“Behavioral research has uncovered numerous examples of altruistic behavior in the animal kingdom,” says a new study from the University of Bern. However, the study also shows that “animals that help others ‘selflessly’ to raise their young generate an evolutionary advantage,” which is certainly not an altruistic motive.
For altruism to be genuine, it must meet two strict conditions: 1. There must be no prior reason to give or do anything for the recipient of the benefit. 2. The act is not done for a later or consequent benefit to the benefactor. In other words, an altruistic act is one where there is no apparent reason to do it, when the helper cannot justify it through any personal benefit of any kind.
Such a thing does not exist in nature. There is balance in nature only because the selfishness of the species is built in a way that they balance one another. However, this is not altruism; it is balanced egoism, which maintains the homeostasis.
If animals help other animals, it is because of some form of symbiosis that exists between them, a relationship between species that are interdependent. Nevertheless, the selfish motivation to maintain that rewarding relationship is evident.
Human beings are different. In people, the ego is not static; it is constantly evolving and intensifying. Therefore, at every stage of our development, we must readjust our relationships.
At some point, humanity will reach such levels of egoism that we will realize that unless we abandon egoism altogether, we will not survive. From this selfish motivation to simply survive, we will shift to an altruistic form of relationship, which will meet the two above conditions.
At that point, human society will become an altruistic society, a precedent in reality. This will be the first time people truly act for other people’s sake, without looking for any reward for themselves.
When this happens in all of society, a result of collective realization that we must change or we will perish, people’s altruism will support other people’s altruism. In such a state, people will not take advantage of other people’s generosity and society will rise to a new level of relationships.
Currently, we are busy fending for ourselves. But the more people realize that we must change our inherent nature in order to survive, the sooner we will transition to an altruistic society.
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