The QUESTION – An Ideological Gauntlet featuring Alex Buche and Quinn Proudler
In this week’s edition, our contestants debate the topic of altruism.
Alex
The concept of altruism is all about a moral obligation to benefit the lives others, to act in a selfless way to positively influence the world around us. Webster defines it as the “unselfish regard for or devotion to the welfare of others.” In other words, being charitable, caring, and willing to make sacrifices to improve the lives of those who you may not even know. Altruism itself is a subjective term. What defines being ‘charitable,’ or ‘selfless’ depends greatly on the moral compass that an individual operates under. Almost every major religion has fundamental pillars which center around the idea of living a meaningful life by being good to others. Whether you are religious or not, there must be some underlying principles that govern your life. If those are acts we commonly associate withs selflessness and goodness, the individual is definitionally altruistic.
Quinn
Have you ever done something good simply for the sake of doing good? Has an action you committed ever benefited a person without them knowing? If you answered yes to both of these questions, you would be a prime example of an altruistic person. You additionally would be a flat out liar. The question of altruism is not a question in my mind, but instead a flat out unreachable ideal. It would be fantastic if people acted for the good of others without thought for themselves but biology and reason tell us differently.
First, let’s examine a fundamental question, why do we do acts of good? Many argue that it is because humans are by nature inclined to be sympathetic towards one another, but anyone that has seen animal planet knows that animals could care less what becomes of their kin. At the end of the day, humans are just animals evolved enough to wear denim. With this in place, we can now look at why people do seemingly altruistic acts. From a young age we are presumably taught right from wrong and given certain guidelines to live our lives. When we follow these guidelines we are rewarded by the approval of society. This is essential since humans are if nothing else, pack animals, that depend on the respect of their fellows. With this logic, it could be concluded that humans only do good in order to be seen better on the societal stage. This argument doesn’t hold water though against those that would do acts of good behind the peering eyes of their peers. Proponents would say that these individuals would be the altruistic one’s. This is as far from the truth as one could get. When people do anything, the brain send signals telling the person how they should feel, thus making us happy, angry, guilty, or sad. These signals, or rewards, are the pinnacle of our motivation for everything. When Jon Smith gives money to the homeless joe while no one is watching, he feels a sense of pride and accomplishment. In other terms, he is rewarded for his efforts. If he does not, then a guilty feeling will pass over him like a shadow. This example shows that Jon seemingly only donates in order to not feel guilt and to receive that coveted bit of dopamine given by doing the right thing. Altruism is a lie.