I don't think altruism is nonexistent. I believe it very well exists as a result of there being true, legitimate caring people out there.
This doesn't offer much but yesterday at school, while drinking from a water fountain, a guy stopped in his tracks and waited for me to finish drinking. When I turned to look at him, he said "Ma'am, your bookbag is unzipped." Surely enough the pockets in my backpack were unzipped and gaping open, running the risk of my books falling out.
What motive did this guy have? None. He benefited in no way by taking a minute of his time to prevent my books from toppling onto the floor. He got no recognition, only a "thank you" from me. I see stuff like this all the time. Cashiers will call out to customers walking out the exit because the customer left their change at the checkout. This has happened to me. Why didn't the cashier just pocket my cash? Why did they make an effort to run up to me as I was making an exit, and say "You left your money behind?" It was only 75 cents. That could have easily been ignored.
I'll quit with the examples now and answer some of the questions.
quote ChinoWhelan
but would people take a dying person to hospital or try and find the owner for a lost cat? That's something different.
Yes, I think they would. You'd have to be heartless not to at least try to help. Now I'm not saying everyone falls under this category but I believe there definitely are people who will go out of their way to take a dying person to the hospital... I know I would... the only reason I wouldn't would be if I had no car or form of transportation to get them there, and if that were the case I'd call
911. If I found a lost cat and there was proof it belonged to someone (such as a collar, name tag, etc) (because it could easily be a stray) I would take a picture of the cat and make it aware to my community that I found it. I would hang flyers or ask around until I found out who was missing the cat.
On another note, I realize not everyone is like that. I have had a cat go missing and have high suspicions that Zoie (the cat) was kidnapped. She was expensive, had a fancy coat of fur, and was wearing a flea collar with a golden name tag on it. She walked out the door one day and was never seen again. Because of loads of evidence and suggestions it became obvious that someone picked her up and decided to keep her. Was I pissed off? Yes.
But there have been times I've found items and kept them so I am not exempt. But that doesn't mean altruism doesn't exist.
quote ChinoWhelan
A lot of people would argue that true altruism doesn't exist and that a lot of what some perceive as altruism is like buying your way into Heaven.
What if the altruistic individual is an atheist?
I've had things stolen from me (a cell phone, a wallet full of money) and yes I was furious and wondered who was pathetic enough to steal my phone. But I have also had things turn up missing that were returned to me. Also, one time 20+ dollars was stolen from me. I was distressed because at the time I was broke and bordering on homeless and no longer had any money. However there was one women who saw how upset I was at having nothing and she emptied her pockets and forked over all the cash she had left on her person. I told her no, that I couldn't possibly take her money but she insisted and refused to take no for an answer. So, what was she gaining by giving to me? Nothing, essentially she was losing, yet she did it anyway.
So what I'm saying is it goes both ways. Just because there's selfish people out there doesn't mean unselfish people are nonexistent.
Anyways this thread reminds me of the TV show
"What Would You Do?" This show hosts real life experiments that present various situations to the public (such as domestic violence, prejudice, discrimination, even staged child abductions) to see how the people react.
The results are typically the same. The majority of populations just stare or ignore the scenes and refuse to get involved, however there are still people who - NOT knowing/completely unaware that they are on camera - jump in and try to get involved.
Those people are heroes.