the.com/altruism
evolution's plot twist: being nice survived because the nice ones stuck together
means the practice of selflessly caring for the wellbeing of others, often at a cost to oneself
from Coined in the mid-19th century by French philosopher Auguste Comte as 'altruisme,' built from Italian 'altrui' (others, of others) which traces back to Latin 'alter' (other) — the same root that gives us 'alternate' and 'alter ego.' Comte invented it deliberately as the opposite of 'egoism,' and English borrowed it from the French soon after.
- vampire bats
- share blood meals with hungry roost-mates
- helper's high
- giving lights up the brain's reward center
- kin math
- Haldane joked he'd die for two brothers
- costly signal
- generosity advertises hidden strength and resources
- the term
- coined by Comte from Italian for others
effective altruism movement — global community donating billions to high-impact causes since 2011
peter singer's donations — philosopher gives 40% of income to charity, influenced thousands
givewell — organization that has directed over $1 billion to effective charities since 2007