Back atcha, Molly! :) If I recall correctly, Dawkins wrote at length about altruism in "The Selfish Gene". My Readers Digest Condensed Version of his argument is that altruism is a selfish action which desires to improve society, culture, the world, whatever, which then indirectly benefits the actor. We give of ourselves and our resources not because of a direct emotional empathy; we're generally too far removed from the recipient to experience much emotional impact. Instead, we give because we don't want to live in a world where people don't give. We don't want to live in a world where people suffer, starve, lose everything, endure horrible illnesses or violence. We want to "make the world a better place" because we live in it, and want to live in a better place.
I was reminded of this when you said "I think it is true that your giving spirit comes back to you tenfold", a variation of the modern, main stream perception of karma. I've generally not given much weight to that concept, as it's often packaged as part of a universal concept of justice, with a greater hand somewhere balancing scales. Recently though, integrating Dawkins' ideas of both biologically driven altruism, and how memetic evolutions occur, I see karma as the philosophy of altruism, where the concept of a slow, progressive social evolution for the betterment of human kind which benefits all is replaced by the easier to grok direct return for "energies" expended in altruistic endeavors. It made your statement resonate with me. I've dealt with some pretty challenging hardships this year (skirting dangerously close to the edge of insolvency), and yet there are two families connected to me by one degree of separation who have already gone over that edge, and are now just trying to pick up the pieces and survive. In honest introspection, I see that underlying selfishness, in hoping that by helping those worse off, I in some way contribute towards a world which will potentially help me if I fall to that level. At any rate, that was a bit of a ramble, but your statement fit well into a long running conversation in my head, so figured I'd share. :) On Mon, Nov 22, 2010 at 5:46 AM, Molly <[email protected]> wrote: > I think it is true that your giving spirit comes back to you tenfold. > Nicely done, Chris. Blessings to you and yours this holiday season. > > On Nov 19, 9:10 am, Chris Jenkins <[email protected]> wrote: > > Every year, we try to do a little fund raising to help those less > fortunate. > > This year is no exception. Despite the challenges we've faced this year, > > there are several families who are even worse off. If any of you feel > like > > contributing towards a worthy cause, visit here: > http://flmediasolutions.com/help.htm > > > > Otherwise, have a happy holiday, count your blessings, ignore this email, > > and move on! >
