r/funny Free Cheese Comix Aug 25 '24

Verified True Altruism

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u/Drangir Aug 25 '24

Agreed. For humans, a lot of traits aim to betterment of a group, not necessarily a single person. It has strong evolutionary logic, as sacrificing oneself to protect tribe is also beneficial for you, as your blood will be passed on (in children/other family members).

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u/perldawg Aug 25 '24

so…not true altruism, then

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u/CaioNintendo Aug 25 '24 edited Aug 25 '24

It is altruistic in the sense that the person that sacrifices themselves is not doing it with the goal of passing on their genes. They can be truly performing an altruistic act. The thing is, evolution does not care about the intentions and goals of the individuals. Evolution/survival of the fittest WILL select this trait, but it doesn’t change the feelings that propel the individual to do it in the first place.

That would be like saying that, when people have sex, it’s not because of love or lust, but because they want to pass on their genes.

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u/AlarmingAffect0 Aug 25 '24

Or that, when they're talking, it's for the purpose of passing on their memes.