Whether or Not True Altruism Exists in the World - Research Paper Example

Many scientists and psychologists have discussed and researched this very topic and have tried to understand whether or not this act of altruism actually exists, a few constructive which have been talked about further during the scope of this paper. Pure and true altruism is very difficult to segregate from altruistic acts that people practice on a daily basis; it has been said that most people try to rub their own egos by being altruistic; that is, by donating old clothes or giving money to the poor and or helping charities is also a selfish act done by various individuals.

They might be giving away money in order to assist in the welfare of others; however, the true reason behind the entire act may be to benefit themselves by gaining recognition from society as harbingers of good. This may be understood better as X giving away clothes to a family that has suffered a loss due to a natural disaster not because of their loss but in order to be recognized by others as a philanthropist in society and gather goodwill thus. Thus, it becomes very difficult to understand whether people are truly gratuitous or if the entire act is merely on the basis of selfish needs.

There are many schools of thought that state that many people are merely obliged to be good to others and thus they carry out acts of kindness not because of their own virtue but because they may be told so by others or they are following others doing the same in order to be accepted in society. In an experiment carried out with young toddlers, it was found that altruism may not actually exist. Babies do not take time out to think before they act and thus they were used as the subjects of the experiment.

When older individuals think twice about the acts that they wish to carry out, it defeats the purpose of being truthful to oneself. The babies thus did not think twice and refused to share their milk and crackers with other children. However, they were then shown a video where two people were sharing their food with each other, following which they began to think about their acts and then share their food with each other, probably thinking what others might be thinking of them if they did not.

“Still, the research suggests that, whatever the motive, infants have an early sense of both traits, which are preverbal. They appear to develop their social behaviors just by watching others, which the authors suggest, could help adults understand more about how to foster that development in kids from a young age. In fact, argue the authors, it's even possible that babies are more likely to be altruistic than older people because they think less about it. Study author Jessica Sommerville says that "Some researchers have suggested that young children and infants may be more blindly altruistic than older children and adults because they don't yet possess the ability to be discerning.” (Walton, A) Young children have a tendency to not think before they act and that is why when they share their food or toys with others, it is deemed to be a truly altruistic act as compared to adults that share their things with others because they do it after thinking twice and taking into account an egoistic approach.