Related to: Murder (Meteuphoric), Just how many people are you, anyway?, Do we give because we care for others or for our image?
When I propose cynical explanations for human altruism towards anyone other than close friends and family – usually something along the lines that people want to justify the belief that they are good with minimal sacrifice – others are very reluctant to accept them. I suspect the main reason for this is that most people feel that they themselves really do sincerely care a lot about the welfare of others. How then can cynical explanations of human behaviour be correct?
Insofar as the feeling of caring and the resulting belief that ‘I care’ is your yardstick, it is true that people are compassionate all the time. However, when I ask what people really care about, I don’t mean to ask what the conscious part of their minds thinks and feels they care about; I want to know what their mind as a whole really sets as its high priority goals in the world.
In this sense of ‘care’ it is entirely possible for people to be wrong about what they care about. This is nothing exceptional. We have all sorts of delusions about ourselves because humans in the past who had scrupulously accurate beliefs about themselves were not very successful. A well-known example is that far more than 50% of people think they are above average at almost everything, probably because those who accurately assess their qualities have trouble convincing others to be friends and partners. It is often socially advantageous to look as though we believe and feel things that we really don’t, and as a result we may know ourselves less well than our friends, who don’t have to maintain such illusions about us.
A simple way to check if your beliefs about your values are correct is to watch your actions as if you were another person looking on and see if they are consistent with what you say you value. Using this method, do we observe that humans care much about the welfare of strangers where it isn’t necessary to bolster their image?
The central fact to note here is that most people spend the vast majority of their time pursuing their own interests rather than the interests of people they don’t know well. Charitable donations amount to a few percent of GDP, and volunteering to only to an average of a few hours a month. What charitable behaviour exists does not in general seem organised to maximise the benefit to others. People give to groups because they are nearby and good at nagging or generating a ‘warm glow’, not because they do research which suggests they do the most to satisfy the needs and wants of others. Organizations that scrutinise the efficacy of charities, like GiveWell, are notable by their general absence. International aid seems remarkably ineffective, but there is no mass movement to improve it. Opportunities to really help others, by earning as much money as you can then giving it all to a ruthlessly efficient wellbeing enhancing organisation find almost no takers. A lot of ‘altruistic’ behaviour is a clear variation on what people would like to do anyway – running public entertainment events, writing songs, publishing blogs and wearing clothes in solidarity are far more popular than unpleasant but important work. If humans really cared about others’ welfare as much as they think they do they would surely dedicate far more time and effort to their interests and be more interested in determining whether their sacrifices were as effective as possible at helping them.
For a time I thought I cared about human welfare in general, but looking at my actions I simply cannot justify the belief that I really do. I don’t seem willing to substantially sacrifice my welfare for other people far away.
For those who find this disheartening, take solace that there is a bright side to human behaviour. We do reveal a great deal of care for close friends and family by making substantial sacrifices for their welfare. There are good selfish reasons to act that way which might more closely explain our patterns of behaviour – it’s hard to get anywhere in life without a reputation for decency and loyalty to close associates – but at least on first glance we don’t have glaring evidence in front of us that care for friends and family exists in our minds alone.
The fact that our circle of compassion is so limited is unfortunate given that opportunities to do the most good in the world today require that we care for those who are dissimilar to us and far away in space and time.
Tagged: altruism, psychology, signalling
