• Question: Why have we evolved altruism? I have not yet found someone who has been able to give me an answer to this.

    Asked by to Daren, Lynne, Phillip, Simon on 21 Jun 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: anon

      anon answered on 21 Jun 2014:

      You should read “The God Delusion” by Richard Dawkins. You can find the pages on altruism here:
      http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=grccDzrTWLUC&pg=PA247&lpg=PA247&dq=god+delusion+altruism&source=bl&ots=G8bXSd30Mu&sig=TwY0IuBQ0_LvpU-MwtY6hCKL-DQ&hl=en&sa=X&ei=VrClU8eMNYub1AXTmoHoBg&ved=0CCAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=god%20delusion%20altruism&f=false
      He reckons that one of the main reasons people are altruistic is that they get something back. Even if it’s not money or material goods, they get a positive reputation which helps them in life. He thinks that nobody actually does anything for nothing.

    • Photo: Daren Fearon

      Daren Fearon answered on 22 Jun 2014:

      Humans are very social beings and value society. Altruism relates to the practice of improving the welfare of others sometime at the cost to yourself. Studies have shown that humans display more altruistic behaviour towards close relatives. This type altruistic behaviour could come from a desire to ensure shared genes are passed down to future generations.

      Altruistic behaviour could also be due to there being some long-term benefit from helping someone else. We fit into societies where different people have different roles, all of which benefit that society. We may want to help someone so that society can continue without a negative impact to ourselves.

      We may also just do something for others as we know this makes them more likely to give us help if we need it.

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