A book I recently finished included a chapter questioning my assumption that people are innately good, which is ironic because this time of year I often piece together a column about those people for whom I’m most thankful and assume are innately good.
The book is “SuperFreakonomics” and, yes, I’m about five years late in reading it. By Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, it includes a chapter on altruism. For economists to measure this type of social behavior may seem unusual, but that’s why it’s so interesting to glean the results of their various experiments. The findings are at once mixed and disputed, but prominent economists have concluded that we tend to give to others based on our own self-interest, which is depressing.
“Most giving is, as economists call it, impure altruism or warm-glow altruism,” the authors write. “You give not only because you want to help but because you look good, or feel good, or perhaps feel less bad.”
I will now blindly ignore some of the authors’ findings because, for one, it’s the Christmas season. And secondly, I refuse to believe that the random acts of kindness I’ve experienced are mostly performed for another’s gain.
In Montana, you basically need friends to survive. No, I won’t veer toward a baseless tangent on how residents here are nicer than they are in bigger cities. Instead, I will argue that in rural places we rely on each other more and count on someone helping us without them seeking reward or notice.
An example of that is how we treat each other on our roadways. When I get a flat on a rural highway, I can rarely change the tire before a small stream of drivers pull over to see if I’m OK. Just last week, a woman hit a deer in front of me on U.S. 93 and the number of drivers who had stopped to help her and pull the animal from the roadway was impressive but not surprising.
In the winter, these acts of altruism are especially important. When our thoroughfares are covered in snow and ice, we basically take it upon ourselves to make sure everyone gets home safe. We push our cars out of snow banks and plow our neighbor’s driveways when they’re on vacation. When storms knock out our power, we offer firewood to those who need it. That’s simply part of living here.
The experiments highlighted by Levitt and Dubner mostly measure how much someone gives financially, and why. No, strangers don’t readily give me money, but they have spent an afternoon towing my station wagon out of a snowy Wyoming field, which is perhaps worth more.
SuperFreakonomics, and other books like it, are worth a read. They help us understand the basics of social economic behavior. While the United States easily leads the world in giving to charitable organizations (more than 2 percent of the nation’s GDP), it’s worth noting that it also has among the most generous tax code allowing deductions for those contributions. There are mountains of evidence that shows people, even when giving, are acting in their own self-interest.
Perhaps we’re not “hardwired for altruism,” as the authors note. But that only makes it more exceptional when you witness a true act of selflessness, when you receive that unexpected Christmas gift, or a genuine compliment, or a lift from a stranger when your car breaks down. And if performing those acts makes someone feel better about themselves, that’s not altogether a bad thing.