Are We Naturally Selfish?

We Are Naturally Selfish.

George C. Williams, author of Plan and Purpose in Nature (1996), discussed about biological selfishness, and how it springs forth from the demand of our genes to replicate themselves. By virtue of this, he proposes that humans are maximally and necessarily selfish. According to him, our genes require us to survive up to maturity for sexual reproduction, in which case, we must engage in behaviors that will allow us to successfully compete for resources. He also said that provisioning, or the act of assisting others in gaining resources and avoiding losses or dangers, is a necessary act rooted on survival. For example, research shows that the degree of provisioning is related to the degree of genetic identity. This phenomenon is known as kin selection. We tend to favor relatives over nonrelatives, and close relatives over more distant ones. In another example, in species where female birds engage in cuckoldry (extra-pair mating), male birds conscientiously watch over their mates, and chase rival males away from their territories. In species of birds where cuckoldry happens 10% of the time, males are less caring of their nestlings than males in species of birds where cuckoldry never happens. Lastly, some species of birds engage in deception of genetic identity. They practise egg dumping, wherein they lay an egg in another bird's nest to exploit the parental instincts of another bird. Interestingly, such a deception is observed in humans; and according to Williams, our linguistic ability allows us to practise it more extensively than any other animal species. He noted how Henry V address his army as "brothers" and feminist leaders address females as "sisters."

We Are Not Naturally Selfish.

Frans B.M. de Waal, author of "Good Natured: The Origins of Right and Wrong in Humans and Other Animals" (1996), define selfishness as self-serving behavior with the intent or motive to benefit the self. Thus, without intent or motive, any self-serving behavior is an adaptive behavior. He contends that Charles Darwin and Adam Smith do not confuse adaptive behavior from selfish behavior. For example, a vine overgrowing a tree lacks intention or knowledge, and therefore, cannot be selfish. de Waal also claims that adaptive behaviors lead to the development of virtues. Loyalty and altruism are virtues that evolved from cooperation, a group adaptive behavior. He asserts that such virtues are presently divorced from their evolutionary consequences, and are expressed even in non-survival circumstances. Below are some concrete examples of such virtuous expressions.

• Juvenile male chimpanzees display a form of empathy, when they console adult male chimps who were defeated after a fight.
• Binti Jua, a lowland gorilla at Brookefield Zoo in Chicago, rescued an unconscious boy who fell into her enclosure.
• Dutch civilians endangered themselves when they housed Jewish families during World War II.
• Lenny Skutnik risked his life when he dove into the icy Potomac River to rescue a plane-crash victim in 1982.

These examples show that humans, even animals, have the capacity to express virtues regardless of survivability. de Waal took a step further and criticized the evolutionary perspective's failure to account for such diversity of behavior and contrasting mindsets, going so far as to claim that such a perspective in only valuable in evolutionary biology, and not psychology.