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Altruistic vs selfish behavior
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Altruism: Selfless or Selfish?
"We are all here on earth to help others. What I can't figure out is what the others are here for." --W. H. Auden (1)
Whether we are here to help others is a question I've often asked myself, and a question I will not be able to answer while I am still here on earth. Perhaps before I even consider that question, however, I should wonder whether we even can be here to help others: is selflessness really possible? Or is "altruism" merely doing things for others in order to feel good about ourselves? If human altruism exists, how does our neural system deal with it?
The issue of altruism is complicated by the lack of agreement about many aspects of it, including its very definition. The word altruism, which comes from the Italian altrui, was coined in 1851 by August Comte to refer to benevolence (2). Although not everyone agrees today on what precisely altruism entails, the most basic definition is seeking the welfare of others (1). This definition is often extended, however, to include the necessity of some personal sacrifice on the part of the altruist; Edward O. Wilson defined altruism as "self-destructive behavior performed for the benefit of others" (1), (3). There is also an idea of reciprocal altruism, which is self-sacrificing behavior with the expectation that the favor will be returned eventually (4). If this behavior is motivated by the desire for future reward, it does not really fit the generally accepted definitions of altruism.
In nonhuman animals, altruism is mainly seen in the form of one animal sacrificing or risking its life to save another. Studies of animals by researchers such as Hamilton, who worked with bees who sacrifice themselves to allow the queen to produce of...
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2) Altruism
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01369a.htm
3) Give Until It Hurts: Altruism and Advertising
http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~taflinge/altruism.html
4) Biology, Evolution and the Global Brain
http://www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/2/2102/1.html
5) A justification of societal altruism according to the memetic application of Hamilton's rule
http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/Conf/MemePap/Evers.html#fnB0
6) The Evolution of Reciprocal Sharing
http://weber.ucsd.edu/~jmoore/publications/Recip.html
7) The Problem of Altruism
http://www.spectacle.org/297/alt.html
8) Evolution, Altruism and Genetic Similarity Theory
http://www.euvolution.com/gensim01.html
9) Sex Differences in Altruism
http://www.west.net/~wwmr/altruism.htm
10) Thinking with the Heart and Feeling with the Brain
http://www.ecdgroup.com/guestdoc/indiaecd.html
According to the article, Altruism and helping behavior, it is common for people to help others. Altruism is defined as “the desire to help another person even if it doesn’t benefit the helper” (Altruism and Helping Behavior. Print.). Helping behavior is “any act that is intended to benefit another person”
Oates, Joyce C. "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been"" N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2014.
One day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich is not a book about a superhuman. It is not a story about someone who is weaker and more desperate than everyone else. It is not a tale of greatness, nor is it about extraordinary faults. Instead, Aleksander Solzhenitsyn chose to center his story around Ivan denisovich Shukhov, an average, unnoticeable Russian prisoner.
Joyce Carol Oates' "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" is about a young girl's struggle to escape reality while defying authority and portraying herself as a beauty queen; ultimately, she is forced back to reality when confronted by a man who symbolizes her demise. The young girl, Connie, is hell- bent on not becoming like her mother or sister. She feels she is above them because she is prettier. She wants to live in a "dream world" where she listens to music all day and lives with Prince Charming. She does not encounter Prince Charming but is visited by someone, Arnold Friend, who embodies the soul of something evil. Arnold Friend symbolizes "Death" in that he is going to take Connie away from the world she once knew. Even if she is not dead, she will never be the same person again, and will be dead in spirit. With the incorporation of irony, Oates illustrates how Connie's self-infatuation, her sole reason for living, is the reason she is faced with such a terrible situation possibly ending her life.
Anorexia Nervosa placed third behind asthma and type 1 diabetes as the most chronic disease which affects young people. It is estimated that teens and young adults betwixt the ages 15 and 24 who suffer from Anorexia have 10 times the chance of dying when compared to those of similar age. Of individuals with anorexia, only .25% are males which is why most times its after death males are identified as being anorexic. About 10% individuals die from complications of the disease. That number duplicates to about 20% if combined with the patients who have anorexia and who suicide, thus making it the most life-threatening and fatal mental disease in
Oates, Joyce Carol. “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been”. Backpack Literature. An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. Ed. X.J. Kennedy & Dana Gioia. 4th ed. New Jersey: Pearson, 2006. (323-336). Print.
Joyce M. Wegs, '"Don't You Know Who I Am?': The Grotesque in Oates's 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?'," in The Journal of Narrative Technique, Vol. 5, No. 1, January, 1975, pp. 66-72.
King Mufasa showed true altruism when he rescued Simba from the stampede. Altruism is an unselfish desire to help someone else without regard to personal welfare or safety. Some psychologists argue that in reality, altruistic acts are in fact motivated by self-interests such as to present one's self as powerful, caring,
Oates, Joyce C. "Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been?" Compact Literature. By Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell. 8th ed. Boston: Wadsworth, 2013. 505-16. Print.
... a Satyr in Oates.’ ‘Where Are You Going; Where Have You Been?’” Studies in Short Fiction. Vol. 27 Issue 4 (Fall 1990): 537. Academic Search Complete. Web. 2 November 2013.
...Joan. "The Shadow of a Satyr in Oates `Where Are You Going, Where...” Studies in Short Fiction 27.4 (1990): 537-544.Academic Search Complete. Web. 2 Apr. 2014.
Susan Wolf, born in 1952, is widely considered one of the greatest philosophers of the 20th and 21st century. One of Wolf’s most renowned works is The meanings of Lives, which drew a lot of attention in the philosophical world for a number of questions that arose from it. Arguably her most widely debated and questioned assertion in The meanings of Lives is “If you care about yourself you’re living as if you’re the center of the universe, which is false.” This however I don’t not believe to be true. Every human being, no matter how successful or unsuccessful, has the right to care for them sleeves and not believe they are the center of the universe while doing so.
Reader Response Essay - Joyce Carol Oates's Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?
How do humans actually behave when faced with the decision to help others? The innate desire that compels humans to help is called altruism by psychologists. Through this feeling, humans transform from a selfish jerk to a more compassionate and caring person. Some psychologists believe that this feeling stems from nature itself. Despite the fact that some altruistic acts originate from the pressures of society, altruism predominantly comes from the survival of the fittest, the feeling of empathy, and the selfish desire to benefit your own kin.
For someone who believes in psychological egoism, i t is difficult to find an action that would be acknowledged as purely altruistic. In practice, altruism, is the performance of duties to others with no view to any sort of personal...