Brian+Shin+Altruism

1. Are we, as some might say, motivated by a desire to save our off-spring? According to Hamilton’s theory of Kin Selection, we have the desire to save our off-springs who share genes by sacrificing ourselves. It says it’s our nature to protect our offspring as a selfless behavior. If we have children, we protect them no matter what.  2. Must there always be some sort of intrinsic reward for doing good? No, I don’t think there must always be some sort of intrinsic reward for doing something good, but there are other kinds of rewards besides it. Such as neurochemical rewards, personal pride, social rewards, and the want of power over others. It seems to depend on how an individual interprets it and takes it.  3. Mr. Otis once said, "That having integrity is doing the right thing when no one is watching." If this is so, and no one knows when we have done good, would you still do good? I don’t think people who tend to do good acts only in front of people aren’t the ones who are considered ‘good’. I’m not sure what I’ll do. I think it’ll depend on the situation. I never had a chance to do so. It’ll look stupid if a brag about it though…

4. "Delayed reciprocal altruism", seems like a gamble - back to game theory, any way. Does this seem to make sense to you. That is that we act out of a desire to have what we have done being done to us? Yes. I’ve learned to treat people nicely because if I do so, people will be nice to me as well. I can tell it actually works because I hate people who treat me badly and I treat them just like they do to me. If I expect something from someone, I think I tend to act nicely…  5. Are we ever being truly "selfless" when committing an act of altruism? I don’t think so. We always act due to our motivation and goal. For example, a reward, or our personal goals can be counted as a motivation. Also when a person acts right when people aren’t watching, I bet some do that because of their religious beliefs or karma. There must be something to do with it. I think I never acted selflessly.