Doesn’t matter what “they say” in regard to what the right thing to do is, right? It only matters if the act is pure altruism—that is, the giver gets no benefit, or even sacrifices, for the recipient.
My understanding (a la The Selfish Gene) is that the replicating genes of humanity will benefit from even fully anonymous gifts to people we’ve never met. Altruism is actually self-interested at the gene (or “replicator”) level, no matter how purely altruistic (or ‘selfless’ and ‘moral’) an action may seen at the level of the organism.
It only matters if the act is pure altruism—that is, the giver gets no benefit, or even sacrifices, for the recipient.
For there to be a real distinction you don’t need there to be no benefit to the giver, just less benefit than the giver could have gotten in other ways. Yes, a fully anonymous gift to someone you’ll never meet does make you feel good, but because of scope insensitivity the difference between donating 10% and 20% of income has incredibly little benefit to the giver.
If I see someone donate 20% when 10% would have almost the same benefits to them, and that money could instead if spent selfishly buy other things they would have enjoyed a lot, then their claim that they’re doing it because it’s the right thing to do seems pretty plausible.
(One counter is that if they will be unhappy donating less than they believe they ought to, then there is a real difference between 10% and 20%.)
What do you mean by pure altruism? Is my desire for food pure only if I don’t enjoy it?
Altruism is actually self-interested at the gene (or “replicator”) level, no matter how purely altruistic (or ‘selfless’ and ‘moral’) an action may seen at the level of the organism.
Selfishness and altruism are phenomenoms that people discuss on the abstraction level of psychology. It makes no sense to talk about the self interest of genes not only because they’re the wrong abstraction level, but also because they’re not prescient like brains are. The selfish gene is a figure of speech.
What do you mean by pure altruism? Is my desire for food pure only if I don’t enjoy it?
Sort of, yes. In the context of my reply, I mean an action to a recipient that is, as I said, no benefit, or even a sacrifice, to the giver.
If a soldier dove on a grenade to save an enemy soldier who’d killed his mother, I’d be impressed in terms of it’s apparent altruism...though I could imagine there’d be a Darwinian explanation (even if it doesn’t occur to me in the moment.)
Selfishness and altruism are phenomenoms that people discuss on the abstraction level of psychology. It makes no sense to talk about the self interest of genes not only because they’re the wrong abstraction level, but also because they’re not prescient like brains are. The selfish gene is a figure of speech.
I think Dawkins admits ‘selfish’ was the wrong term to use. But it’s helpful to think of a replicator-centric mechanism for evolution, versus anything on the organism level.
If a soldier dove on a grenade to save an enemy soldier who’d killed his mother, I’d be impressed in terms of it’s apparent altruism...though I could imagine there’d be a Darwinian explanation (even if it doesn’t occur to me in the moment.)
What about an environmental or a neurological or a psychological explanation? What’s so special about genes as a causative factor?
I think Dawkins admits ‘selfish’ was the wrong term to use.
The main reason for this is because people constantly misunderstand it.
But it’s helpful to think of a replicator-centric mechanism for evolution, versus anything on the organism level.
It certainly is the right way to think about evolution, and I also think the figure of speech is nice to have if not misunderstood.
They are an important factor in everything the soldier does, for instance they set limits to what kinds of beliefs he can have given his experiences. Genes don’t do anything at all without the environment they interact with however.
What predictions might you make about human behavior that someone who believed in altruism would not?
My impression is that when people say they believe altruism exists, they mean that they believe people derive pleasure from altruistic behavior. There are some people like Kantians who might be imagining something else and I agree that version of altruism is wrong. But I think that view of altruism is a minority one.
Let’s imagine a computer simulation that has various organisms. Some of these organisms are programmed to sacrifice their own lives for the lives of others in their area who have no genetic relationship at all. Is it accurate to describe the behavior of these organisms as altruistic?
Are you aware that group selection has come back into scientific acceptability since the 80s? The original experiments assumed static populations, but when you allow populations to have varying growth rates group selectionism does much much better. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-level_selection
Doesn’t matter what “they say” in regard to what the right thing to do is, right? It only matters if the act is pure altruism—that is, the giver gets no benefit, or even sacrifices, for the recipient.
My understanding (a la The Selfish Gene) is that the replicating genes of humanity will benefit from even fully anonymous gifts to people we’ve never met. Altruism is actually self-interested at the gene (or “replicator”) level, no matter how purely altruistic (or ‘selfless’ and ‘moral’) an action may seen at the level of the organism.
For there to be a real distinction you don’t need there to be no benefit to the giver, just less benefit than the giver could have gotten in other ways. Yes, a fully anonymous gift to someone you’ll never meet does make you feel good, but because of scope insensitivity the difference between donating 10% and 20% of income has incredibly little benefit to the giver.
If I see someone donate 20% when 10% would have almost the same benefits to them, and that money could instead if spent selfishly buy other things they would have enjoyed a lot, then their claim that they’re doing it because it’s the right thing to do seems pretty plausible.
(One counter is that if they will be unhappy donating less than they believe they ought to, then there is a real difference between 10% and 20%.)
What do you mean by pure altruism? Is my desire for food pure only if I don’t enjoy it?
Selfishness and altruism are phenomenoms that people discuss on the abstraction level of psychology. It makes no sense to talk about the self interest of genes not only because they’re the wrong abstraction level, but also because they’re not prescient like brains are. The selfish gene is a figure of speech.
Sort of, yes. In the context of my reply, I mean an action to a recipient that is, as I said, no benefit, or even a sacrifice, to the giver.
If a soldier dove on a grenade to save an enemy soldier who’d killed his mother, I’d be impressed in terms of it’s apparent altruism...though I could imagine there’d be a Darwinian explanation (even if it doesn’t occur to me in the moment.)
I think Dawkins admits ‘selfish’ was the wrong term to use. But it’s helpful to think of a replicator-centric mechanism for evolution, versus anything on the organism level.
What about an environmental or a neurological or a psychological explanation? What’s so special about genes as a causative factor?
The main reason for this is because people constantly misunderstand it.
It certainly is the right way to think about evolution, and I also think the figure of speech is nice to have if not misunderstood.
I’d imagine you’d be right. (Sufficient belief in an afterlife might do it.) Though I don’t know if I’d rule out the genes.
Nonetheless.
Exactly my thought.
They are an important factor in everything the soldier does, for instance they set limits to what kinds of beliefs he can have given his experiences. Genes don’t do anything at all without the environment they interact with however.
So would you consider altruistic pleasure as a benefit?
Sure. I think so. Doesn’t evolution make many altruistic actions pleasurable?
What predictions might you make about human behavior that someone who believed in altruism would not?
My impression is that when people say they believe altruism exists, they mean that they believe people derive pleasure from altruistic behavior. There are some people like Kantians who might be imagining something else and I agree that version of altruism is wrong. But I think that view of altruism is a minority one.
Let’s imagine a computer simulation that has various organisms. Some of these organisms are programmed to sacrifice their own lives for the lives of others in their area who have no genetic relationship at all. Is it accurate to describe the behavior of these organisms as altruistic?
Are you aware that group selection has come back into scientific acceptability since the 80s? The original experiments assumed static populations, but when you allow populations to have varying growth rates group selectionism does much much better. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-level_selection