Altruism in people?

Question

True altruism in animals has been overwhelmingly discredited, the majority of perceived cases being attributed to either kin selection or recipricl altruism. Can seemingly altruistic behavior in humans be described as such also? Western society has entire career fields based on altruism, e.g. life guards, police officers, fire fighters, military. How is this paradox reconciled?

Good answers so far. Any idea how we could quanitfy the costs involved with Hamilton's rule?

Also, what about the fact that there are less risky jobs out there that pay the same or more?

What about random acts of heroism resulting in death, for example the New York subway guy who recently risked his life for a stranger.

Answer 1

I think that you have to look in to the benefits that these people would receieve from their actions. There is no reason to think that Humans are any different from other animals.

Altruism is always going to come down to either Kin Selection or Reciprocal Altruism. In otherwords, there is always going to be a benefit to the individual.

For instance, all of those that you have listed in your questions are going to be rewarded for their efforts. It just happens that the field they work in (apart from military) has something to do with social service. They will all get paid, and provide for themselves and family off the back of this work.

Even volunteers will have a benefit from the work they do - even if it is just social kudos. It is just a matter of digging deep enough into the individual's motive. (In fact, it could be argued that someone is doing somehting altruistic to make them feel good abouth themselves, and therefore could be somewhat motivated by selfishness)

Answer 2

I would say that our career fields dedicated to altruism, are *paid* fields and then not 'true' altruistic. Humans value kin selection and reciprocal behaviors also. So I don't think this is as clear cut as you seem to think it is.

Answer 3

They do it because the rewards are there, and they're real, albeit in intangible forms. Volunteer fire fighters here in Australia are recognised as heroes at parades. It's respect that is earned. It is a price that is paid to those that do work for the betterment of others, with no monetary recompense.