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Altruism and selflessness
Natural selection theory essay
Natural selection theory essay
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The podcast I listened to on RadioLab is called “An Equation for Good,” which portrays a long conversation between three different guests Richard Dawkins, Oren Harman and Carl Zimmer and the producer is Lynn Levy. This podcast was very interesting to me because Robert Kulwich shared a story about his discussion about natural selection with Richard Dawkins and eventually natural selection gets known as “the total horror of this suffering in nature” (Levy, 2010). From this remark, I quickly realized that one of the main points of this podcast is to enhance our understandings of natural selection by realizing that it exists. Most importantly the introduction was strong and creative because it drew my attention as the music was pleasant and effective …show more content…
The podcast then tells us afterwards that Price couldn’t accept the fact that he was selfish because he did not spend too much time with his daughters and wife (Levy, 2010). Knowledge of this allowed him to help homeless people in London by providing them with food, clothing and even keys to his place (Levy, 2010). This indicates that Price supported these homeless people due to the ideals of altruism, which is the “desire to help another person even if it involves a cost to the helper” (Akert, Aronson, & Wilson, 2013, p.302), being the reason in becoming “poorer” and “thinner” (Levy, 2010) as a result. I think Price probably started helping the unfortunate people out because of the discomfort he had when he realized he was selfish. Additionally, it is known that “considerable evidence indicates that people are aroused and disturbed when they see another person suffer and that they help at least in part in relieve their own distress” (Akert, Aronson, & Wilson, 2013, p.304). This makes complete sense because Price probably believed it was appropriate for him to help out strangers in order to lessen his frustrations with
Certainly, being born into a privileged family have their advantages. Unfortunately, for those who are born into poverty may struggle for their success, but it is not impossible. The podcast “Three Miles” is a great example of that. Comparatively, on the surface Melanie and Raquel are two individuals coming from the same unfortunate circumstances. Although, both girls were introduced to the same pen pal program their outcomes would travel different courses. Initially, the purpose of this program is to give students from poor neighborhoods a glimpse inside their wealthier counterpart’s lives, from another school. Raquel and Melanie’s backgrounds were similar, because they were afforded the same opportunities, but they turned out differently. Raquel was driven while Melanie is unambitious.
People show acts of altruism when they see someone in need of help. In the movie “Casablanca”, Rick shows acts of altruism to people he cares about and strangers. People show altruism for numerous reasons to help form or keep a strong relationship.
Judith Lichtenberg successfully conveys her moral theory with many questions regarding her topics of abstractness, the sense of futility and ineffectiveness, overestimating our generosity, distance, the relativity of well-being, the power of shame, and the drops in the bucket. Using these practical and philosophical ideas she explains why we as a people should search to discover the obstacles that are preventing us from giving more, rather than the finding our charitable obligations and the amounts we should be giving. She leads us to the ideal of motivation and tells us to pay less attention to obligation, because without X being moved to do an act, does it really matter what the act was if X never induces the action?
People perpetrate seemingly selfless acts almost daily. You see it all over the news; the man who saved that woman from a burning building, the mother who sacrificed herself to protect her children from the bomb blast. But how benevolent are these actions? Are these so-called “heroes” really sacrificing themselves to help others? Until recently, it was the common belief that altruism, or selfless and unconditional kindness, was limited primarily to the human race. However, within the last century, the works of several scientists, most prominently George Price, have provided substantial evidence concluding that altruism is nothing more than a survival technique, one that can be calculated with a simple equation.
The sound used in the documentary was both wonderful when it came to music and shocking when it came to audio at times.
Most people feel that they should help the needy in some way or another. The problem is how to help them. This problem generally arises when there is a person sitting on the side of the road in battered clothes with a cardboard sign asking for some form of help, almost always in the form of money. Yet something makes the giver uneasy. What will they do with this money? Do they need this money? Will it really help them? The truth of the matter is, it won't. However, there are things that can be done to help the needy. Giving money to a reliable foundation will help the helpless, something that transferring money from a pocket to a man's tin can will never do.
Principle of Reciprocity: Human nature has indoctrinated us a value that “one good turn deserves another.” We feel that if a form of kindness is extended to us, the best way to show our appreciation is to give them something back in return. The added incentive is that in reciprocity, trust is built and relationships are born. In a business setting, reciprocity can be gleamed in brand loyalty. Free samples that are given induce clients to buy a product. A positive experience will draw an audience closer.
According to the article, Altruism and helping behavior, it is common for people to help others. Altruism is defined as “the desire to help another person even if it doesn’t benefit the helper” (Altruism and Helping Behavior. Print.). Helping behavior is “any act that is intended to benefit another person”
My second piece of evidence shows people caring for others when they need help is from a scene of the movie The Book Thief. In the movie there was an air raid and lots of the houses had been burnt down and destroyed. Liesel was still alive after the air raid had happened but her momma and pappa had died and so had Rudy. Liesel was just waiting by herself and didn't have a family but then the Mayor and his wife came and took Liesel home so she had someone to live with and somewhere to live.
In Pygmalion, the only reason the two professors helped Liza out was to get something out of it themselves. The professors decided to help Liza out with her grammar and becoming more like a lady. In the end though, Liza was not happy. In Androcles and the Lion, Androcles genuinely wanted to help the lion. He helped the lion get a thorn out of his foot. In return, the lion helped Androcles from being killed along with others. In conclusion, when you genuinely want to help someone, you may have that good luck returned to you, but if you do something nice for someone just to get something in return, you might not be as
However, if you jump in to help, but you cannot make it out yourself, that is when the charity being done is
Ralph Nader, an American political activist and author of Lebanese origin, once said “When strangers start acting like neighbors... communities are reinvigorated.” Thus is the opinion of a Utilitarian, one who believes that one should act according to whatever yields the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number of people. According to a Utilitarian, this quote describes the essence of our obligations to strangers, or people we don’t naturally care about. It says that we must treat strangers in the same way we would treat a neighbor, family member, friend, or anybody else we care about. By treating strangers this way, it promotes and creates a universal caring for the needy and can cause communities to be rejuvenated. For this
Some psychologists believe that altruism stems from evolution, or the survival of the fittest. They point to examples where ants will willingly bury themselves to seal the anthill from foreign attacks, or the honeybee’s sting. That sting rips out the honeybee’s own internal organs, and has been described as “instruments of altruistic self-sacrifice. Although the individual dies, the bee’...
One form is generalized reciprocity, which is the giving of goods without expectation of a return of equal value at any definite future time. Generalized reciprocity occurs mainly between individuals who are emotionally attached to one another and have a responsibility to help one another on the basis of need. In the United States, parents who provide their children with shelter, food, vehicles, college educations, and interest-free loans are practicing generalized reciprocity. Giving without the expectation of a quick and equivalent return should also occur between certain other kinds of social relations, such as wives and husbands, siblings, and sometimes close friends. Among certain groups of people more goods are exchanged using this form than any other. For example, most members of small hunting and gathering groups are expected to share food and be generous with their possessions. Generalized reciprocity happens in all human populations and is the dominant mode of exchange in very small groups in which all or most members are relatives.
...esult, the more directly one sees their personal efforts impact someone else, the more happiness one can gain from the experience of giving. Sometimes generosity requires pushing past a feeling of reluctance because people all instinctively want to keep good things for themselves, but once one is over this feeling, they will feel satisfaction in knowing that they have made a difference in someone else’s life. However, if one lives without generosity but is not selfish, they can still have pleasure from other virtues.