Pure Altruism: Does It Exist? You Might Be Surprised By The Answer...

0:15 Joey and Phoebe
0:59 Definition of altruism
2:00 Altruism vs. helping behavior
2:52 Altruism vs. loyalty
3:54 Altruism and intrinsic rewards
4:57 Altruistic behaviors in animals
6:39 Altruism and the brain
7:24 Pure psychological altruism
9:36 Rachel and Phoebe

Triggered by an episode of the sitcom Friends, this video discusses whether pure altruism is psychologically attainable. In other words, are there selfless good deeds?

Many thanks to Tjeerd Z. for his help on the writing of the script for this vid.

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#RanywayzRandom #altruism

[jsummerspear]

2 years later and this video is still great. Nice voice and amazing writing and creating this video. :)

[santuge]

Hey this is one of the best videos that I have watched lately. And I think you explained the point very clearly and convincingly. Thanks very much. I truly think this is an important topic and more people should watch this videos.

[briellehunter]

A lot of people say there is no such thing as altruism. This could be because the ego must see itself as 'good'.
You said there is no such thing as a selfless good deed but I disageee.
Some people cannot sense an inner self though there is one.

[erichollingback]

What I think is if the gratification unbeknownst to the person at the time of the deed, then it's purely altruistic in it's intent. If pleasure is a by product that they weren't expecting then you would think that's a pure version of it in that moment.

[santuge]

Also a small unsolicited suggestion: at the end of this video you mentioned that you have other videos about the altruism topic. It might be helpful to have the link in the video description part so people (like me) can watch all of them without having to search throughout the playlists. Thanks again for the excellent content!

[ASTRA]

I just had a debate with a fellow college psychology student about this, I have the stance that altruism does not exist. And even in a biological standpoint the chemical reaction gives a positive reinforcement, or you subconsciously view your self as a "Hero".

[jenniferh]

very nice coverage of the subject matter

[READERSENPAII]

This was a topic I thought about a lot while on a spiritual retreat. Basically this retreat was based on how being of service to others is the key to enlightenment, and that if you make it a point to anonymously do good deeds for others eveyday for 90 days, you will see significant, positive changes in your mental and spiritual fortitude.

[beats]

This requires an assumption, that helping others gives people the automatic emotion of pleasure, and not another emotion

[onedirections]

Yes, I'm it, and I can tell you every little thing about it. A good Samaritan. You need to study the Hamilton Rule. The altruist must experience this in the formidable years. Then carry it out, for the next five years, as a practicing altruist. You must be born into the environment. Complete empathy, humble, selfless. The person needs to have siblings, who are in need of help. I was born almost two years after my brother, he had no athletic ability, or social skills, a mamas boy in the making, he was a bed wetter. My sister, two years younger, born blind and autistic. I am a perfect child. That's the beginning of pure altruism.

[ficationsare]

Bending to pick up a pen can require physical risk. People have hurt their backs doing less. So picking it up for someone costs one risk.

[TheWhoCares]

Cant find your other video on pure altruism can someone link it

[DawgIdek]

Before watching the full video, I would like to say I don’t believe in pure altruism or selflessness. For an action to be selfless, I believe that an action must be done without the self in mind, but the idea of action goes against the idea of selflessness. There is a prompt, an action must be done in response, thus satisfying the demands of the prompt. A Guy dives into a burning building to save some people, losing his life in the process. While that is the case that he helped people and died doing so, he still felt a personal demand to do such thing, that personal demand is what drove him to act in that way, logically making the act selfish. I believe a truly selfless act would need to be done without the conscious, for example, a dead body in the woods alerts a group of kids of nearby danger, so they go and run home. The person did not intend to help anyone, as they had no knowledge of anyone else in the area and even if they did, it would be likely they were more focused on getting away from the killer themselves than trying to help anyone. That’s an example of a truly selfless act. Selfless isn’t inherently good, it’s in the name, an action that is done without the self, without conscious intent.

[brQdfrQd]

What if, you give away all your belongings to someone you don't know, knowing you will forget about it seconds later thus eliminating any intrinsic rewards.

[vvs.]

what if you i do altruist things and don’t feel good after

[psychoe]

May I know where you got your sources?

[carlosarias]

So altruism is giving no matter what nor matter who, helping has no boundries.

[eualtomera]

Well explained but where are th sources

[karolinasoblinskyte]

I had evil boyfriend who, just live in my home and not pay momey, not working, only devoured my food and don't let me rest.
1 This was benefition for him
2 this is not revarding to me
3 this cost and hurt me a lot
Is this are altruistic? This was against my will, do this count as pure altruistic?

[maliki]

Lmao look how many people don't get it and it's not complicated