What is "Altruism"?
Altruism is "the principle and moral practice of concern for happiness of other human beings or other animals, resulting in a quality of life both material and spiritual. It is a traditional virtue in many cultures and a core aspect of various religious and secular world views."
Biology behind Altruism
According to Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, evolution happens by natural selection. As a consequence of genetic variation, individuals most suited to their environment through means of reproduction and survival have more opportunities to produce offspring; given enough time, the species will gradually evolve to have traits/behaviors that benefit the species and it's survival.
Some believe human selfishness has been beneficial to ones survival and reproduction. This leads us to ask the burning question "Then, why are creatures sometimes kind to each other?"
Primer is a YouTuber who is attempting to encourage viewers to think deeper about academic subjects through various types of media. He created a virtual simulation to examine the biology of altruism in hopes of answering this provoking question.
For those who haven't watched the video, I shall give a recapitulation of main ideas expressed in Primer's video.
"Each day blobs will go out to the forest to eat some fruit. Each tree has enough fruit to feed two blobs but some of the trees have predators in them. If the blobs are unlucky enough to visit a tree with a predator, they'll (both) get eaten. But if they don't get eaten, they'll head to one of the homes and reproduce, creating one or two new blobs in their place."
Ecosystems with no altruism are somewhat stable. However, it's important to note the fluctuating population, slight downward trend, and that the number of creatures alive is less than the original population number.
In the second simulation, creatures either have the "cowardice" allele and "altruistic" allele. Only one blob will notice the predator. Cowards run away from predators which allows them to survive (leaving the other to die) while the Altruistic blobs yell in order to protect the other blob, however, as a result they have a 50% chance of survival.
By measuring the frequency of alleles over time, even though both alleles (cowardice and altruism) were 50/50, the altruistic allele went extinct.
Primer decides to lower the risk of death to 10% and ran 30 different trials. In the end, "altruism" allele still went extinct. The thin black lines are individual trials and the thick black line is the average of trials.
Notice that there is a "competition" between the "altruism" and the "cowardice" alleles. In order to survive, the altruistic blobs would need to find a way to help itself more than help its genetic competitor (cowards). Primer decides this dilemma could be solved by having the altruistic blobs grow green beards in order to identify each other.
In this next simulation, the altruistic blobs have a 50% chance of survival; however, a green beard blob will only warn the other blob if it also has a green beard.
In the end, the "cowardice" allele goes extinct and the "altruistic" allele makes up 100% of the population. However, in real life, humans don't have green beards that signify altruism.
Primer decides to then split the two genes (beard and altruism) and as a result creates 4 different types of creatures. Cowards have no beard + no altruism. Suckers have no beard + altruism.
Imposters have beard + no altruism.
True beards have beard + altruism.
*Blobs can only see beards, not colors.
In this simulation, the "altruistic" allele goes extinct quickly whether it's paired with a green beard or not. True beards go extinct in the end because they end up falling for the imposters (due to them possessing a green beard). The more Impostors there are, the more a True beard is in danger of sacrificing itself. Cowards remain stable once the "altruistic" allele is gone.
How does this relate to human altruism?
In all of the simulations, only one was successful (Cowardice vs Green Beard). While similar systems to the Cowardice vs Green Beard simulation are quite rare in reality; I believe that there is a valid truth. In the Cowardice vs Green Beard simulation, there is a noticable positive correlation between altruism and survival as a result of the green beard.
I believe that we can apply the Cowardice vs Green Beard example to real-life human altruism. As I stated previously, in real life, humans don't have green beards that signify altruism. However, I surmise if more humans decided to be altruistic (green beards), more altruism would exist in our day-to-day lives which would lead to a decrease in selfish and hurtful interactions. A boost in altruism would lead to potential positive change in our world by creating a more charitable, good-hearted, and healthier environments (see below).
In the short-term, Cowards and Imposters gain, however, it's important to think about the long-term negative impact a lack of altruism will have on their environment.
A Selfish Argument for Making the World a Better Place
This video explains the concept of egoistic altruism. While the meanings of "egoistic" and "altruism" are quite contradictory of eachother, Kurzgesagt explains how altruism can fuel innovation which can benefit you as well as others.
A list of just a few altruism health benefits:
1. Helping others feels good
There is some evidence to suggest that when you help others, it can promote physiological changes in the brain linked with happiness. Helping others can also improve our support networks and encourage us to be more active. This in turn can improve our self-esteem.
2. It creates a sense of belonging and reduces isolation
Volunteering and helping others can also help us feel a sense of belonging, make new friends and connect with our community. Face-to-face activities such as volunteering at a food bank can help reduce loneliness and isolation.
3. It helps keep things in perspective
Many people don’t realise the impact that a different perspective can have on their outlook on life. Helping others, especially those who are less fortunate than yourself, can help to put things into perspective and make you feel more positive. There is some evidence that being aware of your own acts of kindness, as well as the things you are grateful for, can increase feelings of happiness, optimism, and satisfaction. Doing good may help you to have a more positive outlook about your own circumstances.
4. It helps make the world a happier place – it’s contagious!
Acts of kindness have the potential to make the world a happier place. An act of kindness can improve feelings of confidence, being in control, happiness and optimism. It may also encourage others to repeat the good deed that they’ve experienced themselves – contributing to a more positive community.
5. The more you do for others, the more you do for yourself
The benefits of helping others can last long after the act itself, both for you and them.
(Information from Mental Health Association UK)
I hope my article inspires readers to become more altruistic in order to create a kinder world and have more compassion towards each other!