Altruistic behavior is
something we
might assume takes place every day. A person stops to help an elderly
member of society across a street, an adult donates his/her time at a
local charity, or someone else might even put himself or herself in
harm’s way for the immediate benefit of another without
really
thinking about the consequences. However, it’s not clear what
this sort of altruistic behavior actually comprises, or whether genuine
altruism really exists. Today’s episode digs into these
questions
about altruism from two main standpoints. The first is from Biology,
which considers how our conception of right and wrong may have been
wired into us through evolution. The second considers altruism from the
psychological standpoint. This view grants much more importance to the
role of an individual’s psychology and his/her intentions
when
committing an action, which potentially leaves more possibility for
genuinely altruistic acts to occur.