What survival advantage caused evolution of compassion for the weak/infirm?

Question

Wouldn't they just be a drain on potentialy scarce resources? Wouldn't it be more advantageous for us to evolve to enjoy euthanizing or even cannibalizing them?

Nope, it dictates survival of the fittest. If death of the weakest helps achieve that goal, so be it.

rayndeon,

Evolutionist hold all traits of all species to be the product of evolution. That includes behaviour and emotions.

storm,

You didn't even answer the question! WHAT WAS THE SURVIVAL ADVANTAGE OF THIS TRAIT AS IT EVOLVED? The more I see of you, the more stupid I think you are.

retiredgranddaddy,

Homo sapiens have developed a tendency to prefer and enjoy this type of behaviour, when we could just have easily gone the other way, and evolved to prefer in general to teach our young to euthanize/cannibalize. The latter would offer a significant survival advantage and would be a more likely product of evolution.

JAT,

Another thoughtless answer. Im asking specifically about the weak/infirm, NOT A CREATURES OWN OFFSPRING! How does preserving the weak and dependent and keeping them in the gene pool offer a survival advantage to the species and promote improvement? It does precisely the opposite!

Answer 1

Humans evolved the ability to empathize with others. This has the extremely beneficial effect of allowing individual members of the species to learn from mistakes that others make before they make them themselves. It is also the root of compassion.

Few aspects of any species evolve individually. The majority are intricately intertwined.

Answer 2

Some societies have done exactly that - banished the weak and infirm. Last time this happened we ended up in World War II. And everyone called HItler a mad man. Nietzche predicted it. When he said God is dead, he predicted that mankind would develop into a world where the fittest and strongest - the uberman - would survive and the weaker would not. Hitler was only trying to move things along.

There is no room for compassion and love in such a world. Without God, there is no goodness.

Answer 3

Humanity has created laws and policing which has taken away much of the influence natural selection has on us as a species. Now the strong are not allowed to outcompete the weak. The advantage of this is that if some disaster does happen the population is so large now that hopefully there will be some survivors.

Answer 4

Sympathy and compassion arose from the fact that we humans are social animals. We form tightly-knit social, familial and personal bonds (as primates do). It is a natural evolution of social skills.

We have now evolved our social skills to the point of social awareness on a global scale and have conceptualized and defined a notion which we term "quality of life". This is what inhibits or prevents us (for the most part) from simply executing other humans, whether through euthanasia or performing cannibalism (which is more of a taboo in the majority of the modern world).

Answer 5

Humans (and indeed many mammals and higher chordates) have a drive which encourages them to look after their offspring so as to ensure that they survive to pass their genes to the next generation.

Some characteristics which promote this nurturing behavior are physical (big eyes for example (look at a bunch of animals / cartoon characters you think are cute and see how many of them have large or prominent eyes)) and some are psychological or behavioral.

A psychological characteristic which the young of many species share is a certain inability to look after oneself fully. It is possible that this behavior when seen in mature individuals who are weak or infirm may trigger a compassionate response.

Answer 6

The answer to this is part of the work E.O. Wilson & W. Hamilton developed along the lines of "kin selection."

First you must not confuse individual survival with the evolutionary concept of survival. What has to survive is the genetic line. A hen throwing herself into the jaws of a fox puts an end to the question of her survival, but it was an instinctive response which increased the odds of her brood's survival - and thus her gene-pool. Siblings will also sacrifice themselves to save shared genes.

Answer 7

There is no compassion for the weak in evolution. Thats why Jesus came on the scene. His religion, or better yet, his race was killing children that were disobedient to their parents, legally. This sort of behavior is no better than how dogs behave and while we are a life form made for this world, we have capabilities beyond the animalistic.

Answer 8

Are you referring to actual biological evolution or "evolution" in the laymen's sense? If the former, it may be enlightening for you to know that evolution has no effect on morality and is only concerned with the diversity of life.

By the way, too many people misunderstand Nietzsche. "God is dead" doesn't mean what you think it means.

Answer 9

this is a good question, that in all honesty I have wondered about myself. They do not particularly serve any purpose and they are more of a burden than anything than those dependent upon them. My only guess is that the human mind cannot cope with the associated "guilt" that would come with ending a human life.

Answer 10

Call it a weakness for the weak. Attachment and pity have a lot to do with why people see it as their duty to help those who are weaker than themselves.