Natural Selection And Altruism

Altruism is defined as the behavior of a person when they have a desire to help others and do so with a lack of selfishness or need of compensation. From a biological psychology point of view, a person may have an inner drive (biological) to perform a good deed (behavior). These biological processes that affect a person to be altruistic may be caused by a person’s hormones, processes of the amygdala, or their genetics in regards to evolution. A person’s hormones play a major role in determining how one will behave. Hormones are messengers made by the endocrine system that travel throughout the bloodstream to the appropriate area to cause a certain reaction. These hormones aid in different bodily functions like metabolism, reproduction, or

However, many people are affected by their genes to have a certain personality or to excel in some skills versus others. Evolutionary Psychology is the field of psychology that studies the change over time of our behaviors and minds using the values of Natural Selection. Studying evolutionary psychology shows a person that those behaviors impact the way human beings and other species survive. Natural Selection is the belief that certain genes or behaviors of a species that are among a variety of trait variations will aid in the reproduction of their offspring. These genes and behaviors will most likely get passed on to the next generation and so on. In most species of the animal kingdom, being selfish or guarding one’s territory is beneficial in that organism’s survival. Likewise, some humans act that way, too. This is a strategic behavior that has been influenced by genes since the dawn of dinosaurs. But, being the species we are who have higher thinking, we know that it is necessary to nurture and take care of other humans in order to sustain our posterity of the next generation and many more to come. Each one of us has been a first-hand account of altruism. When a baby is born, it is not ready to go out into the world and be self-reliant. A parent or guardian must raise this child until they are a full-grown adult and provide everything for this child from food to clothing to shelter. Even when those children become adults, there will be other people ranging in ages that might need to be taken care of, too, like the poor, homeless, elderly, or terribly sick. Altruism seems to be a naturally selected behavior in a sense that guarantees the longevity of life and offspring. In a way, altruism is an innate behavior that determines the success of our