Subject: the false dichotomy of "us" versus "them"
All creatures--even the smallest insects--are willing to sacrifice
their own life to protect their progeny and members of their own
immediate family.
But the universe (evolution) has given us a larger brain and a greater responsibility.
Just as we embrace the members of our immediate family, tribe,social group in our love(we do not injure what we love/value), our identity must
expand to encompass our greater family--the family of humankind and
indeed all of life and the earth wch sustains life.
"All creatures are members of the one family of God"--Mohammed
Why should we narrowly define our "family" as those with whom we
share our household or country--and exclude all others. By labeling
them as "other" we end up demeaning,denigrating, dehumanizing and even
demonizing them. We do not help ourselves by debasing and dehumanizing others!
Our sense of self must expand to embrace/include all people.
We are to love all others as we love our selves(ourself).
If we do not rise to the challenge of this higher moral obligation
we will end up destroying ourselves.We have a moral duty not to destroy God's creation and our life support system.
What kind of world do we want to create?
If we do not change our present course we will create a world that is not worth living in! A world that is full of hatred and devoid of love is not worth living in!
Only love gives value to life.
Without love there can be no life!
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.
Love limited to one's country,loyalty confined to one's race,religion,community,attachment to one's family and identification of Self with one's body,are all alike the offspring of ignorance wch confines us to a cage of smaller or bigger dimensions.
Wars,religious conflicts,social injustice ,economic exploitation,and political tyrannies all spring from greed and selfishness(a narrow sense of self) born of the failure to realize the unity of all beings and creatures. All world teachers unanamously declare "oh man! If you want peace for yourself and others in the world,adjust your conduct to comply with the law of Love. Expand your vision and identity so as to embrace all fellow beings. Rise above narrow creeds and personal or national interests and embrace the common interest of humanity.
Man must undergo a transition to a new consciousnessand a new humanity.Man must embrace a global consciousness,by extending his empathy beyond blood ties and national identity .
He must broaden his empathy to include all creatures.
If we do not rise to the challenge and change our present behaviour and our path we will not survive.We must change or perish!
We are called on(challenged) not only to think but to act beyond our existing/usual limits in order to effect a positive improvement in the condition of the world. It is as simple as stretching to understand others.We are each unique and have a great deal to learn from one another.
We all love our family,but we are challenged to extend that same love wch we have for our family to our neighbor and our community,etc.
We are called upon to embrace our neighbor as a member of our family, and to love them as we love ourselves!
"Until he extends his circle of compassion to include all living things, man will not himself find peace."
-— Albert Schweitzer
Humanity's greatest need is unity!
--messenger of the One
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
All love is love of God!
If you are seeking closeness to the Beloved,
love everyone.
whether in their presence or absence,
see only their good.
if you want to be as clear and refreshing as
the breath of the morning breeze,
like the sun have nothing but warmth and light
for everyone.
~Shaikh Abu-Said Abil-Khair
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
A Love Story
There's an old story about a group of monks living with their master in a Tibetan monastery. Their lives were disciplined and dedicated, and the atmosphere in which they lived harmonious and peaceful. People from villages far and wide flocked to the monastery to bask in the warmth of such a loving spiritual environment.
Then one day the master departed his earthly form. At first the monks continued on as they had in the past, but after a time, the discipline and devotion that had been hallmarks of their daily routine slackened. The number of villagers coming through the doors each day began to drop, and little by little, the monastery fell into a state of disrepair.
Soon the monks were bickering among themselves, some pointing fingers of blame, others filled with guilt. The energy within the monastery walls crackled with animosity.
Finally, the senior monk could take it no longer. Hearing that a spiritual master lived as a hermit two days walk away, the monk wasted no time in seeking him out. Finding the master in his forest hermitage, the monk told him of the sad state the monastery had fallen into and asked his advice.
The master smiled. "There is one living among you who is the incarnation of God. Because he is being disrespected by those around him, he will not show himself, and the monastery will remain in disrepair." With those words spoken, the master fell silent and would say no more.
All the way back to the monastery, the monk wondered which of his brothers might be the Incarnated One.
"Perhaps it is Brother Jaspar who does our cooking," the monk said aloud. But then a second later thought, "No, it can't be him. He is sloppy and ill tempered and the food he prepares is tasteless."
"Perhaps our gardener, Brother Timor, is the one," he then thought. This consideration, too, was quickly followed by denial. "Of course not" he said aloud. "God is not lazy and would never let weeds take over a lettuce patch the way Brother Timor has."
Finally, after dismissing each and every one of his brothers for this fault or that, the senior monk realized there were none left. Knowing it had to be one of the monks because the master had said it was, he worried over it a bit before a new thought dawned. "Could it be that the Holy One has chosen to display a fault in order to disguise himself?" he wondered. "Of course it could! That must be it!"
Reaching the monastery, he immediately told his brothers what the master had said and all were just as astonished as he had been to learn the Divine was living among them.
Since each knew it was not himself who was God Incarnate, each began to study his brothers carefully, all trying to determine who among them was the Holy One. But all any of them could see were the faults and failings of the others. If God was in their midst, he was doing a fine job of hiding himself. Finding the Incarnated One among such rubble would be difficult, indeed.
After much discussion, it was finally decided that they would all make an effort to be kind and loving toward each another, treating all with the respect and honor one would naturally give to the Incarnated One. If God insisted on remaining hidden, then they had no recourse but to treat each monk as if he were the Holy One.
Each so concentrated on seeing God in the other that soon their hearts filled with such love for one another the chains of negativity that held them bound fell away. As time passed, they began seeing God not just in each other, but in every one and everything. Days were spent in joyful reverence, rejoicing in His Holy Presence. The monastery radiated this joy like a beacon and soon the villagers returned, streaming through the doors as they had before, seeking to be touched by the love and devotion present there.
It was some time later that the senior monk decided to pay the master another visit to thank him for the secret he had revealed.
"Did you discover the identity of the Incarnated One?" the master asked.
"We did," the senior monk replied. "We found him residing in all of us."
The master smiled.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Remove the beam (that impairs/obstructs your vision) from your own eye that you may see clearly the beauty and perfection in others.--J.C.
"When the power of love
overcomes the love of power,
the world will know peace."
—Anonymous
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.
We must love one another or die!
--W. H. Audin
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Every new child that is born is evidence that God has not yet given up on human beings!"--Tagore
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Hatred victimizes oneself more than the object of hatred!
"I call on you not to hate, because hatred does not leave space for a person to be fair, and it makes you blind and closes all doors of thinking.."
Genesis 9:3 Proverbs 4:20
"I will permit no man to reduce my soul to hatred."
Bokker T. Washington
If your heart is full of anger and hatred , where is there room for love!?
Guard well the contents of your heart!!
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Our capacity for appreciation/love is like a muscle wch becomes stronger the more it is exercised.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Love thy enemies and pray for those who persecute you.--Mathew 5:43
If you only love those who love you ,what credit is that to you?For even sinners love those who love them. --Luke 6:32
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
"I love the one who is incapable of ill will and returns love for hatred"--Bhagavad Gita
"No good tree bears bad fruit,nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.Each tree is recognized by it's own fruit.People do not pick figs from thornbushes,or grapes from briars.The good man brings good works out of the good stored up in his heart,and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart.For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks."
--Jesus-(-Luke 6:43-45)
Through our actions(good or bad works)we outwardly manifest or bring forth what is in us (our inner nature). What is within comes out. Each pot spills what is in it.
To do good is to do God's work in the world.We can serve the devil or we can serve the Lord!
Evil will cease when hatred and ill-will are eradicated from the hearts of men.
When men's hearts are filled with love there will be no more wars to fight.
www.thedashmogvie.com/
............................................................................................................................
Subject: Because of the universal law of "cause and effect" (give respect;get respect/Love begets love)( we get back what we put out)...IT IS ONLY PRUDENT TO BE KIND
Krishna,Buddha,Christ and Mohammed --founders of the world's great religions --all agreed/taught that love is the greatest virtue and the greatest value... and we must treat others as we wish to be treated.
When one's only moral compass is self-interest ,there is no consideration for the interests of others.
If the only "rule of law" that men are willing to heed and live by is the "law of the jungle" then there is no stopping men from treating each other with the ferocity of jungle beasts.
Why altruism paid off for our ancestors
What survival advantage does evolution grant to those capable of empathy,altruism and sacrificial love?
By becoming a better person we create a better world (for ourselves).If you do good by helping others,the world is improved and you then benefit by living in a better world.
The greater the population density,the greater the evolutionary pressure to select for empathic,cooperative,non-agressive,pro-social behavior.
Homo empathicus vs homo sapien
The Empathic Civilization
--Jeremy Rifkin
Empathy is the capacity to see from a second point of view,
Empathy--the capacity for compassion-- is part of our core nature!
19:00 07 December 2006
NewScientist.com news service
Richard Fisher
Humans may have evolved altruistic traits as a result of a cultural “tax” we paid to each other early in our evolution, a new study suggests.
The research also changes what we knew about the genetic makeup of our hunter-gatherer ancestors.
The origin of human altruism has puzzled evolutionary biologists for many years (see Survival of the nicest).
In every society, humans make personal sacrifices for others with no expectation that it will be reciprocated. For example, we donate to charity, or care for the sick and disabled. This trait is extremely rare in the natural world, unless there is a family relationship or later reciprocation.
One theory to explain how human altruism evolved involves the way we interacted as groups early in our evolution. Towards the end of the Pleistocene period – about 12,000 years ago – humans foraged for food as hunter-gatherers. These groups competed against each other for survival.
Group dynamics
Under these conditions, altruism towards other group-members would improve the overall fitness of the group. If an individual defended the group but was killed, any genes that the individual shared with the overall group would still be passed on.
Many researchers reject this , however. One reason is that competition between individuals is likely to increase if a group becomes isolated, and any altruistic behaviour would then decrease an individual’s level of fitness compared with other members.
Biologists also assume that hunter-gatherer groups around this time period would have been insufficiently genetically related to favour altruism. In other words, die when defending the group and your genes die with you.
Ancient ways
Now a new study by Samuel Bowles at the Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico, US, breathes new life into the . Bowles conducted a genetic analysis of contemporary foraging groups, including Australian aboriginals, native Siberian Inuit populations and indigenous tribal groups in Africa.
The genetic variation found within these modern-day groups was analysed and then used to estimate the kind of genetic variation that would have existed in ancestral populations of hunter-gatherer from the Pleistocene and early Holocene (150,000 to 10,000 years ago, combined). “These modern groups live today as most scholars believe our distant ancestors did,” Bowles explains.
He calculated that early human individuals were likely to be substantially more related to each other than previously thought. But Bowles found bigger genetic differences than expected between discrete groups of ancient peoples. These conditions would have favoured altruistic behaviour, says Bowles.
Challenging times
Bowles also worked out that early customs such as food sharing or monogamy could have levelled out the “cost” of altruistic behaviour, in the same way that income taxes redistribute income in society. He assembled genetic, climactic, archaeological, ethnographic and experimental data to examine the cost-benefit relationship of human cooperation in ancient populations.
In his , members of a group bearing genes for altruistic behaviour pay a "tax" by limiting their reproductive opportunities to benefit from sharing food and information, thereby increasing the average fitness of the group as well as their inter-relatedness. Bands of altruistic humans would then act together to gain resources from other groups at this challenging time in history.
For example, an injury may be one of the costs of defending the group during an intergroup conflict: a broken leg could be for an individual who may starve through being unable to obtain his own food. But food sharing would make it less of a risk for individuals to participate in these conflicts, Bowles says.
One-woman men
The archaeological and ethnographic data he used showed that 13% to 15% of foragers died from wars, which were common between groups. Bowles’s mathematical s suggest that altruism must have been a significant factor in these populations. Although Bowles admits that he has found no evidence for any gene for human altruism, he says that if such a genetic disposition were to exist, group conflict would have played an important role in its development.
Monogamy would also level the playing field within the group, he showed in his statistical analysis. “Monogamy limits the ability of the stronger or more aggressive males to monopolise copulation,” says Bowles. “Humans are very unusual in this way.”
Bowles’s paper is original, says Robert Boyd at the University of California, Los Angeles, US, who wrote an accompanying paper. A of the evolution of altruism based on group selection is now more plausible, he says. “I am still not completely convinced, but I am much more willing to entertain the hypothesis,” he says.
Journal reference: Science (vol 314, p 1569)
Related Articles
Survival of the nicest
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg19225772.500
11 November 2006
The selfish gene that learned to cooperate
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg19125643.800
12 August 2006
Pay up, you are being watched
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg18524914.900
19 March 2005
All creatures--even the smallest insects--are willing to sacrifice
their own life to protect their progeny and members of their own
immediate family.
But the universe (evolution) has given us a larger brain and a greater responsibility.
Just as we embrace the members of our immediate family, tribe,social group in our love(we do not injure what we love/value), our identity must
expand to encompass our greater family--the family of humankind and
indeed all of life and the earth wch sustains life.
"All creatures are members of the one family of God"--Mohammed
Why should we narrowly define our "family" as those with whom we
share our household or country--and exclude all others. By labeling
them as "other" we end up demeaning,denigrating, dehumanizing and even
demonizing them. We do not help ourselves by debasing and dehumanizing others!
Our sense of self must expand to embrace/include all people.
We are to love all others as we love our selves(ourself).
If we do not rise to the challenge of this higher moral obligation
we will end up destroying ourselves.We have a moral duty not to destroy God's creation and our life support system.
What kind of world do we want to create?
If we do not change our present course we will create a world that is not worth living in! A world that is full of hatred and devoid of love is not worth living in!
Only love gives value to life.
Without love there can be no life!
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.
Love limited to one's country,loyalty confined to one's race,religion,community,attachment to one's family and identification of Self with one's body,are all alike the offspring of ignorance wch confines us to a cage of smaller or bigger dimensions.
Wars,religious conflicts,social injustice ,economic exploitation,and political tyrannies all spring from greed and selfishness(a narrow sense of self) born of the failure to realize the unity of all beings and creatures. All world teachers unanamously declare "oh man! If you want peace for yourself and others in the world,adjust your conduct to comply with the law of Love. Expand your vision and identity so as to embrace all fellow beings. Rise above narrow creeds and personal or national interests and embrace the common interest of humanity.
Man must undergo a transition to a new consciousnessand a new humanity.Man must embrace a global consciousness,by extending his empathy beyond blood ties and national identity .
He must broaden his empathy to include all creatures.
If we do not rise to the challenge and change our present behaviour and our path we will not survive.We must change or perish!
We are called on(challenged) not only to think but to act beyond our existing/usual limits in order to effect a positive improvement in the condition of the world. It is as simple as stretching to understand others.We are each unique and have a great deal to learn from one another.
We all love our family,but we are challenged to extend that same love wch we have for our family to our neighbor and our community,etc.
We are called upon to embrace our neighbor as a member of our family, and to love them as we love ourselves!
"Until he extends his circle of compassion to include all living things, man will not himself find peace."
-— Albert Schweitzer
Humanity's greatest need is unity!
--messenger of the One
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
All love is love of God!
If you are seeking closeness to the Beloved,
love everyone.
whether in their presence or absence,
see only their good.
if you want to be as clear and refreshing as
the breath of the morning breeze,
like the sun have nothing but warmth and light
for everyone.
~Shaikh Abu-Said Abil-Khair
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
A Love Story
There's an old story about a group of monks living with their master in a Tibetan monastery. Their lives were disciplined and dedicated, and the atmosphere in which they lived harmonious and peaceful. People from villages far and wide flocked to the monastery to bask in the warmth of such a loving spiritual environment.
Then one day the master departed his earthly form. At first the monks continued on as they had in the past, but after a time, the discipline and devotion that had been hallmarks of their daily routine slackened. The number of villagers coming through the doors each day began to drop, and little by little, the monastery fell into a state of disrepair.
Soon the monks were bickering among themselves, some pointing fingers of blame, others filled with guilt. The energy within the monastery walls crackled with animosity.
Finally, the senior monk could take it no longer. Hearing that a spiritual master lived as a hermit two days walk away, the monk wasted no time in seeking him out. Finding the master in his forest hermitage, the monk told him of the sad state the monastery had fallen into and asked his advice.
The master smiled. "There is one living among you who is the incarnation of God. Because he is being disrespected by those around him, he will not show himself, and the monastery will remain in disrepair." With those words spoken, the master fell silent and would say no more.
All the way back to the monastery, the monk wondered which of his brothers might be the Incarnated One.
"Perhaps it is Brother Jaspar who does our cooking," the monk said aloud. But then a second later thought, "No, it can't be him. He is sloppy and ill tempered and the food he prepares is tasteless."
"Perhaps our gardener, Brother Timor, is the one," he then thought. This consideration, too, was quickly followed by denial. "Of course not" he said aloud. "God is not lazy and would never let weeds take over a lettuce patch the way Brother Timor has."
Finally, after dismissing each and every one of his brothers for this fault or that, the senior monk realized there were none left. Knowing it had to be one of the monks because the master had said it was, he worried over it a bit before a new thought dawned. "Could it be that the Holy One has chosen to display a fault in order to disguise himself?" he wondered. "Of course it could! That must be it!"
Reaching the monastery, he immediately told his brothers what the master had said and all were just as astonished as he had been to learn the Divine was living among them.
Since each knew it was not himself who was God Incarnate, each began to study his brothers carefully, all trying to determine who among them was the Holy One. But all any of them could see were the faults and failings of the others. If God was in their midst, he was doing a fine job of hiding himself. Finding the Incarnated One among such rubble would be difficult, indeed.
After much discussion, it was finally decided that they would all make an effort to be kind and loving toward each another, treating all with the respect and honor one would naturally give to the Incarnated One. If God insisted on remaining hidden, then they had no recourse but to treat each monk as if he were the Holy One.
Each so concentrated on seeing God in the other that soon their hearts filled with such love for one another the chains of negativity that held them bound fell away. As time passed, they began seeing God not just in each other, but in every one and everything. Days were spent in joyful reverence, rejoicing in His Holy Presence. The monastery radiated this joy like a beacon and soon the villagers returned, streaming through the doors as they had before, seeking to be touched by the love and devotion present there.
It was some time later that the senior monk decided to pay the master another visit to thank him for the secret he had revealed.
"Did you discover the identity of the Incarnated One?" the master asked.
"We did," the senior monk replied. "We found him residing in all of us."
The master smiled.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Remove the beam (that impairs/obstructs your vision) from your own eye that you may see clearly the beauty and perfection in others.--J.C.
"When the power of love
overcomes the love of power,
the world will know peace."
—Anonymous
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.
We must love one another or die!
--W. H. Audin
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Every new child that is born is evidence that God has not yet given up on human beings!"--Tagore
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Hatred victimizes oneself more than the object of hatred!
"I call on you not to hate, because hatred does not leave space for a person to be fair, and it makes you blind and closes all doors of thinking.."
Genesis 9:3 Proverbs 4:20
"I will permit no man to reduce my soul to hatred."
Bokker T. Washington
If your heart is full of anger and hatred , where is there room for love!?
Guard well the contents of your heart!!
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Our capacity for appreciation/love is like a muscle wch becomes stronger the more it is exercised.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Love thy enemies and pray for those who persecute you.--Mathew 5:43
If you only love those who love you ,what credit is that to you?For even sinners love those who love them. --Luke 6:32
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
"I love the one who is incapable of ill will and returns love for hatred"--Bhagavad Gita
"No good tree bears bad fruit,nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.Each tree is recognized by it's own fruit.People do not pick figs from thornbushes,or grapes from briars.The good man brings good works out of the good stored up in his heart,and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart.For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks."
--Jesus-(-Luke 6:43-45)
Through our actions(good or bad works)we outwardly manifest or bring forth what is in us (our inner nature). What is within comes out. Each pot spills what is in it.
To do good is to do God's work in the world.We can serve the devil or we can serve the Lord!
Evil will cease when hatred and ill-will are eradicated from the hearts of men.
When men's hearts are filled with love there will be no more wars to fight.
www.thedashmogvie.com/
............................................................................................................................
Subject: Because of the universal law of "cause and effect" (give respect;get respect/Love begets love)( we get back what we put out)...IT IS ONLY PRUDENT TO BE KIND
Krishna,Buddha,Christ and Mohammed --founders of the world's great religions --all agreed/taught that love is the greatest virtue and the greatest value... and we must treat others as we wish to be treated.
When one's only moral compass is self-interest ,there is no consideration for the interests of others.
If the only "rule of law" that men are willing to heed and live by is the "law of the jungle" then there is no stopping men from treating each other with the ferocity of jungle beasts.
Why altruism paid off for our ancestors
What survival advantage does evolution grant to those capable of empathy,altruism and sacrificial love?
By becoming a better person we create a better world (for ourselves).If you do good by helping others,the world is improved and you then benefit by living in a better world.
The greater the population density,the greater the evolutionary pressure to select for empathic,cooperative,non-agressive,pro-social behavior.
Homo empathicus vs homo sapien
The Empathic Civilization
--Jeremy Rifkin
Empathy is the capacity to see from a second point of view,
Empathy--the capacity for compassion-- is part of our core nature!
19:00 07 December 2006
NewScientist.com news service
Richard Fisher
Humans may have evolved altruistic traits as a result of a cultural “tax” we paid to each other early in our evolution, a new study suggests.
The research also changes what we knew about the genetic makeup of our hunter-gatherer ancestors.
The origin of human altruism has puzzled evolutionary biologists for many years (see Survival of the nicest).
In every society, humans make personal sacrifices for others with no expectation that it will be reciprocated. For example, we donate to charity, or care for the sick and disabled. This trait is extremely rare in the natural world, unless there is a family relationship or later reciprocation.
One theory to explain how human altruism evolved involves the way we interacted as groups early in our evolution. Towards the end of the Pleistocene period – about 12,000 years ago – humans foraged for food as hunter-gatherers. These groups competed against each other for survival.
Group dynamics
Under these conditions, altruism towards other group-members would improve the overall fitness of the group. If an individual defended the group but was killed, any genes that the individual shared with the overall group would still be passed on.
Many researchers reject this , however. One reason is that competition between individuals is likely to increase if a group becomes isolated, and any altruistic behaviour would then decrease an individual’s level of fitness compared with other members.
Biologists also assume that hunter-gatherer groups around this time period would have been insufficiently genetically related to favour altruism. In other words, die when defending the group and your genes die with you.
Ancient ways
Now a new study by Samuel Bowles at the Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico, US, breathes new life into the . Bowles conducted a genetic analysis of contemporary foraging groups, including Australian aboriginals, native Siberian Inuit populations and indigenous tribal groups in Africa.
The genetic variation found within these modern-day groups was analysed and then used to estimate the kind of genetic variation that would have existed in ancestral populations of hunter-gatherer from the Pleistocene and early Holocene (150,000 to 10,000 years ago, combined). “These modern groups live today as most scholars believe our distant ancestors did,” Bowles explains.
He calculated that early human individuals were likely to be substantially more related to each other than previously thought. But Bowles found bigger genetic differences than expected between discrete groups of ancient peoples. These conditions would have favoured altruistic behaviour, says Bowles.
Challenging times
Bowles also worked out that early customs such as food sharing or monogamy could have levelled out the “cost” of altruistic behaviour, in the same way that income taxes redistribute income in society. He assembled genetic, climactic, archaeological, ethnographic and experimental data to examine the cost-benefit relationship of human cooperation in ancient populations.
In his , members of a group bearing genes for altruistic behaviour pay a "tax" by limiting their reproductive opportunities to benefit from sharing food and information, thereby increasing the average fitness of the group as well as their inter-relatedness. Bands of altruistic humans would then act together to gain resources from other groups at this challenging time in history.
For example, an injury may be one of the costs of defending the group during an intergroup conflict: a broken leg could be for an individual who may starve through being unable to obtain his own food. But food sharing would make it less of a risk for individuals to participate in these conflicts, Bowles says.
One-woman men
The archaeological and ethnographic data he used showed that 13% to 15% of foragers died from wars, which were common between groups. Bowles’s mathematical s suggest that altruism must have been a significant factor in these populations. Although Bowles admits that he has found no evidence for any gene for human altruism, he says that if such a genetic disposition were to exist, group conflict would have played an important role in its development.
Monogamy would also level the playing field within the group, he showed in his statistical analysis. “Monogamy limits the ability of the stronger or more aggressive males to monopolise copulation,” says Bowles. “Humans are very unusual in this way.”
Bowles’s paper is original, says Robert Boyd at the University of California, Los Angeles, US, who wrote an accompanying paper. A of the evolution of altruism based on group selection is now more plausible, he says. “I am still not completely convinced, but I am much more willing to entertain the hypothesis,” he says.
Journal reference: Science (vol 314, p 1569)
Related Articles
Survival of the nicest
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg19225772.500
11 November 2006
The selfish gene that learned to cooperate
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg19125643.800
12 August 2006
Pay up, you are being watched
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg18524914.900
19 March 2005
Choosing the high road
ReplyDeleteUNIVERSE WITHIN by Gwen Randall-Young
Back in the 1970s, Jonas Salk wrote a little book called The Survival of the Wisest. This was a shift from the older paradigm of “survival of the fittest.” The concept of the fittest surviving was based on strength, force, aggression, competition and win/lose.
In order to survive and thrive, Salk proposed there would have to be an inversion of those old values so that co-operation, understanding and finding win/win solutions replaced the old polarity/adversarial approach. He was envisioning humans evolving in a more positive direction.
Interestingly, evolution of the species can mirror evolution within the individual. Babies are completely self-centred and it takes years for them to learn to share or to consider the impact of their behaviour on others.
Becoming more evolved is not a given. Looking at ourselves and the people in our lives, we can see a variety of evolutionary levels at play. Consider a situation where someone does something another doesn’t like. The most primitive response is to beat up or even kill the offender. Still primitive, but a little less so, is a verbal attack. More evolved is to talk it over and try to come to some agreement or peace about the issue.
Evolving consciously is a choice. We can either go through life reacting from ego, much as we did as a child, or we can choose to access our inner wisdom and maturity. We have both capabilities within us. It is not always easy to take the high road, especially when dealing with one who is unevolved.
What does this look like in everyday life? We are coming from a more primitive, ego-driven place when we find ourselves engaged in blame, judgment, confrontation, polarity, anger, jealousy or any behaviour that is out of integrity.
We are coming from a more evolved place when we demonstrate encouragement, patience, openness, co-operation, helpfulness, kindness and being non-judgmental.
How evolved we choose to be has nothing to do with those around us and everything to do with how we choose to be in the world. It is easy to be evolved when all is going well. The difficult people and situations we encounter offer us the opportunity to practise being true to our highest self.
Ultimately, the most important relationship is the one we have with ourselves. Are we conducting ourselves in ways that, if we look back tomorrow or in 20 years, we can be free of regret? Are we speaking and acting in ways that could be aired on national television?
Choosing to evolve consciously requires we make a commitment to ourselves to not do or say things that are mean, negative, untrue or lacking in integrity. It requires we do this even in the face of temptation to just lash out.
Sometimes, it means we simply have to walk away from the situation or out of someone’s life. It requires the courage to let others know we will not participate in gossip or negativity. It may mean we lose friends who are uncomfortable with whom we are becoming.
Evolutionary change must first manifest in some individuals in a species. Some will not, in this lifetime, have the awareness that allows them to make more evolved choices. If you recognize the existence of a higher road, choose to walk that one.
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Gwen Randall-Young is an author and psychotherapist in private practice. For more of Gwen’s articles and information about her books, Self Care CDs and the new Creating Healthy Relationships series, visit www.gwen.ca.
We have a responsibility beyond our own lifespan--to our children and all the creatures whose existence depends upon the health of the earth!
ReplyDelete"A society grows great when men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in"
ReplyDelete--Greek Proverb
"When we have inner peace, we can be at peace with those around us. When our community is in a state of peace, it can share that peace with neighbouring communities and so on. When we feel love and kindness toward others, it not only makes others feel loved and cared for, but it helps us also to de velop inner happiness and peace."
Delete--Dalai Lama
"They drew a circle that shut me out.
ReplyDeleteBut love and I had the wit to win.
We drew a circle that took them in!"
_poet Edwin Markham
"Why good things happen to good people"
ReplyDeleteprofessor of bioethics at Case Western Reserve University, outlines, as the book's subtitle puts it, "the exciting new research that proves the link between doing good and living a longer, healthier life.
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ReplyDeletehttps://www.cbc.ca/radio/thesundayedition/the-sunday-edition-for-june-9-2019-1.5165327/co-living-apartments-offer-a-sense-of-community-for-on-the-go-millennials-1.5165343?__vfz=medium%3Dsharebar
ReplyDeleteEmpathy makes us human, but research suggests it may be on the decline
Empathy is considered such a core part of what it means to be a feeling, engaged human that people who lack empathy are thought to be lacking in humanity.
Some would go so far as to say that empathy — the emotional and moral imagination that allows us to put ourselves in the shoes of other people — is what makes us human.
But research suggests that empathy may be in decline in the West.
Sara Konrath is a Canadian social psychologist and the director of the Interdisciplinary Program on Empathy and Altruism Research at Indiana University. Her 2010 study found that younger generations in particular are less empathetic and more narcissistic.
Another study from the U.K. suggested British citizens feel empathy is taking a downward turn. Meanwhile, stories of increasing political polarization, the demonizing of refugees or desperate migrants from other parts of the world, and hate crimes would seem to point to the empathic impulse being overwhelmed by anger, anxiety, suspicion and prejudice.
People are burned out
While it's tempting to put the blame squarely on technology and social media, she believes a lot of factors come into play, from a long-term trend in Western societies becoming more individualistic, to something as basic as mental fatigue.
"I see these changes not just in empathy, but in social interaction and social connection ... and a lot of them are coming at the same time as we have increasing pressures, increasing competition, increasing desire for success, and increasing inequality," Konrath told The Sunday Edition's host Michael Enright, adding that she believes people are burned out.
"Even for people with really high empathy, they can go in ebbs and flows in their empathy. And I think it depends a lot on their energy levels. Did they sleep enough? Are they hungry? But I think for people who are higher in empathy, it's because they practice it regularly and it matters to them, and that means it's probably less draining for them."
Fritz Breithaupt, who also teaches at Indiana University and is the author of The Dark Sides of Empathy, says looser social ties, smaller families, greater time constraints and a preponderance of public figures who project self-absorption could also be eroding empathy.
The empathy paradox
But he argues there's a paradox at work — people seem to be increasingly selective about who they feel is worthy of empathy.
"We have certain triggers and blocks of empathy, and one of the strongest triggers of empathy is some dynamic of taking sides when we observe a conflict," Breithaupt said.
"It can be as harmless as a sports game, but it can also be an argument we witnessed or even political tensions. We tend to take a side very quickly, and then once we take a side, we take their perspective. We start to share their feelings and start to demonize the other side.
"So there's a dynamic where our selective mechanism that lets us feel empathy for some and not for others can have real political consequences and can exclude others."
The consequences of a continued decline in empathy — or a continued increase in selective empathy — could be profound and troubling, with real implications for the global community's ability to tackle such daunting challenges as climate change, inequality and mass human migration.
"Some self-interest is important," said Breithaupt. "But of course [if] it gets out of hand, then the super-rich become even more hyper-rich, and the poor would be forgotten ... So the negative scenario would be a brutal world full of competition."The
Against Empathy: Yale psychology professor says too much emotion leads to bad moral decisions
ReplyDeleteCompetition is the law of the jungle;
but cooperation is the law of civilization.