An altruistic life is not merely a sacrifice; it is a choice that benefits both the individual and society in the long run. We will explore why selfish behavior ultimately leads to loss and why altruism is an important value in human society.
Is there a reason to live righteously?
Before discussing the answer to this question, we must first define what it means to live righteously. Here, we will define a “right” life as an altruistic life. An altruistic act is one that benefits others but results in a loss for the actor themselves. While the definition of living rightly varies greatly from person to person, most people would agree that an altruistic life is the right one. This is because an altruistic life is a moral life, and morality, though not defined by law, is based on a mutual agreement among members of society.
A Concrete Example of an Altruistic Life: Group Projects
Group projects are a prime example of a situation where altruism is essential for college students. In a group project, the ideal scenario is for everyone to participate actively and cooperate to achieve effective results. However, there are people who “free-ride”—that is, they do not contribute to the group assignment and instead rely on the efforts of other members. Free-riding in group activities is a highly selfish act. This is because the individual does no work, increasing the workload for other members, and effectively steals the rewards of others’ efforts. How can we prevent such free-riding?
We can impose penalties for free-riding and persuade the person to cooperate with the group assignment. Specifically, one way to impose penalties is for group members to evaluate each other’s participation every time a group activity takes place. For example, “average” could be rated 3 points, “poor” and “very poor” 2 and 1 points respectively, and “excellent” and “very excellent” 4 and 5 points. For each activity, the average of the evaluation scores given by other group members to each individual would be assigned as their participation score for that activity. After all group activities are completed, if the average participation score is lower than the “average” of 3 points, a penalty is applied to the student’s grade. If penalties are imposed in this way, students will actively participate in group activities to avoid the penalty. Furthermore, persuasion will encourage the individual to act responsibly by reminding them that cooperating on group assignments is an altruistic act that benefits the group, thereby preventing them from free-riding.
Reasons for Living an Altruistic Life
So, is there a reason to live a righteous life—that is, an altruistic life? There are two grounds for why humans should live righteously. From an individual’s perspective, selfish behavior ultimately results in loss, and from a group’s perspective, altruistic behavior yields benefits.
Benefits from a Personal Perspective
First, a selfish way of life ultimately results in loss for the individual. Selfish behavior may seem beneficial in the short term. However, since humans are social beings who live by forming relationships with others, selfish behavior ultimately harms the individual. For example, in the case of group projects, an individual who is uncooperative is likely to be ostracized from the group. In the brief moment when group activities are required, not doing the work may seem beneficial to the individual. But what happens when viewed from a longer-term perspective? The actions of a selfish individual cause significant harm to the rest of the group members. It is highly unlikely that this person will be able to maintain good relationships with those they have harmed. Furthermore, avoiding group assignments is an act that erodes one’s reputation, making it difficult to form relationships with people outside the group as well. Since humans cannot survive while being excluded from a group, they will not engage in selfish behavior.
There are several hypotheses explaining why humans have evolved to act altruistically, which can be summarized by two theories: the “repeated reciprocity hypothesis” and the “birds of a feather flock together hypothesis.” The repeated reciprocity hypothesis is based on the principle of reciprocity, which states that one responds to another’s kindness with kindness and to another’s malice with malice. The argument is that people engage in altruistic behavior because retaliation is more advantageous than not retaliating, and because there is a possibility that the other party will retaliate if one acts as a free rider. Since this principle of reciprocity applies in repeated situations, people with selfish tendencies—who receive help from others without offering help in return—will not survive in such groups. Therefore, according to the repeated reciprocity hypothesis, selfish individuals will face difficulties in survival. The “birds of a feather flock together” hypothesis posits that cooperative people tend to interact with other cooperative people, while selfish people tend to interact with other selfish people. This tendency is suitable for maintaining cooperative behavior and thus for human evolution in that direction. This means that selfish people associate with other selfish people, while altruistic people associate with other altruistic people. This theory can explain why one’s reputation may suffer during group projects. If someone’s reputation deteriorates due to lackluster participation in a group project, most people will be reluctant to interact with someone who has such a poor reputation, leading to a tendency for altruistic individuals to associate with one another.
Benefits from a Group Perspective
Second, altruistic behavior is beneficial from the perspective of the group as a whole. Group selection refers to the process by which the survival prospects of groups vary depending on the traits they possess or the proportion of individuals with certain traits within them, thereby determining whether those traits will spread throughout the group or disappear. This group selection process made it possible for humans to evolve altruistic traits.
History also confirms the truth of the above. First, groups with a high proportion of altruistic individuals are more likely to prevail in intergroup conflicts. Furthermore, during the hunting and gathering stage—which was particularly crucial before the advent of agricultural societies—the success of a hunt depended on the level of altruistic cooperation among participants. Finally, we can see that during the course of human evolution, people had to survive in various harsh environments, and for a group to survive long-term, it needed to have a large number of altruistic individuals.
The Evolutionary Basis of Altruistic Behavior
Group selection can explain why humans evolved to engage in altruistic behavior. However, from the perspective of individual selection, selfish behavior may be advantageous for an individual’s survival. Why does the pace of group selection outpace that of individual selection? The reason is that, unlike animal societies, human societies are governed by norms. While the immediate benefits of selfish behavior may exceed those of altruistic behavior, norms ensure that the outcomes of altruistic behavior ultimately surpass those of selfish behavior; thus, altruistic behavior has evolved as the advantageous course of action.
Humans have a reason to live altruistically. This reason can be found from both individual and group perspectives. This is because altruistic behavior ultimately benefits both the individual and the group. The consequences of altruistic behavior may result in short-term or material losses. However, when viewed from a long-term or psychological perspective, it is clear that it yields benefits. Therefore, humans have a reason to live altruistically—that is, to live righteously.
