True Altruism

Evolutionary thought explains altruism in a truly unique way. In my biology course here at ACU, professor Brannan explained to his students that there was not truly altruistic action because it is very hard for someone to not gain something in return for an action they have made. Even if said person was not meaning to receive a reward, they did. This idea was hard to swallow. Every student wanted to believe that some actions were indeed truly sacrificial. Perhaps it is because of our belief system which is built upon the very idea of sacrifice. Darwin also puzzled over the idea of altruism and morals. The core idea within Darwins evolutionary theory is that creatures a like all want to pass down their genes. That even if we cannot live forever a part of us can, because a portion of us was needed to create future generations, not only through our genes but through our characteristics. But Darwin pondered over the inheritance of morals. He posed a question that if a man sacrificed himself for the good of his society or tribe then how would his genes and characteristics be passed down to future generations. In order to solve this conundrum, Darwin explained an idea of reciprocal altruism. This new kind of altruism describes the idea of “you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours” mentality where if one person acts for the good of the society then the society will in turn act for the good of that individual. While I don’t deny the existence of this form of altruism, I think that Darwin did not answer his original question. What about the man that chooses to sacrifice himself thereby ending any chance he had of having offspring who embodied the same qualities that were good and beneficial to the society. Evolutionary thinking may not always be able to answer every question, but for many people religion does. Christianity is built on the relationship between a deity who sacrifices His relationship with His son as well as His son’s life for the sake of the rest of the world. Not only that but His son willingly sacrifices himself as well. I believe that it is because of these truly altruistic sacrifices that we as mere humans have the capacity to be altruistic and morally sound as well. Even if we can’t be truly altruistic, we can strive for it.