Michelle+Kim

=Altruism Reaction=


 * 1.Are we, as some might say, motivated by a desire to save our off-spring?**

According to the theory of universal egoism, all human beings are driven by a desire to protect their off-spring, family, relatives, or whoever included in their circle of species. As an example, parents' behavior and mindset of taking care of and loving their children derive from their desire to save their off-spring. Nonetheless, I personally disagree with the fact that we are "only" motivated by our urge to protect our kind; I believe that human beings definitely possess a desire to save their off-spring, yet they also possess a pure intention of being in a loving relationship with other individuals. To prove that we do have a desire for purely "giving" love to others is that although there are often times no sense of "reward" for raising one's children, parents feel bound to give them infinite love, in spite of any circumstantial factors that can hold them back from doing so. Furthermore, if our only motivation behind protecting our off-spring was simply a natural desire to save them, all of the stories we hear and see about parents' sacrifices for their children would not have occurred or be occurring in our society.


 * 2. Must there always be some sort of intrinsic reward for doing good?**

As the reading defined neurochemical rewards as, "the feel-good factor that comes with doing social good results from our evolved genetic program," there is certainly a intrinsic reward for doing good. For example, when I pondered on the reason why I enjoy doing community services was mostly because of the feeling of "I did something good" that I felt afterwards. Moreover, I also realized that I grew more mature as an individual by having a variety of experiences with a variety of people, especially when I was in the position of being able to do something good for others, not myself. Thus, the prescence of an intrinsic rewrad for doing good cannot be questioned.


 * 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?**

Yes, because the primary reason why I personally do good for others is due to the feeling of pride or "being good" I receive from doing the right thing or doing good. Had the concept of altruism being an impossibility been proved, I would have to say that although I won't recieve the social reward ("A sometimes secret desire to be seen as good by others"), I would still recieve personal pride, in which, "a person wants to feel good and justify themselves in their thinking of themselves as good, so that by helping others they create their own positive self-identity."


 * 4. Are we ever being truly "selfless" when committing an act of altruism?**

Contrary to what the website argues, I believe that we can be truly selfless when committing an act of altruism, or at least have a larger portion of being altruistic or selfless than the other factors that motivate us to do good. For example, the concept of sympathy is a completely selfless emotion, the feeling of being sympathetic and understanding towards others. Thus, often times, people resolve to voluntarily help others by putting themselves in their shoes, which is obviously an act resulting from the feeling of sympathy. There may be the concept of "personal pride, neurochemcial reward, social reward, or the want of power over others," yet our sympathy would take up a larger portion of the motivation behind our act of doing good.