In this blog post, we explore whether human nature is inherently altruistic and why it is becoming increasingly selfish in modern society.
Throughout history, philosophers have debated whether human nature is selfish or altruistic. In China, Mencius, Xunzi, and Gongsun Long argued that human nature is inherently good, while Xunzi argued that human nature is inherently evil, and Gongsun Long argued that human nature is neither good nor evil. In the West, Rousseau, Hobbes, and Locke argued similar points. For example, Rousseau argued that humans are born pure and good, but society corrupts them. On the other hand, Hobbes believed that human nature is fundamentally selfish, and that this tendency leads to a “war of all against all” in the state of nature. Thus, the debate over human nature has been at the center of philosophy and political theory in both the East and the West.
In modern times, this debate is being reinterpreted from a new perspective with the development of evolutionary biology and psychology. In Chapter 3, “The Splendor of Humans,” Yuval Noah Harari, author of Homo Deus, states that throughout history, humans who were better at cooperating have prevailed. Considering this, it is natural to think that the original nature of humans is altruistic. This is because people who acted altruistically would have had an advantage in survival over those who acted selfishly, and those traits would have been passed down. In particular, Harari emphasizes that it was the ability of humans to cooperate that was the decisive factor in enabling our species to dominate the Earth.
I also believe that human nature is altruistic. However, I think that in modern society, human nature is gradually becoming more selfish. Nevertheless, I argue that it is right to return to the past when humans were altruistic because we can gain more benefits that way, and that we should use the current situation as an example. There are many examples to support this argument. For example, archaeological evidence clearly shows that early humans lived in small groups and cooperated with each other to survive. Although humans were physically weaker than other animals, they were able to protect themselves from predators through cooperation and communication. The necessity of such cooperation must have reinforced the altruistic behavior deeply rooted in human nature.
First, the basis for my belief that human nature is altruistic lies in the “nature of animals,” which includes humans. We tend to think that virtues such as consideration for others and morality are unique to humans. However, recent studies show that this can be found not only in primates, including humans, but in the behavior of all animals. The most representative study can be found in the research of Frans de Waal, a Dutch primatologist.
The situation in his study was as follows. Two monkeys were separated into different rooms, and when one monkey pulled a string, it was given food. At the same time, pulling the string causes pain to the monkey on the other side, and the sound is heard by the monkey eating the food. In this situation, at first, the monkeys pulled the string several times because food came out when they pulled it, but then they realized what was happening and stopped pulling the string. In other words, they were able to show empathy for the other monkey’s situation.
Another study was conducted on chimpanzees. When food was dropped in a chimpanzee enclosure, a fierce fight would break out at first to get the food. After that, the chimpanzees that were pushed away in the fight and failed to get the food would go to the other chimpanzees and beg for food by playing around and making noises. What is very interesting here is that the other chimpanzees would watch this behavior for a while, then throw the food away and leave. They showed an attitude of coexistence without receiving anything in return that would help them survive, using their superiority.
Various studies have confirmed that not only primates such as birds and elephants, but also many other animals exhibit cooperative and sharing behaviors. It has even been confirmed that such behaviors are not simply expressions of comfort or sympathy, but rather delicate behaviors in which the chimpanzees understand the situation and perspective of the other chimpanzees and consider how they can best help them. What I want to argue here is that morality, empathy, and altruism are not exclusive to humans, but are innate instincts of mammals that have been passed down for tens of millions of years.
From this perspective, altruism in human society is even more prominent in cooperative systems based on social contracts. For example, the guild system in medieval Europe is a representative example of mutual cooperation to pursue economic stability and social protection. Guilds helped their members survive and prosper through various cooperative activities, such as joint management of resources, sharing of technology, and collective defense against external threats. Such cooperative systems contributed not only to the interests of individual members but also to the prosperity of society as a whole.
If so, it can be thought that humans, who are called the lords of all creation and considered to be the most developed stage of animals, should also show the most developed altruism. However, if we look around us today, we can see that this is not the case. I found the perfect expression for this in the preface of De Bal’s book. “Empathy is not cultivated, but dulled.” Then, we need to find out what it is that becomes dull. As I mentioned at the beginning, I think the culprit is modern society, or more specifically, capitalism.
I found an experiment that supports this theory in a recent study by Canadian neuroscientist O’Brien. The experiment showed that when people gain power, the neural circuitry responsible for empathy is destroyed. In the experiment, participants were divided into two groups, one considered to have social power and the other not, and asked to write the letter E on their heads. The group with power wrote the E from their own perspective, while the group without power wrote the E in the direction that others would see it.
There is also a famous example of this happening in real life. During the 2008 Beijing Olympics, then-US President George W. Bush visited Beijing and was photographed cheering for Phelps. At that time, a photo was taken of Bush holding the American flag, but the flag was reversed. In other words, Bush was holding the flag from his own perspective.
The reason why humans are becoming increasingly selfish can also be found in social Darwinism, a theory of social evolution that forms the basis of capitalist ideology. The gist of this theory is that humans accept survival of the fittest through competition, and it is natural for the losers to disappear through evolution. This is perfectly consistent with the basic view of humans in modern economics. Competition can make society more prosperous. Examples of this can be found in the British invasion of India during the imperialist era and German Nazism. In other words, because capitalism, which is based on this philosophy, is the driving force behind modern society, discrimination is taken for granted, and human nature is becoming increasingly selfish.
If this situation continues, the capitalist class that survives will gradually lose their ability to empathize, as we have seen above, and the class that survives in such a society will lose their ability to empathize even more than the previous class, creating a vicious cycle. This situation can never be beneficial to humanity. This is because humans can achieve more when they are altruistic than when they are selfish.
The most representative example of this is the current trend of “crowdsourcing.” When many people work together cooperatively, the best results can be achieved. One of the most representative examples of this is the 1989 sinking of the oil tanker Exxon Valdez in Alaska. For 17 years, experts from around the world were unable to find a way to clean up the oil spill. So, the US government asked a company called InnoCentive for help. This company operates a platform that takes difficult scientific problems from companies and governments and posts them on the internet. In other words, it is a company that harnesses the power of the public to solve problems in exchange for a reward. Surprisingly, within three months of the problem being made public, a revolutionary method for removing the oil was discovered. This is a clear example of how the power of the public can be stronger than that of some experts.
There is also an example from the field of algorithms that shows how powerful human cooperation can be. This is Robert Axelrod’s “iterated prisoner’s dilemma (IPD) experiment.” In this experiment, strategies for winning a game were presented as algorithms, and the algorithms competed against each other. Surprisingly, the strategy that won this competition twice in a row was a very simple one called “tit for tat.” This strategy can be translated into Korean as “an eye for an eye.” This strategy involves cooperating with your opponent unconditionally at first, and then, from the next turn onwards, cooperating if your opponent cooperated with you in the previous turn, and betraying them if they betrayed you. Through this, we were able to see that when humans take an altruistic stance, they can achieve a more prosperous situation than in any other situation.
However, another thing I noticed about the above strategy is that it does not simply continue to take an altruistic attitude. In other words, it is not a strategy of continuing to be kind to your opponent, but a strategy of knowing how to get angry at your opponent. This made me think about what conditions are necessary to create an altruistic society.
In game theory, there is a model called the “deer hunting model.” This model sets up a situation in which 10 hunters hunt deer for food for their tribe. If even one of the 10 hunters betrays the others, the deer will escape in that direction, and the hunt will be in vain. However, suppose a rabbit appears in front of one of the hunters. That person will then face a dilemma. They will wonder whether to continue hunting the deer or to break away and hunt the rabbit. The answer provided by game theory is as follows. If all members can be trusted, it is beneficial to continue hunting the deer, but if not, it is beneficial to hunt the rabbit. In other words, we have come to the conclusion that mutual trust is extremely important for humans to cooperate and be altruistic.
What is interesting here is how this trust is formed. Historically, rituals and traditions that strengthen community solidarity have promoted trust among humans. For example, many traditional societies placed importance on rituals such as communal meals and festivals to promote cooperative behavior. These traditions had more meaning than simply maintaining social norms. They strengthened bonds between people and created an environment of mutual trust within the community. Therefore, in order to restore altruism in modern society, it is necessary to go beyond individualistic thinking and rediscover the value of community and build trust.
In addition, with the advancement of technology enabling new forms of cooperation, it is also important to consider how to utilize the altruistic nature of human beings. The development of the Internet and social media has created an environment where people around the world can communicate in real time, but if these technologies are not used for altruistic purposes, they can become another tool for selfishness. Ultimately, strengthening the altruism inherent in human nature requires more than moral admonitions and social institutions; it requires deep insight into how to utilize the technologies and culture of the new era.
