The Price of Altruism, and the Limits of Scientific Inquiry / Cena altruizma in omejitve znanstvenih raziskav
published: Nov. 22, 2010, recorded: October 2010, views: 4188
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The origin of kindness is a mystery. Where do giving and altruism come from: were they inherited on the wings of natural selection – a gift bestowed upon us via the inching, evolutionary march of sacrificial amoeba, selfless penguins, and charitable baboons? Or is altruism a unique refinement, a singular human triumph over ‘nature bloody in tooth in claw’? Darwin called this his greatest single riddle and ever since thinkers have tried to crack it.
Here is the mystery: If evolution is a process of survival of the fittest, and altruism is a behavior that reduces fitness, why do we find altruistic acts wherever we look in nature? Biological altruism is defined by the result of an action: if an amoeba acts in such a way as to reduce its own fitness while providing a fitness benefit to another, it is an altruist (a number of species of this single celled organism are known to sacrifice themselves for their brethren in times of dearth by building a death-inducing stalk from their own bodies upon which the rest of the colony can climb up to be carried away by a felicitous wind to better fortunes). Human, or psychological altruism, on the other hand, is all about intent: If I help an old lady cross the road because I have secret designs to be written into her will, then I am anything but a saint. Still, is there a connection between altruistic acts in amoeba – and altruism in humans? After all, just like the actions of the brainless miniature creature, the brain that allows us humans to act selflessly is a product of evolution.
Ever since Darwin, and really ever since Adam and Eve, we have sought to answer these riddles. In particular we have been interested in whether true, genuine altruism really exists. “Scratch an altruist and see an egoist bleed”, some say. Albert Shweitzer? Mother Theresa? The soldier jumping on a grenade to save his mates? Always, cynics say, whether consciously or not, sacrifice is driven by ulterior motives.
Izvor prijaznosti je skrivnost. Od kod prihajata dajanje in altruizem: sta podedovana na krilih naravne selekcije – darilo, ki smo ga dobili s počasnim napredovanjem evolucije od požrtvovalnih ameb, nesebičnih pingvinov in skrbnih pavijanov? Ali je altruizem unikatna oplemenitev, enkraten primer človeškega zmagoslavja nad surovostjo narave? Darwin ga je poimenoval največja uganka in vse odtlej se jo misleci trudijo razvozlati.
In skrivnost te uganke je naslednja: če je evolucija proces preživetja najboljših in je altruizem vedenje, ki zmanjšuje sposobnost preživetja (fitnes), zakaj lahko odkrijemo altruistično vedenje vsepovsod v naravi? Biološki altruizem je definiran s posledico dejanja: če ameba deluje tako, da pri tem zmanjša lastno sposobnost preživetja, a s tem omogoči boljšo možnost preživetja drugi amebi, je ta ameba altruist (pri mnogih vrstah teh enoceličnih organizmov poznamo primere, ko se na članica kolonije ameb v težkih razmerah žrtvuje za preživetje drugih članov kolonije tako, da zgradi iz svojega telesa steblo, po katerem lahko preostanek kolonije spleza in se izpostavi vetru, da jih ta reši in odnese v primernejše okolje, medtem ko njihova rešiteljica umre). Človeški ali psihološki altruizem je drugačen. Vedno izhaja iz namena: če bom pomagal stari gospe prečkati cesto, ker si obetam, da se me bo spomnila v svoji oporoki, potem sem vse kaj drugega kot svetnik. Pa kljub temu, ali obstaja kakšna vez med altruističnim dejanjem amebe in altruizmom pri ljudeh? Kajti tako kot vedenje miniaturne kreature brez možganov so tudi možgani, ki nam ljudem omogočajo nesebična dejanja, rezultat evolucije.
Vse od Darwina, pravzaprav vse od Adama in Eve, smo poskušali razrešiti te uganke. Še posebej nas zanima, ali pravi, resnični altruizem dejansko obstaja. Nekateri pravijo: »Popraskaj altruista in poglej, kako bo egoist zakrvavel «. Albert Shweitzer? Mati Tereza? Vojak, ki skoči na granato, da bi rešil soborca? Žrtvovanje, zavedno ali ne, vedno izhaja iz prikritih motivov, pravijo ciniki.
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