Except, “what one believes to be a good cause” has a large cultural component.
This is true. Sometimes people think they know what’s best for society and are wrong.
Anyway, I don’t know how much of our culture’s seeming to care about others is cultural vs. genetic. I think it’s unlikely to be 100% vs. 0%, but I’m not making any further claims than that. If you say that goodness doesn’t exist at all, ever, that no one really naturally cares about anyone other than themselves, I’ll disagree, but I have no evidence to back this up; as far as I know, both of us would just be guessing at what subconsciously motivates people...
I think that’s probably a good point. You would say that genetics has more to do with caring for those close to us, and culture has more to do with caring for strangers we’ll never meet, right?
Anyway, I got back from listening to this podcast and would recommend it if you’re interested! I liked it and learned some things. Here’s the blurb, as you can see it’s relevant to this whole discussion:
“Compassion is a universal virtue, but is it innate or taught? Have we lost touch with it? Can we be better at it? In this hour, TED speakers explore compassion: its roots, its meaning and its future.”
This is true. Sometimes people think they know what’s best for society and are wrong.
Anyway, I don’t know how much of our culture’s seeming to care about others is cultural vs. genetic. I think it’s unlikely to be 100% vs. 0%, but I’m not making any further claims than that. If you say that goodness doesn’t exist at all, ever, that no one really naturally cares about anyone other than themselves, I’ll disagree, but I have no evidence to back this up; as far as I know, both of us would just be guessing at what subconsciously motivates people...
Depends on which ‘others’.
I think that’s probably a good point. You would say that genetics has more to do with caring for those close to us, and culture has more to do with caring for strangers we’ll never meet, right?
Anyway, I got back from listening to this podcast and would recommend it if you’re interested! I liked it and learned some things. Here’s the blurb, as you can see it’s relevant to this whole discussion:
“Compassion is a universal virtue, but is it innate or taught? Have we lost touch with it? Can we be better at it? In this hour, TED speakers explore compassion: its roots, its meaning and its future.”