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Or maybe it’s the other way around: if your brain grows — a specific region of the brain which scientists have recently linked to altruistic behavior, that is — you’ll be nice. They’re not sure yet. What Duke University researchers do know, however, is that the posterior superior temporal sulcus is larger in people who regularly engage in what the study calls “helping behaviors,” which is to say, activities which have no obvious benefit to oneself.
Examples of “true” altruism, though, can be tough to find. According to the researchers, it’s a fairly rare phenomenon in terms of human behavior; we usually engage in “reciprocal” altruism and expect something in return for our generosity. Being cheated or cuckolded is closer to true altruism than, say, giving your car to Goodwill and taking a fat tax deduction at the end of the year. While there’s certainly still more research to be conducted, the implications thus far are fascinating: perhaps truly selfless acts are rare because the people who perform them regularly are, well, abnormal!
Comments (5)
Comment
I suppose you want a comment now…OK, nice link!
posted by Johnny Cat on 1-22-2007 at 2:51 pm
A study came out last year that dealt with this material that I found fascinating. It compared physical cleanliness to moral cleanliness.
The study found that people who had just washed their hands were less likely to help out a random stranger. The conclusion was that if you feel dirty you are more likely to want to cleans your conscience by ‘doing a good deed,’
I found it interesting on two fronts:
1) Moral organizations (churches, BSA, etc) teach that when you are more morally clean, you should help others more often. This is counter to the conclusions of the study.
2) People can make themselves feel better morally by being more physically clean. Kinda makes me wonder about that VP who always insists on everything being spotless. What is he trying to nullify?
You can read an abstract of the study as it appeared in Science by putting the following link together:
wwwDOTsciencemagDOTorg
/cgi/content/abstract/313/5792/1451?siteid=sci&ijkey=Ui9snPoYRFnX6&keytype=ref
posted by n2y2 on 1-22-2007 at 4:56 pm
According to my sisters and my bf, the altruism part of my brain is connected to my ass because I’m donating a kidney to a stranger who found me on matchingdonors.com.
posted by Sheldon Siegel on 1-22-2007 at 5:22 pm
Altrusim in its purest sense is rare, there are degrees of “being nice” and there is always a pay off in the end either immediate or at some time in the future. Enter into the Promised Land?
And, humility is a strange duck, about the time you think you have achieved it you have lost all?
posted by Fred on 1-23-2007 at 9:35 am
Well, people tend to do nice things for others because it makes them feel good about themselves or because they just can’t stand to see somebody else in a bad situation.
Since quite a few people help others so they don’t feel guilty that they didn’t help when they could have, is it really altruism?
posted by Sammy on 1-23-2007 at 8:52 pm