Quote:
Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
actually much of what you guys have been talking about cuts out large parts of natural selection. Taking care of really sick kids that otherwise would have died, buying your kids glasses when they would have dies in caveman times, etc.
We've done loads to eliminate natural selection.
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This is true.
Not that I have any interest in engaging in this discussion, but some part of people's instinct or whatever you want to call it to help others less fortunate has to do with the increased self-esteem imparted on the helper (including, I believe studies have shown (though I'm too busy to google it), increased production of endorphins). This is true whether the person being helped is your next door neighbor or is a victim of a tsunami thousands of miles away. So in that respect it is an act of self-interest. I think this is true not just in people, but also in some animals. Rescue dogs, for example - Newfoundlands instinctually will jump into a freezing lake to rescue a person (this is not trained behavior, at least at this point in time - query whether it at some point in history was trained into that breed of dogs by humans (again, not gonna google)) and are very proud of themselves once the task is accomplished.
