Even babies can be selfless
In an experiment, toddlers helped others, although that was a disadvantage for them and they did not know the beneficiary.
Why altruism is so successful.
05.02.2020, 04:14 a.m.
One and a half year-olds already recognize when others need help and act
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A researcher and a one and a half year old baby are sitting at a table. The child is hungry because it is actually meal time. The researcher apparently accidentally drops a banana. Without a word, she struggles to reach the fruit that has fallen right at the feet of the hungry child. What will it do : Grab the banana and eat it herself or return it?
Researchers at the University of Washington have taken the test, they report in the journal “Scientific Reports” . Result: after all, every third toddler picked up the fallen fruit and gave it back.
If they weren’t hungry, more than half of the children helped.
For the researchers, this is a sign that even one and a half year olds can act selflessly, even if it is to their own disadvantage and they do not know the beneficiary.”Selflessness is a crucial human quality and an important part of the moral fabric of our society,” said Rodolfo Cortes Barragan, one of the study authors. “We wanted to know where this typical human behavior comes from.” To do this, the researchers examined the behavior of around a hundred children at the age of 18 months.
Even gray parrots help fellow species members without any direct reward
Whether a child helped or not depended crucially on the behavior of the adult. If he wastr visibly trying to get ahold of the fallen fruit, many children spontaneously wanted to help.
On the other hand, if the adult made no move to get the food, the children would sit motionless. Who wants to make the first move?
From an evolutionary perspective, selfless behavior pays off. For example, many species of birds help their parents raise additional chicks.
The reason: siblings with the same parents are just as closely related to each other as parents with their children; on average they share half of their genes.
Whoever supports brother and sister therefore ensures that their own genome is asserted. Some animals, such as worker bees, even completely forego their own reproduction to aid their siblings.
Selfless willingness to help is not only found among relatives in the animal kingdom. African gray parrots help their peers even without any consideration.
In a recent experiment , a gray parrot female named Bella was able to switch food types: with one, only she got something to eat, with the other also her bestie, Kimmee.
Once Bella understood the principle, she almost always chose the kind of food where Kimmee also got food.
People don’t always help, but they can
No animal has perfected this form of cooperation as much as humans.
Only Homo sapiens goes to work every day because he trusts thtto he willbe paid for it. He spontaneously lets other people at the checkout gow first who only want to buy a carton of milk and holds the door open for others if they don’t have a hand free. He doesn’t always help, but he can. It is something in him.
Studies indicate that social behavior is innate in humans. However, selflessness has its limits. Those who know each other are more likely to help each other.
And people are especially helpful when they think the other person is a decent sort.
In an experiment, buyers were more likely to be given priority when they were buying milk. If they had a beer in their hand, they usually had to wait in line. 😉
“If we could figure out how to promote selfless behavior in our children,” says study author Barragan, “it could bring us closer to a helpful society.”
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…..My comment
Here again at the Mayo Clinic, in a sea of Norwegians and Germans, and almost zero jews 😉 you can feel an overwhelming helpfulness.
What a pleasure to live in such a subculture! Some day it will be the norm!
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