LogFAQs > #883476373

PyroBlade1985 posted...

Then let me ask you people this. An old woman falls in the middle of the road. A car comes by. Nine times out of ten, what do you believe will happen? Or better yet, what would YOU do? And please be honest.

I've actually already explained that, honestly.

Hedonistic Altruism - "I will stop to help this person because years of social conditioning have influenced me to the point where the idea of being "good" makes me feel better as a person. I am not truly acting altruistically, I am acting to make myself feel good."

Reciprocal Altruism - "I will stop to help this person because I am aware that, someday, I may be in their position and need someone to stop to help me. I am not truly acting altruistically, I am fulfilling my presumed role in the social contract with the expectation that others will do the same when I need help." (This may also tie into the Bystander Effect, where multiple potential helpers all being nearby decreases the odds that any one of them individually will help, because the problem immediately becomes "someone else's problem")

Enlightened Self-Interest - "I will stop to help this person, with the expectation of immediate gratification. This may simply be the "good" feeling generated by their expected gratitude for my help, or it may be societal (if other people learn about my "good deed" and my reputation gains by it) or financial (if they actually offer a cash reward). But I am ALWAYS motivated by some degree of self-interest, even if I am not consciously aware of how I might potentially benefit from a situation."


There's also an established theory with a fair amount of research evidence behind it that implies that "empathy" as we know it is almost entirely predicated on the brain "tricking" you into seeing someone in need as if they were yourself, meaning that even when you think you are being altruistic on the cognitive level your brain is still being selfish to some degree.

Basically, the more psychology classes you take, the more and more convinced you're probably going to become that humans are terrible meat-sacks.



(And even beyond the theoretical, I know of at least one person who felt out of a cab in NYC, broke their leg, and were left laying on the side of the road. I can also tell you that the end result of that scenario was that not only did the cab driver immediately drive away, but that the first person who stopped to "help" stole the victim's wallet. The urge to "help" isn't necessarily as universal or as selfless as you'd like to believe.)


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