We had an interesting discussion on Marx's Communist Manifesto in class today. Several interesting points that stood out to me, but the most thought provoking discussion point came up at the end of class. Where does compassion fit into the human nature? If we are motivated solely by greed and self interest, where does the urge come from to help others? Dr. Tucker told the story of a two two-year-old children who were in a room separated by a glass wall. One of the children had access to two ropes. When one was pulled, it would deliver a treat to the child who pulled it. The other delivered a treat to the other child. The child would pull both ropes so that the other child could enjoy. The same experiment was done with two monkeys, and the monkey never chose to help the other.
This makes me think that there is something naturally in us that makes us want to help others. If that is true, then the question can be asked, "Why are there things like world poverty? Why don't we help each other more?" In my opinion, the problem comes in the fact that as we grow older, we are taught self interest more and more. When we do help others, it is sometimes only to appear charitable and generous, and not always because we just see that someone needs something that we have. Rebecca's challenge of the day: Let's all try to be a little more like children. They don't always do things for logical reasons. While it's certainly true that little children can be quite unwilling to share, sweet moments abound where children notice that they can help someone else.
The world would be a better place.
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