FP Comment’s Peter Foster: Where’s Oprah?
August 6, 2010 – 11:07 pm
The claim that businessmen have not been charitable enough is wide of the mark
Altruism has always presented a puzzle to the crudely interpreted theory of evolution. How could such behaviour have evolved if nature was meant to be all red-in-tooth-and-claw survival of the fittest?
The answer, paradoxically, lay in genetic “selfishness,” which produced kinship, sympathy and other “moral sentiments” and promoted co-operation and a desire for reputation within tribal groups. However, the adaptive dark side of morality was that it promoted solidarity against tribal rivals. The remnants of that unpleasant fact persist in genocide, religious war and suicide bombing.
The greatest method for extending peaceful human relations came with the cultural evolution of “commercial society.” This promoted social interaction that not only tended to make participants better off, but encouraged and rewarded prudence, honesty and tolerance, and provided unprecedented opportunities for benevolence. Capitalism enabled individuals to become fabulously rich for the first time in human history without oppressing others. However, the taint of greed and exploitation remained from that vast stretch of human prehistory and history when the command of resources was synonymous with repression.
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Altruism has always presented a puzzle to the crudely interpreted theory of evolution. How could such behaviour have evolved if nature was meant to be all red-in-tooth-and-claw survival of the fittest?
The answer, paradoxically, lay in genetic “selfishness,” which produced kinship, sympathy and other “moral sentiments” and promoted co-operation and a desire for reputation within tribal groups. However, the adaptive dark side of morality was that it promoted solidarity against tribal rivals. The remnants of that unpleasant fact persist in genocide, religious war and suicide bombing.
The greatest method for extending peaceful human relations came with the cultural evolution of “commercial society.” This promoted social interaction that not only tended to make participants better off, but encouraged and rewarded prudence, honesty and tolerance, and provided unprecedented opportunities for benevolence. Capitalism enabled individuals to become fabulously rich for the first time in human history without oppressing others. However, the taint of greed and exploitation remained from that vast stretch of human prehistory and history when the command of resources was synonymous with repression.
Read more
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