Human Generosity

A team of scientists at UC Santa Barbara recently published some interesting and hopeful findings about human nature in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (July 25, 2011). Whereas traditional theories from evolutionary biology and economic theory would have predicted that acting generous, defined as helping others without any guarantee of future payoff, would be maladaptive and therefore weeded out, it turns out that human beings have the building blocks of cooperation built in. The researchers found that people all over the world are more generous than prevailing theories would have you believe. Reflecting on this study can help us dispel the myth that people are inherently selfish and will only act in what they see as their own self-interest. Who among us can’t use a bit more hope these days?