English is obviously not his primary language, but we promise you, that if you listen carefully, he has something very important to say!
“Survival of the fittest” often brings to mind steely competition, one individual pitted against another for limited resources, in which only the cutthroat few are able to survive and reproduce: swift cheetahs taking down weak gazelles and elk with huge racks of antlers, winning the right to mate.
Humans are not cheetahs or elk, but we are not outside the laws of evolution, either. As Aristotle points out, we are by nature social creatures, and this has had an indelible impact on our survival.
Stefan Klein, a Ph.D. in biophysics who now works as a science writer, proposes that it is our social nature that leads to our ability to adapt and succeed.
Evolution has favored our ability to share, cooperate, and be generous, Klein writes. The concept of survival of the fittest may support the notion that individuals who care about their own resources and goals are the ones who succeed. But Klein takes a sweeping look at the scientific evidence and states that while such egocentrics do better “in the short term,” it is in fact “mostly people who act for the welfare of others who get ahead.”
He focuses on three central questions. How does unselfishness exist? What motivates us to help each other? And, lastly, why are some individuals more helpful than others?
In a study on the development of altruism conducted by psychologist Doris Bischof-Köhler, who studied 126 young children, the research showed that it is only with the emergence of self-awareness that children are also able to demonstrate a willingness to help one another.
Klein expands his focus to the community, beginning with such fundamental questions as how we first learned to share. He points to evidence that our ancestors “had to become the friendliest apes before they got a chance to become the smartest apes as well.”
In times of plenty, egocentricity may help people fare well, but how in times of famine, flood, or war, it is altruistic groups who survive. Atrocities, whether natural or human-made, “wreak less havoc on societies who stick together and help each other,” he writes.
Magnanimity is founded in a strong sense of fairness, noting that societies in which fairness is not reinforced are bound to crumble.
And just as Aristotle proposed that humans are not just more successful but also happiest when they “kept the welfare of others in view,” Klein gives numerous examples of how those who give of themselves and their resources are indeed happier.
In the end, Klein’s message is upbeat, calling for an “altruistic revolution.” The world is more connected than ever before, he points out, and that gives us the opportunity to practice cooperation on a large scale.
“The future,” Klein declares, “belongs to the altruists.” While that may be overly optimistic, he provides much food for thought about what has made us who we are and how we might approach future challenges — together.
