by iakul

Created on: July 31, 2008

On the surface it would seem that according to the theory of evolution, there would only be selfish people in this world,since time and other resources spent helping other people could have been utilised to better ensure one's survival. However, consider this. Birds with brightly colored feathers are chosen over birds that have duller plumage when females choose their mates , even though brightly colored feathers would attract more predators, and brightly colored feathers serve no practical functions.

So why?

It would seem that bright coloured plumage serves as an indication of healthy genes. A bird with nice long bright tail feathers has actually managed to survive all the way to adulthood. One might attribute it to luck, but birds have had centuries to mate, and to be lucky for centuries, one would have had to beat mind-boggling odds.

So why not altruism as well? To actually survive in this capitalist world and still find it in oneself to go out to help others is not easy. It demonstrates a certain faith in one's ability to not only take care of oneself but also care for others as well.

One might argue that there are cases of people who are barely making enough to provide for themselves, who nonetheless still volunteer for community service or go out of their ways to help others and thus the claim that altruism is a desirable trait in natural selection cannot be true. But then, altruism is just a single trait. There are also cases of bright, intelligent people who have had health problems that ensured that they could only expect to live less than three years. Or cases of strong healthy individuals with the minds of three-year olds. Just because a trait is desirable does not mean an individual will succeed in life, it is the sum of his or her individual traits, rather than a single trait that ensures their success. Possessing an exceedingly strong desirable trait might even prove to be a hindrance, without other traits to complement it. Consider the case of a man who is exceedingly strong but who is unable to control and moderate his strength. He would face difficulties even for simple everyday tasks, that another person endowed with less strength would execute without even having to think through. Similarly, altruism without complementing traits might hinder an individual, but that still would not invalidate altruism as a desirable trait.

There are also those who argue that the act of giving itself gives people a feel-good factor, and thus it is not truly altruism,

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