GOOD AND SMART
Benevolence as an evolutionary force
by
Nancy Sherer
Jane Goodall observed chimps sharing meat. When a male chimp had meat, she reported, he had the option of sharing meat with other members of the group. Estrus females were very likely to receive a portion. Other males were also given meat. The male who had the meat had the option of sharing it with more dominant males. Anthropology has embraced a theory of dominance hierarchy based on aggressiveness, alliances, and physical competition. They don't consider a different possibility: that having meat and being willing to share it might make a chimp (at least temporarily) dominant.
One of the most generally accepted fictions in science and philosophy is that human benevolence has some existence of its own separate from our genetic inheritance. Goodness, generosity, and altruism might actually be our most important genetic traits. Like a tiger's teeth or a bird's wings, Homo sapiens' generosity and nurturing behaviors are part of our biology. Our brain formulates good just as much as a flower formulates nectar.
"If right and wrong are nothing more than the instinctive firing of neurons, why bother being good?" The most obvious answer to that question is: we don't have the choice. Depending on which culture you look at, behaving in a 'not-good' manner is defined as deviant, sick, evil, crazy, or possession by a supernatural force. For some reason, our neo-cortex evolved with a strong sense of benevolence. To behave otherwise is pathological.
It is easy to find examples of human goodness. A large part of our vocabulary is devoted to expressing the subtle differences of good behavior. Words such as benevolence, heroism, patriotism, and cooperation are emotionally loaded words that define what we value most. Protecting the weak, feeding the poor, worshipping the hero who devotes himself to truth and justice, are everyday values that people throughout time have agreed on. But more than that - our species' benevolence is so automatic and unreasoning that we display it towards other species as well as our own. When firefighters rush into a burning building to save a dog we don't laugh at their self-sacrificing behavior. We are touched by their courage. We like to think that we would do the same.
