Download Empathy and Human Rights

Empathy and Human Rights
Altruism Evolvution in the
Human Species
Altruism
• Altruism is any act one does that benefits
another without benefitting oneself
Altruism – a Human Trait
• Altruism – acting selflessly appears much
more in the human species than in any
other.
• Natural Selection is the passing on of
genes that benefit an individual’s survival
– natural selection implies competition
between individuals.
• If you benefit someone else, you’re hurting
your own chance of survival
How can Altruistic Behavior Aid
Survival?
• Maternal Care
• Warning behaviors in pack or communal
animals
Consider Early Humans:
• Nomadic
• Traveled in groups
BRAINSTORM
• With the people around you:
• Identify some of the things early humans
might have done to help each other
• For each act – identify how this might aid
in the individual’s survival:
– Consider: reward/payback, self-preservation
Domestication of Dogs
• Took advantage of wild dogs natural
behaviors:
– Pack behavior – dominance vs. docility
– Allegiance to group
• Humans fed and protected those wild dogs
that showed the temperment that allowed
them to e around humans
Relate this to Human Behaviors
• What are some of the behaviors or
temperaments that might complement the
arising of altruistic behaviors (What types of
people are more likely to be helpful to others?)
Natural Selection and Dog
Behavior
• Which dogs are able to survive around
people?
Your Assignment
• Powerpoint/Poster on Altruism and possible
evolutionary paths for altruism
• How acting on behalf of another is contrary to the
theory of evolution
– Natural selection being the passing on of an
individual’s genetic material
• Identify acts of altruism in humans
– Identify as existing almost exclusively in humans
– Identify the few examples in other animals
• Identify the heritability of particular
– Identify the survival benefit TO THE INDIVIDUAL
of altruistic behavior
– Suggest how natural selection might select for
altruistic behaviors
• Conclude -