational to pursue one’s own interests, it is irrational not to

pursue them” (Moseley).

Ethical egoism states that egoism is “in accordance with morality” (Moseley).

Essentially, it is stated that it is ethical to “promote one’s own good”, and it is not moral “to not

promote it” (Moseley).

The final form of normative egoism, conditional egoism, stipulates that the ends are

morally acceptable if they come about through egoism; this form of normative egoism essentially

says that the ends justify the means, especially if those means are egotistic in nature.

Egoism is quite literally the opposite of altruism - with this in mind, it is difficult to

believe that all humans are self-centered egoists when actual acts of altruism have been

witnessed that go against this belief.

Another popular theory assumes that altruists have a motive. However, the very

definition of altruism goes against this theory: altruists commit gracious acts to help others at

what is often a great cost to themselves. For example, living kidney donors willingly undergo

dangerous operations to donate one of their healthy kidneys to a stranger in need. What does the

donor benefit from in this case? They have lost half of the system that promotes urinary filtration

in their body - should their remaining kidney fail, the person in question loses their ability to

filter waste from their blood, which can have deadly consequences. Should this happen, the

donor would have to become a donee. Believing altruists to have a motive also causes them to be

the very opposite, an egoist (specifically, a psychological egoist) (Moseley).

Another belief is that altruists behave the way they do due to the design and structure of

their brain. Studies have shown that through MRI testing, altruists have been routinely found

have have 8% larger amygdalas in their brains (Abigail Marsh). Amygdalae are sensory organs
that allow a person to visualize and identify certain emotions, particularly fear and distress

through facial expressions. While 8% may not appear to be a very large number, such a number

can have very negative connotations when it concerns a decrease in size.

Psychopaths are often stated to be opposite from altruists due to their uncaring nature.

Psychology Today notes that psychopathy can be caused by upbringing, environment, or

genetics; however, it could also have to do with the structure of the person’s brain: MRI tests

done on psychopaths have found that they have amygdalae that are smaller than what is normal

by about 18-20% (Abigail Marsh). Evidence that the actions of psychopaths and altruists are

effects of the size of their amygdalae can be verified by comparing three symptoms: reaction to

distress, reactivity of amygdalae to signs of distress, and the size of their amygdalae.

Psychopaths regularly display no reaction towards the distress of others, their amygdalae show

little to no activity towards said signs of distress, and their amygdalae are smaller than average

(Abigail Marsh). On the contrary, altruists show high levels of activity in their amygdalae when

presented with pictures of people expressing fear, and their amygdalae are larger than average.

Despite this, when interviewed, most altruists will claim they are no different from others

(Abigail Marsh).

While multiple beliefs and theories exist as to the reasons behind the existence of

altruism, the effects of the actions promoted by its presence are undeniable. Altruistic acts

promote happiness by triggering the release of endorphins and is generally good for one’s health

as it lowers blood pressure, rates of depression (Greater Good Magazine), and relieves stress as

noted by Elizabeth Scott in her article “The Benefits of Altruism for Stress Management”.

Altruism also promotes connections between coworkers in a work environment and between

students in a school environment, and in the latter has been shown to reduce bullying (Greater
Good Magazine). With this in mind, it can be reasonably inferred that altruistic acts benefit not

only the receiver but also the enactor (which Sherrie Bourg Carter notes in her article “Helper's

High: The Benefits (and Risks) of Altruism”), and sometimes people will respond to the

contagious effects of altruism by giving back to the giver (Greater Good Magazine); after all,

“what goes around generally does comes around” (Elizabeth Scott). Altruists in general are more

optimistic and down-to-earth and typically enjoy life more (Altruism and Wellbeing).

However, despite the positive effects altruism offers, there are also a few negative

connotations included in its package. People that suffer from poor time management or stress

may suffer more by spending their time helping others. Furthermore, altruism should be

expressed in moderation; spending money on others constantly can be unhealthy, and breaks

should be taken to prevent burnouts (Sherrie Bourg Carter).

While numerous views exist on the source of altruism, most, if not all, can agree that

generosity is beneficial to both the giver and, most of all, the receiver.

Areas of Further Inquiry

Although the effects of altruistic acts are obvious and noted, there is still much left to

discuss on the subject, particularly areas concerning the actual source of altruism. Furthermore,

while the amygdalae organelles do appear to play a major role in one’s ability to recognise facial

expressions and emotional states, it is not certain how exactly it accomplishes this feat, nor how

its size effects its ability to react to expressions in varying degrees of success.

Particular interest should be placed upon the study of how altruism develops throughout

one’s life to better understand how to cultivate it. While it is known that many infants display

altruism due to genuine concern for the welfare of others, it is not known how altruism develops
as one grows, nor the reasons behind their sense of giving becoming dampened - or expanding -

throughout maturation of the individual (Greater Good Magazine). The amygdala plays a great

role in the altruism that humans express, but in most cases it cannot be the sole source of our

altruistic tendencies. Upbringing is a major aspect of any individual’s morals and personality and

shapes how they behave as a person. It is known that unfair upbringing, environment, and

genetics can make a psychopath - but can the case be the same for altruists (Psychology Today)?

Psychopathy is often considered the opposite of altruism, and in fact the structure of the

amygdalae differs between psychopaths and altruists in size. With this in mind, we could

stipulate that both individuals could be shaped in similar ways - perhaps altruists can be molded

by their surroundings and genetics in a similar way to psychopaths. Further testing is required to

further our knowledge of how genetics and environment modify personality traits.

Current standing theories on the nature of altruism choose multiple different views as to

why altruists act the way they do. The theory that humans are naturally hardwired for empathy

supports how we as a species have developed throughout history, but begs the question as to why

not all humans today behave altruistically if we did in the past (Altruism and Wellbeing).

Another belief is that humans act in altruistic ways to receive benefits as a consequence of their

actions, but then the act would not be altruistic at all and would instead be a form of

psychological egoism (Alexander Moseley). The most prevalent theory suggests that altruism is

a result of the size of our amygdalae, although, as stated before, merely the size of the amygdala

cannot be the sole source of altruistic behaviour as upbringing and genetics has been shown to be

modifying factors as well (Altruism and Wellbeing).

 Altruism is a fascinating subject, but due to its mental existence, it has proved hard to

study. Perhaps through future research, we will learn not only more about the developmental

cycle of altruism, but also how everyone may cultivate it themselves.

 Works Cited

“Altruism and Wellbeing.” Mental Health Foundation, 10 Nov. 2017,

www.mentalhealth.org.uk/a-to-z/a/altruism-and-wellbeing.

“Altruism Definition | What Is Altruism.” Greater Good, The Greater Good Science

Center, greatergood.berkeley.edu/topic/altruism/definition#what-is-altruism.

Carter, Sherrie Bourg. “Helper's High: The Benefits (and Risks) of Altruism.”

Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 4 Sept. 2014,

www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/high-octane-women/201409/helpers-high-the-

benefits-and-risks-altruism.

Marsh, Abigail. “Why Some People Are More Altruistic than Others.” TED, June 2016,

www.ted.com/talks/abigail_marsh_why_some_people_are_more_altruistic_than_others

Moseley, Alexander. “Egoism.” Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy,

www.iep.utm.edu/egoism/.

“Psychopathy.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers,

www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/psychopathy.

Scott, Elizabeth. “Why Being Good to Others Is Also Benefits You.” Verywell Mind, 11

Mar. 2018, www.verywellmind.com/benefits-of-altruism-3144685.

Wikipedia contributors. "Kidney transplantation." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.

Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 23 Feb. 2019. Web. 29 Mar. 2019.

Wikipedia contributors. "Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation." Wikipedia, The Free

Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 10 Mar. 2019. Web. 29 Mar. 2019.