"Do Kinder People Have an Evolutionary Advantage?"

[onestepforward]

http://www.alternet.org/health/145888/do_kinder_people_have_an_evolutionary_advantage?page=1

Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, are challenging long-held beliefs that human beings are wired to be selfish. In a wide range of studies, social scientists are amassing a growing body of evidence to show we are evolving to become more compassionate and collaborative in our quest to survive and thrive.

In contrast to "every man for himself" interpretations of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection, Dacher Keltner, a UC Berkeley psychologist and author of "Born to be Good: The Science of a Meaningful Life," and his fellow social scientists are building the case that humans are successful as a species precisely because of our nurturing, altruistic and compassionate traits.

They call it "survival of the kindest."

"Because of our very vulnerable offspring, the fundamental task for human survival and gene replication is to take care of others," said Keltner, co-director of UC Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center. "Human beings have survived as a species because we have evolved the capacities to care for those in need and to cooperate. As Darwin long ago surmised, sympathy is our strongest instinct."

snip-

Overall, these and other findings at UC Berkeley challenge the assumption that nice guys finish last, and instead support the hypothesis that humans, if adequately nurtured and supported, tend to err on the side of compassion.

"This new science of altruism and the physiological underpinnings of compassion is finally catching up with Darwin's observations nearly 130 years ago, that sympathy is our strongest instinct," Keltner said.

This article helps to reinforce what I've always believed... and why I could never be an anti-empathetic and selfish republican.

[NRaleighLiberal]

1. What I do find remarkable - our family is quite empathetic and sensitive, in general -

is how many hard-ass, don't give a shit people we interact with on a daily basis -at work, in stores, even friends. Odd - I was bullied a bit when I was young, never cared to be a joiner, popular, etc....but my parents taught me to be myself, believe in myself and be good to people. My wife is the same way. Our two girls ended up the same way. We wouldn't be any different - it's a wonderful way to go through life.

[onestepforward]

13. My parents raised me very similar to yours

and it is the greatest gift they gave me. Your daughters are very fortunate to have wonderful parents. :)

[NRaleighLiberal]

33. Thanks so much - right back at you! My wife and I are fortunate to have wonderful girls.

They've been through a lot. My oldest was in the Peace Corps in Madagascar for two years - midway through she had a medical emergency and we almost lost her. My youngest developed Anorexia at 18, and we almost lost her. Right now, at 28 and 24, they are certainly going in the right direction....and both have great attitudes and treat people with respect and kindness (although, being as liberal as mom and dad, they have to hold their tongues a lot these days...and sometimes fail to do so...again just like mom and dad!).

My wife and I consider every day that they wake up and draw a breath a great gift to us both.

[NRaleighLiberal]

34. delete - dupe post

delete

[valerief]

2. Oh, yes, industry leaders and state leaders are soooo kind. NOT. nt

[Warpy]

3. In some cases, yes

I know I'll give my last quarter to someone who is non aggressive, I've done it. If an aggressive person demands to know where something of mine is, s/he is SOL on getting a straight answer.

However, in a total breakdown when either food or water is extremely scarce, the aggressive asshole might have the advantage, although I'd just wait for him/her to go away before I set up that solar still for water or start wildcrafting for desert plants I know will sustain life, both of which I'll share with other co operative people.

[onestepforward]

19. I agree.

An aggressive asshole may benefit in the short-term, but this type of person will not benefit in the long-term. Besides basic human respect, I will not help an asshole.

[arbusto_baboso]

4. This is why I hate shows like Survivor.

They give us the mistaken impression that humans "survive" by screwing one another over. Historically, more humans survive when they cooperate. Indeed, civilization is only possible because of cooperation.

[G_j]

5. absolutely

and shows like Springer, always going for the lowest common denominator,
searching for the worst in human nature.

[knixphan]

31. Seconded!

[slampoet]

10. Bingo. If anyone read a book they'd realize the tribes that survivor take its names from...

....were more or less cooperative with others and were CERTAINLY cooperative within the tribe.

[unblock]

12. even that's not entirely the case.

survivor starts off with teams where you do have to cooperate, at least within your team, to survive.
within the teams, alliances form and there is further cooperation within the alliance.

the format of the show imposes an artificial force on the players that whittles it down one by one. eventually, only one "survives" which pits team vs. team, alliance vs. alliance, and eventually individual vs. individual.

by the end of the contest, it's all about self-interest, but ONLY because the rules have removed all possibility of a mutually beneficial outcome.

do you think the survivor producers would permit the last two people to just agree to end the show and split the money? no, they created conditions of contest designed to preclude cooperation, at least by the end of the contest.


i think it shows people are inherently cooperative -- they had to come up with some pretty unrealistic settings and rules in order to squelch it.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

64. That's because the reward is unrealistic: only one winner.

In Nature, there can be many winners (even if there are more losers).

[Betsy Ross]

6. So are compassionate people more evolutionarily advanced?

Either way, I believe there is a biological predisposition for certain behaviors such as compassion. And I think it is at the root of much political conflict. This is not a black or white matter, life experience can easily override predisposition.

[Raschel]

63. Of course we're more evolved. Look at us compared to Freepers.

:hi:

[Lyric]

7. That enormous WHIRRing sound is Ayn Rand

doing outraged cartwheels in her grave. Good article!

:D

[onestepforward]

16. I thought this too.

I didn't know much about Rand until reading about her in the recent posts here on DU. The more I learned about her the more creeped-out I felt. :)

[G_j]

8. family, & thus community, generally furthers itself through cooperation and nurturing

it makes sense.

If we were all on a spaceship (which we sort of are,) we would fare far better by looking out for each other.

[onestepforward]

14. Good point.

I couldn't agree more.

[followthemoney]

9. The problem with this theory is that one only needs to be...

Mr. Wonderful until she is pregnant.

How many people feel pregnant and screwed over by sweet talking politicians who turn out to be no good ass holes after they are elected?

Then they make abortion illegal. Or make recall elections illegal.

[slampoet]

11. You are mistaken. In order to pass on the genes the child must survive into adulthood to reproduce.

[followthemoney]

15. That is what kind hearted sucker Moms and voters are for. nt

[slampoet]

17. Sentence context do have you?

[followthemoney]

24. If ass-holes were not evolutionary successes, there would not be

so many of them today.

I rest my case.

[seabeyond]

26. and look how we are sinking. and as we wise up and quit being such assholes, betcha

you will see a more successful people, community, nation

[Mike 03]

18. Wow, I love this post and hope it is true.

I don't see this in my town, but I do feel very conflicted, just speaking for myself. I have tried to advise people to stock up on water, food and medical supplies, and they don't do it, and I end up stocking up for all of them, in the event something bad happens. But it makes me angry that I have to do this, that my family and neighbors don't make any effort to prepare for the possibility of the unpredictable.

[NashVegas]

20. I Disagree

Sorry to be such a Debbie downer, but the appearance of kindness is what gets you laid.

[AllenVanAllen]

22. "the appearance of kindness is what gets you laid"

This may be true for short term gratification but for a deep fulfilling connection you need true kindness and compassion.

[Incitatus]

23. Yes, but there is more to your genes survival than getting laid.

If you are a selfish prick you might get laid, but don't expect many people to be around when you need help. You might not live long enough to get laid and you might not live as long as kinder people and therefore not get laid as often.

[DoBotherMe]

21. I took Elwood P. Dowd's advice long ago

Years ago my mother used to say to me, she'd say, "In this world, Elwood, you must be" - she always called me Elwood - "In this world, Elwood, you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant." Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant. You may quote me.

It seemed like a simple instruction that I might be able to follow. Dana ; )

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042546/quotes

[Canuckistanian]

25. This is the great question, isn't it?

Are we as a human species bucking the trend as far as self-preservation is concerned or are we furthering our own evolution as part of a communal, self-fostering society?

I'm sure the Randians would LIKE us to devolve into savage, "me-first-fuck-you" individuals, but I like to think that societal competition should be extremely limited and that communal efforts should be praised and encouraged.

Anyone who denies that the great evolutionary advantage we had is co-operation is deluding themselves. Without it, we'd still be scavenging for carrion on the Serengeti Plains.

[athenasatanjesus]

27. Kinder people give everybody else an evolutionary advantage.nt

[Joe the Liberal]

28. I don't buy it, kind people just get stomped on.....

why do you think there are so many self-centered asshole-ish people at the very top of...well...everything?

[seabeyond]

30. that is such bullshit, and stupid beside that. kind does not mean doormat. i have never understood

the person that has to equate kind with a doormat. i have never been a doormat in my life. i have been kind my whole life, without much of a challenge. and i never get stomped on, lol lol, but i do have a pretty damn good life.

[NRaleighLiberal]

35. I completely disagree. I got stomped on, picked myself off, and stayed true to my nature.

There is a difference between kindness and weakness.

[Mopar151]

48. Because I occuppy an odd niche in motorsports

I have had occassion to source obscure parts from some top shops. If you are polite enough to not waste their time and respect their knowledge, they will go out of their way to help you, and the price will be fair. "And call me, let me know how it worked!"

[Joe the Liberal]

29. Dupe. n/t

[The2ndWheel]

32. "successful as a species precisely because of our nurturing, altruistic and compassionate traits"

We're successful as a species because we're greedy, and not kind, or altruistic. We're successful because we've expanded, without concern for other species. We're successful because we consume more and more energy from the environment, and want even more. That's utterly selfish. We're successful as a species because we don't share. Any meaningful inch of dirt on this planet is part of a human institution. We're successful as a species because we force and use other species to be the experiment for human progress, and not in anything which resembles a give-and-take relationship.

We're successful, because when you really look at it, we don't care. Kinder. What a total load of crap.

[NRaleighLiberal]

36. There is a species continuing to exist, and times when it moves forward.

I don't think greed moves us forward. I think creativity, courage and kindness and empathy do. At least that's how we've lived our lives in our family....and we are at peace and pretty damn happy. Without having screwed anyone.

[Cerridwen]

44. Please define success. n/t

[The2ndWheel]

53. Success as a species

I'm going by what the article said. Success as defined by where we are as a species, in comparison to all other life on this planet. We dominate it.

We don't want "green"(whatever that means) energy because we give a damn. We want it because we think it will give us more energy to play with. That's greed. For good or bad, that's greed.

Within our own species we may be compassionate, here and there. But the overall success of our species is because we consume more, quicker. Think of each species as a corporation, and the planet as the government. The government tries to regulate the corporations. Sometimes, the corporation will find a way to write the legislation which governs them. Our species is the Exxon of the planet. The Wal-Mart of the planet. The Monsanto. The same way Exxon(or whichever one you want to pick) doesn't really like the limits that government regulation places on them, our species doesn't like the physical limits of the planet either. If we lived within those limits, nothing that is March 6th, 2010 would be.

[Crunchy Frog]

37. Read anything by primatologist Frans de Waal.

He has been studying these issues for many years. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frans_de_Waal

"The possibility that empathy resides in parts of the brain so ancient that we share them with rats should give pause to anyone comparing politicians with those poor, underestimated creatures."

[EFerrari]

40. LOL! Sub-rats then!

[mopinko]

58. or read "the moral animal" by robert wright

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Moral_Animal

this is what you find out when you accept evolution, and look at what it actually means to be a naked ape.
it's a lot more complicated than kind or mean.

[KittyWampus]

38. Well, the Reductionist world view certainly falls apart when one tries to account for altruism

along with other aspects of reality.

But it's hilarious watching them try to keep their balls in the air.

[Fumesucker]

39. There are so many kind people at the top of our socioeconomic and political systems..

If you believe that I have a great deal on pre-owned bridge properties in NY City..

[Cerridwen]

43. What would indicate our "socioeconomic and political systems" are

pro-evolutionary?

Looking around, it appears those, as well as other systems, are hell-bent on killing us.

[Fumesucker]

59. Everything is "evolutionary" in that everything effects evolution..

Evolution has no ultimate goal, it is just a process that works toward fitting a given species for the particular environment it is part of.

[AllenVanAllen]

46. The 1% at the top exhibit anti-social behavior.

They're going against human nature. The reason the "ruling class" spreads the message of me being more important than we, because it helps secure their place in society.
Humans have been so successful because we care about each other. In the long run being kind goes far further in creating deep and lasting happiness than being selfish and cruel.

[cameozalaznick]

41. Yes... that's what was meant by...

"The meek shall inherit the earth."

[Fumesucker]

61. That's the only damn way the meek are going to get anything, inherit it..

And if you have some real assholes in your family you might even lose your inheritance, I've seen that happen several times in my life.

[Cerridwen]

42. OT but perhaps fitting in this thread.

I have no idea why I was looking for this word but I found this etymology:

compete
1620, from Fr. compéter "be in rivalry with," from L.L. competere "strive in common," in L., "to come together, agree, to be qualified," later, "strive together," from com- "together" + petere "to strive, seek" (see petition). Rare 17c., and regarded early 19c. as a Scottish or Amer.Eng. word.

petition (n.)
early 14c., "a supplication or prayer, especially to a deity," from O.Fr. peticiun (12c.), from L. petitionem (nom. petitio) "a request, solicitation," noun of action from petere "to require, seek, go forward," also "to rush at, attack," ult. from PIE base *pet-/*pte- "to rush, to fly" (cf. Skt. patram "wing, feather, leaf," patara- "flying, fleeting;" Hittite pittar "wing;" Gk. piptein "to fall," potamos "rushing water," pteryx "wing;" O.E. feðer "feather;" L. penna "feather, wing;" O.C.S. pero "feather;" O.Welsh eterin "bird"). Meaning "formal written request to a superior (earthly)" is attested from early 15c. The verb is c.1600, from the noun. link

Not until 1620 would it become "be in rivalry with." In the grand scope of history, that is a recent history.

[bridgit]

45. Offering & receiving kindness & hospitality is important in human relations...

[aikoaiko]

47. Iterative Prisoners Dilemma Games demonstrated the utility of cooperation and occasionally cheating

For many social species there is an equilibrium of sorts between cooperation and competition among individuals.

[onestepforward]

49. There is a good documentary about this

by Richard Dawkins called "Nice Guys Finish First." From Wiki:

"Nice Guys Finish First (BBC Horizon television series) is a 1986 documentary by Richard Dawkins which discusses selfishness and cooperation, arguing that evolution often favors co-operative behaviour, and focusing especially on the tit for tat strategy of the prisoner's dilemma game. The film is approximately 45 minutes long and was produced by Jeremy Taylor.

The twelfth chapter in Dawkins' book The Selfish Gene (added in the second edition, 1989) is also named Nice Guys Finish First and explores similar material.

Overview
In the opening scene, Richard Dawkins responds very precisely to what he views as a misrepresentation of his first book The Selfish Gene. In particular the response of the right wing for using it as justification for social darwinism and laissez-faire economics (free-market capitalism). Richard Dawkins has examined this issue throughout his whole career and focused much of the recent documentary, The Genius of Charles Darwin on this very issue.

The concept of reciprocal altruism is a central theme of this documentary. Dawkins also examines the tragedy of the commons and the dilemma that it presents. He uses the large area of common land Port Meadow in Oxford, England which has been hurt by overgrazing as an example of the tragedy of the commons. Fourteen academics as well as experts in game theory submitted their own computer programs to compete in a tournament to see who would win in the prisoner's dilemma. The winner was tit for tat. A program which is based on "equal retaliation" and Dawkins illustrates the four conditions of tit for tat.

1.Unless provoked, the agent will always cooperate.
2.If provoked, the agent will retaliate.
3.The agent is quick to forgive.
4.The agent must have a good chance of competing against the opponent more than once."

For anyone interested, you can view this documentary (5 parts) here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/Sadochrist#p/u/14/CAbMTCoLtR0

[AllenVanAllen]

50. "Sympathy is indeed wired into our brains and bodies,

and it spreads from one person to another through touch," - Dacher Keltner, a UC Berkeley psychologist

I believe this speaks to our interconnected nature. We are not independent but dependent on each other and that being kind is literally good for us and helps facilitate our connections with one another.

http://www.ed2010.com/files/images/helping+hand_0.thumbnail.jpg

[tom_paine]

51. The current state and massive trending in our modern America, sadly, seems to fully disprove this

apparently wishful thinking laid out in this article.

I would LIKE it to be true, but from the current state of our nation I would say that sociopaths have the evolutionary advantage and NO structure We the People can create can stop them or even slow them down at all.

Robber Barons in at the beginning of the 20th Century, reduced in power by the New Deal, now dismantled and we have Robber Barons again.

The same situation with our "Media as Watchdog".

The same for colonized nations, who broke free in that great en masse independence of the 1960s.

Recolonized by WTO, IMF and all the rest of the "economic hit men".

I WISH this article were true, but the current data suggests just the opposite.

It suggest that human beings will continue to struggle vainly against the usually fatal (to everyone else) combination of the Rich, Mean & Gullible, who are by far the largest group of the three.

We will break free now and again, in some countries, for short periods of time, but eventually the sociopaths will find a new skin in which to dress an old snake.

[seabeyond]

55. current data would confirm.... the complete opposite of what you say.

with people being the biggest asses, selfish, greed and self centeredness, look at the mess we are living in and how much worse it is getting. seems to confirm the theory that ugly is not condusive to a good life for the whole

[tom_paine]

60. I think we are actually saying the exact same thing.

We are just saying it in different ways.

Yes, I agree with you it's not conducive to live as a whole.

So what? Human life as a whole will probably be extinct in 5000 years, maybe a lot less.

I am just saying what reality is in terms of the evolutionary adaption, since the biggest asses of humanity, authoritarians and sociopaths, are once again back in the saddle.

It's just that that evolutionary adaption is a dead end.

So I think we are ultimately in agreement.

[conspirator]

52. Google "Law of Requesite Variety". Being good all the time is not good

You have to be selfish and kind depending which one benefits you the most in the given Context.

[seabeyond]

56. but then, being at my most selfishness also is the kindness. because

i want it all, by giving others respect, love, altruism, it ultimately gives me and rewards me the most. so i know, by giving to others, i am receiving everything i need. ultimate in selfish

[rucky]

54. This makes more sense to me than the prevailing belief in America.

[Cetacea]

57. Yes. I am proof of that.

[G_j]

62. k

[AllenVanAllen]

65. This reminds me of a quote from the film

"The Great Dictator"

We all want to help one another. Human beings are like that. We want to live by each other's happiness, not by each other's misery. We don't want to hate and despise one another. In this world there is room for everyone, and the good earth is rich and can provide for everyone. The way of life can be free and beautiful, but we have lost the way. Greed has poisoned men's souls, has barricaded the world with hate, has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in. Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical; our cleverness, hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery, we need humanity. More than cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost.

- Charlie Chaplin