Humans sometimes act irrationally altruistically, even at the expense of their own interests. What drives us to make these choices? We explore the reasons for altruistic behavior from an economic and evolutionary perspective.
Homo economicus. A human being who makes rational choices for material desires. Most economists expect humans to make “rational” choices that maximize benefits at minimal cost. However, when we actually analyze people’s behavior patterns, we find that people don’t always act rationally. People make mistakes and sometimes make irrational choices. It’s not just economics. From an evolutionary perspective, people often act irrationally, too. This is altruism. Altruistic behaviors are not rational on a personal level, as they benefit others, but actually harm the individual. Nevertheless, we constantly hear about people’s good deeds on the news and in newspapers. Why do people perform altruistic acts against themselves?
One of the hypotheses to explain people’s altruistic behavior is the communication hypothesis. In theory, even with communication, altruistic behavior cannot be established because people’s choices are ultimately self-interested. However, researchers have found through experiments that communication increases altruistic behavior. The core of the communication hypothesis is that communication can reduce selfish behavior. In other words, it’s like a trigger that brings about altruistic behavior in situations where selfishness would otherwise be the norm. How does communication work to turn selfish behavior into altruistic behavior? Camilo Cardenas’s game of the commons illustrates the effectiveness of communication.
Cardenas’ commons game starts with the assumption that there is a resource that can be shared by a group of villagers. To understand the commons game, we need to explain what a commons is. A commons is a resource that people collectively own and can use without restriction. Like water in a reservoir, trees in the mountains, or pasture for cows to graze. However, when everyone uses the resource for their own benefit, the commons becomes desolate. This is called the tragedy of the commons.
Let’s go back to the game. In the Commons game, a team consists of five people, and each player can choose one of three resource harvesting levels from 1 to 8. Cardenas played the game in three different forms. In the first, after 20 games, if there is no communication, people continue to make selfish choices because there is no exchange of ideas between them, so the amount of harvesting remains at a level that is likely to damage the commons. Second, if you have one discussion after 10 games, the amount of harvest decreases immediately after the discussion, but then increases slightly afterward. Third, if you play 10 games and then have a discussion after each of the next 10 games, the level of harvesting drops off after 10 games and never increases again. This is because the discussion is a selfless act of communication. Communication has the power to change people’s behavior from selfish to altruistic. It’s interesting to note that the results of the third experiment are the same as the results of the penalty system: communication, like discussion, makes people behave more desirably, just like the penalty system.
There are many hypotheses about how communication affects people’s behavior, including learning effects, a sense of obligation due to communication, trust between people, a sense of community, and a sense of guilt for selfish behavior. Regardless of which hypothesis is correct, it’s clear that communication plays a big role in determining our behavior. As such, communication drives people to perform altruistic acts. Communication guides people’s behavior to benefit the community. Humans have used communication to overcome selfish behavior, which is evolutionarily “rational,” so the communication hypothesis is a good explanation of how people become altruistic.
Social pressure is not the only reason why humans are able to communicate and act altruistically. From an evolutionary perspective, altruistic behavior has played an important role in the survival and prosperity of the species. In early human societies, cooperation and altruism were essential for survival. It allowed them to efficiently distribute resources, spread risk, and strengthen community bonds. These behaviors may seem far from the direct benefit of the individual, but in the long run, they can contribute to passing on one’s genes to the next generation. This may be one of the reasons why altruistic behavior has become part of human nature.
Altruistic behavior also takes many forms in the modern world. Volunteering, donations, and social enterprises are all examples of altruistic behavior. These behaviors go beyond mere personal moral satisfaction and serve to promote the well-being of society as a whole. Especially in the modern, globalized world, altruistic behavior crosses borders and promotes understanding and cooperation between people from different cultures and social backgrounds.
In conclusion, human altruism is more than just a moral choice. Communication is an important tool to facilitate this altruistic behavior, and through it, we can build a better society. The importance of altruistic behavior from an economic and evolutionary perspective is a topic that will continue to be studied and understood. It is hoped that humanity will be able to create a sustainable future through altruistic behavior.
