This post takes off from a question that a friend (A) recently raised after watching a movie - Why do we reward a good deed (someone fighting a battle for justice, someone returning a lost object) ? Why do we feel the need to reward the just ? Isn't it the right thing to do and therefore the obvious and only recourse left open ? Why is being good glorified so much ? Shouldn’t that be the first and the only mode of action ?
"Be good unto others,
Do the right thing,
Perform your duties without any expectations
Selfishness is a vice and sacrifice is a virtue
We can find true joy only in the service of the mankind.... "
I am sure I appear to be sermonizing, as the many others we have all often heard….
But then every time I heard these statements, I could never follow any of them as a natural recourse…
These are all qualities that are counter intuitive to us (definitely to me)... becoming any of these or following any of these principles requires an added effort on our part (curbing a natural instinct)... But then these are qualities that are preached in all societies and it all religions... Why then would a religion or a society preach something that is difficult to follow... ?
I guess, the answer very obviously lies in our past. We are all products of millions of years of evolution driven by the principle of "survival of the fittest"... We are here today because our ancestors were selfish and took care of their needs for the perpetuation of their genes.... If they had been altruistic, they would not have survived long enough to have their offsprings and therefore those genes would not be inherited.... Simple enough (Of course, altruism has survived so far and the most satisfactory explanation for it comes from the kin selection theory, but leaving that part aside - We are selfish beings)!! But then why is it that we humans are so obsessed with glorifying the principles of altruism, sacrifice and selflessness... ??
I would hazard a guess that goodness is glorified because it is counter-intuitive... we are not "good people"... we are selfish to the core !! Given a situation, our primary reaction is to carry out a cost-benefit analysis (Sadly, this is not something unique to managerial whizkids and corporates !!!)... It is this thinking which is ingrained in our minds through the millions of years of evolution. Our instincts are to first protect ourselves and our immediate family and finally the others, depending on the extent of familiarity..... We are selfish and being anything otherwise is a difficult and an unnatural choice to make.
The social evolution of man however required a fabric where trust, faith and goodness could abound (how do you live with a group of people and trust your life into their hands when you think that they are out to kill you… :)) Thus, the fundamental pre-requisite of the social nature of man (A natural fallout of the fact that he was physically weaker and mentally stronger than the wild beasts !!) is that he trust his neighbors (also the beginning for our feelings of parochialism and xenophobia). This of course, necessitates that values of goodness and righteousness are preached from childhood and they are made to abound in the society.
The underlying principle as I see is that, humans are not inherently "good"; we are selfish creatures and are only interested in safeguarding our interests and therefore it is necessary that goodness is rewarded and selfishness in abhorred ....
I guess that is why doing the right thing is treated as the more courageous option to take and something which deserves a reward (to try and offset the costs incurred to the individual). We as a society try and propagate these values to ensure our survival as a group. No wonder religion and the prevalent social structures establish this view…. And try and goad us into doing the "good"/right" deeds which are against the very grain of our nature….
[This is perhaps why I really liked Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism because it allows you to lead a moral life without going against your instincts…. But more about that later… :) ]
(I am not sure why i wrote this post and i am not sure if i even make enough sense, but i sure hope that A will understand... )
"Be good unto others,
Do the right thing,
Perform your duties without any expectations
Selfishness is a vice and sacrifice is a virtue
We can find true joy only in the service of the mankind.... "
I am sure I appear to be sermonizing, as the many others we have all often heard….
But then every time I heard these statements, I could never follow any of them as a natural recourse…
These are all qualities that are counter intuitive to us (definitely to me)... becoming any of these or following any of these principles requires an added effort on our part (curbing a natural instinct)... But then these are qualities that are preached in all societies and it all religions... Why then would a religion or a society preach something that is difficult to follow... ?
I guess, the answer very obviously lies in our past. We are all products of millions of years of evolution driven by the principle of "survival of the fittest"... We are here today because our ancestors were selfish and took care of their needs for the perpetuation of their genes.... If they had been altruistic, they would not have survived long enough to have their offsprings and therefore those genes would not be inherited.... Simple enough (Of course, altruism has survived so far and the most satisfactory explanation for it comes from the kin selection theory, but leaving that part aside - We are selfish beings)!! But then why is it that we humans are so obsessed with glorifying the principles of altruism, sacrifice and selflessness... ??
I would hazard a guess that goodness is glorified because it is counter-intuitive... we are not "good people"... we are selfish to the core !! Given a situation, our primary reaction is to carry out a cost-benefit analysis (Sadly, this is not something unique to managerial whizkids and corporates !!!)... It is this thinking which is ingrained in our minds through the millions of years of evolution. Our instincts are to first protect ourselves and our immediate family and finally the others, depending on the extent of familiarity..... We are selfish and being anything otherwise is a difficult and an unnatural choice to make.
The social evolution of man however required a fabric where trust, faith and goodness could abound (how do you live with a group of people and trust your life into their hands when you think that they are out to kill you… :)) Thus, the fundamental pre-requisite of the social nature of man (A natural fallout of the fact that he was physically weaker and mentally stronger than the wild beasts !!) is that he trust his neighbors (also the beginning for our feelings of parochialism and xenophobia). This of course, necessitates that values of goodness and righteousness are preached from childhood and they are made to abound in the society.
The underlying principle as I see is that, humans are not inherently "good"; we are selfish creatures and are only interested in safeguarding our interests and therefore it is necessary that goodness is rewarded and selfishness in abhorred ....
I guess that is why doing the right thing is treated as the more courageous option to take and something which deserves a reward (to try and offset the costs incurred to the individual). We as a society try and propagate these values to ensure our survival as a group. No wonder religion and the prevalent social structures establish this view…. And try and goad us into doing the "good"/right" deeds which are against the very grain of our nature….
[This is perhaps why I really liked Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism because it allows you to lead a moral life without going against your instincts…. But more about that later… :) ]
(I am not sure why i wrote this post and i am not sure if i even make enough sense, but i sure hope that A will understand... )
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