Not Only Humans But Animals, Even Bacteria are Altruistic

There is not a single human society, past or present, where altruism of some kind is not considered a superior characteristic. 

Altruistic behaviour is seen to arise out of soulful maturity. Sacrificing oneself for the greater good of many is the ultimate act of self-negation and the true mark of a hero.

What is the Definition of Altruism in Everyday Language?

Regard for others, both natural and moral; devotion to the interests of others; brotherly kindness; -- opposed to egoism or selfishness. 

Altruism is a divine quality that is considered to distinguish the noble from the base. We humans always like to think that we are the pinnacle of development, created in the image of divinity but is it always so simple?

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When we are ashamed of some kind of behaviour, we label that behaviour as animal. Rather conveniently we forget that we as humans are indeed biped primates belonging to the 

• Family Hominidae
• Order Primates
• Class Mammalia
• Phylum Chordata
• and Kingdom Animalia. 

Of course, we never ask other animals what they think of us humans on this issue of superiority, especially the fact that there is no record of any animal acting stupidly out of deliberate choice as many humans do repeatedly.

Would animals laugh if we told them that only the higher primates of the family Hominidae could practice altruism? Yes they would. Altruism is not uncommon in the animal world. Even the lowly bacteria consistently exhibit altruism.


Definition of Altruism in Evolutionary Biology

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The definition of altruism in evolutionary biology is, however, slightly different. In evolutionary biology, an organism is said to behave altruistically when its behaviour benefits other organisms, at a cost to the organism itself. These costs and benefits to the organism are measured in terms of reproductive fitness, or expected number of offspring. 

Thus, by behaving altruistically, an organism reduces the number of offspring it is likely to produce, but boosts the number other organisms are likely to produce. This is a clear trade-off, which improves the well-being of the group. 

Altruism in Salmonella Bacteria and Animals

Salmonella bacteria sacrifice themselves for the greater good. As they enter the digestive tract, it’s a hostile world as other bacteria have dug themselves into good strategic positions. So the salmonella ‘select’ one in six microbes during cell division as an advance group. As they dig into the intestinal tissues, they cause the human defence system to inundate the tract. This clears away all the other bacteria, when colonization by other salmonella can begin. To paraphrase the great Winston Churchill, “Never in the field of intestinal conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.”

Dogs often adopt orphaned human babies in Argentina, squirrels, cats, ducks and even tiger cub triplets. 

Huani feeds the tiger triplets and her own puppy at the Paomaling Zoo in Jinan, China. Photograph: Lu Chuanquan/Xinhua/AP

Dolphins regularly support sick or injured animals by swimming under them and pushing them to surface so that they can breathe. One extreme example of altruism is the Stegodyphus spider, which has a unique system of matriphagy, when the offspring actually eats the mother. Felix Warneken and colleagues from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology present experimental evidence that Chimpanzees often help other species, even humans without any reward.

Neanderthal Man Became Extinct Due to a Lack of Altruistic Behaviour

James Shreeve, in his book The Neanderthal Enigma: Solving the Mystery of Modern Human Origins. New York: William Morrow & Co, 1995, presents his theory of why the Neanderthal man became extinct. 

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Shreeve says that Neanderthal man was an exaggerated case of Me, Myself and I. In time, Neanderthal man became extinct because of an inability to produce altruistic and cooperative behaviour towards other Neanderthals, especially the females and children of their own clans. 

The ability to share experience, artefacts and values with others created culture in the weaker Cro-Magnon man helped them survive and evolve.

Criticism of Altruism

Critics of altruism in nature (e.g. Trivers 1971) say that it is only delayed self-gratification as we are altruistic in the expectation of future returns of favours. 

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Even when it is disadvantageous to us and entails sacrifices, it is ultimately genic self-interest, they say. 

What People Say About Altruism

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Altruism is a vision of a higher call for some:

Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness. - Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Others are pragmatic and want to have the cake and eat it too. 

I would rather be kept alive in the efficient if cold altruism of a large hospital than expire in a gush of warm sympathy in a small one. - Aneurin Bevan 

Then there are hardliners: 

If any civilization is to survive, it is the morality of altruism that men have to reject. - Ayn Rand

And realists: 

Let us try to teach generosity and altruism, because we are born selfish. - Richard Dawkins 

Reference:

• Dawkins, R., 1976, The Selfish Gene, Oxford: Oxford University Press
• Fletcher, J. A. and Doebeli, M., 2006, ‘How Altruism Evolves: Assortment and Synergy’, Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 19: 1389-1393
• Hammerstein, P., 2003, ‘Why is Reciprocity so Rare in Social Animals? A Protestant Appeal’, in P. Hammerstein (ed.) Genetic and Cultural Evolution of Cooperation, Cambridge MA: MIT Press.
• Trivers, R.L., 1971. ‘The Evolution of Reciprocal Altruism’, Quarterly Review of Biology, 46: 35-57

Why are Seats Empty at Beijing?

The opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics was a spectacular show. The entire choreography was flawlessly executed, with each minute detail falling in place to showcase China’s might and prowess to the world. 

But people could notice an embarrassing factor even at the most spectacular show on the planet – empty seats.

Officially all the events are sold out. According to a BBC report, Wang Wei, a senior official with the Beijing organising committee (Bocog), said empty seats was not a problem unique to Beijing and other Olympics had experienced similar problems. This spokesman blamed the weather for being too hot and too humid and then too rainy. 

The Chinese authorities have tried to address the problem of empty stands by hiring volunteers, dressing them up in yellow and filling the empty seats to act as cheerleaders. They have been given instructions to cheer for both teams to improve the atmosphere in the stands.

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Some people claim that many of the corporate seats are empty because the corporate tickets were handed out only the day before to prevent blackmarketeering and busy executives can’t make it to the events at such short notice.

Is there some other explanation to why the stands are empty? Do the local Chinese see the sports events as strange and Western? 

Do the Chinese people find the idea of paying hefty prices for attending mass sports events too strange? Are the tickets too expensive?

Beijing Olympic Tickets Terribly Expensive

For example, tickets for softball started at $100 for pool play and go up to $400+ for the gold medal game. In Athens, the same tickets were going for about $10 and $40 respectively. The tickets for the Men’s single tennis finals in 2008, are priced at 545€ plus 29€ for delivery charges. According the People's Daily in China, the average monthly income in Beijing is 227 US dollars. Domestic sports fans would definitely find the ticket prices rather expensive.

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The Sydney 2000 Olympic record for ticket sales was 91% of available tickets breaking the previous record for ticket sales of more than 82% set in Atlanta.

Rumours of terrorism drove crowds away from the preliminary competitions of the games in Athens, but attendance picked up soon.

What about the foreign sport fans in Beijing? 

Is it too difficult and expensive getting visas, finding accommodation, getting tickets or are spectators choosing to watch events on TV from the comfort of their homes?

Is Backpacking Out and Flashpacking In?

Do you like the idea of adventure and freedom in backpacking but prefer security, style, and luxury?

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Are you in your thirties or forties and have more than enough money to spend while travelling? 

And you really can't be without your favourite iPad or similar device.

If you answered 'yes' to both questions, you are something other than a backpacker.

How Do You Know You Are a Flashpacker?

Here's a simple flashpacker test:

• Would you rather spend a few hundred dollars on flights rather than emerge half-dead from 18-hour bus trips?

If you answered yes, then you are a Flashpacker!

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Most people don’t have a clue what flashpacker means. The term flashpacker comes from the same roots as backpacker – flash (ostentatious) + (back) packer. Flashpackers can be called business class backpackers but there are some big differences.

Since the sixties, backpackers have been travelling light and living frugally. 

• Backpackers don’t carry iPods, PDAs, laptops or expensive digital equipment. 
• Backpackers like to travel with no fixed schedules on long trips, and be independent while travelling. 
• Backpacking evolved out of the hippie movement in the West. 
• People in many traditional non-Western countries often regarded backpackers to be more interested in chilling-out, using recreational drugs and exhibiting looser sexual morals than actually learning about the places and cultures they were in.

Would you spot a flashpacker on an 18-hour bus ride to save fifty dollars? No, ‘it is too backpacker’ they would say and fly. For a flashpacker, style is more important.

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Instead of ‘slumming it out’ in budget accommodation, flashpackers spend nights in comfortable hotel rooms and dine in upscale restaurants. Flashpackers always choose to remain connected with their friends or contacts through digital devices they carry with them. 

One of the main criticism against backpacking is that though they seek the 'authentic' experience, in reality they hang around in places frequented by other backpackers and are in contact with them rather than even talk to locals. 

Many people criticize that hardcore flashpackers just play with their electronic gadgets (iPhones, iPads and iPods etc.) in different parts of the world, and have no time, energy, or inclination to actually make contact with anyone outside their digital communities. 

“Critics are envious as they can’t afford what we can”, say the flashpackers and move on.

A synonym of flashpacking is poshpacking. 

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More about flashpackers here.

Should the Great Apes have Human Rights?

Is it true that humans have a divine right to rule over all animals and animals have only rights we give them, if any?

We are taught in school that selfish and corrupt dictators, and fascist regimes typically abuse human rights. Sometimes hawkish leaders come up with innovative methods of classification to marginalise some people on us versus them axes so that ‘they’ can be ‘contained’ for the protection of ‘us’. 

Currently we have at least two ongoing wars where the purported aim is to improve the human right situation of these countries where the wars are being fought. What is perceived as cultural legacy in one country is considered human rights abuse in another. Yet, we have a universal concept for human rights.

What is the Concept of Human Right

To give a clear idea of what “Human Rights” means, the United Nation declares that all human beings are born free and are equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. The United Nations universal declaration of human rights can be found in 360 languages.

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As the first country in the “Modern world”, Spain has extended this protection to the Great Apes by passing a law about rights and fair treatment of animals. 

The Chimpanzees, Gorillas, and Orangutans, called the Great Apes are our cousins on the biological tree. Along with humans, they belong to the subfamily Homininae of the biological family Hominidae.  

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• The Great Apes share about 96% of their DNA with humans.  
• Mice share about 90% while plants have more DNA than humans. 
• Scientists estimate that humans and chimpanzees probably split less than 5.4 million years ago.

Animal Rights in the Modern World

The Spanish parliament has approved resolutions, which argues that "non-human hominids" should enjoy the right to life, freedom, and not to be tortured. 

The philosophers Peter Singer and Paola Cavalieri, who started the Great Apes project argue that the apes are the closest genetic relative to humans and display emotions such as love, fear, anxiety and jealousy – and should be protected by similar laws as humans. Arguing that this law would be going against divine will, which puts man above animals, the Catholic bishops are dead against giving legal protection to animals.

Using apes in circuses, television commercials, or filming will also be banned and while housing apes in Spanish zoos, of which there are currently 315, will remain legal, their living conditions need to improve substantially.

• In 1999, New Zealand's parliament gave the great apes legal protection from animal experimentation. Britain now forbid experiments on chimpanzees, orangutans, and gorillas. 
• The German parliament voted in 2002 to add the phrase “and animals” to a clause in the country’s constitution requiring the state to uphold the dignity of humans. 
• In 1992, Switzerland amended its constitution to recognise animals as “beings,” and not “things.”

Animal Rights in the Ancient World

In the ancient world, respect for animals wasn’t totally unknown. In cave paintings of Lascaux or Altamira, 15,000-30,000 years ago the artists rarely portrayed the animals as being hunted or eaten. They were rather mythical figures of worship.

In his (The Fourteen Rock Edicts, 1) Emperor Ashoka of India decrees "No living beings are to be slaughtered or offered in sacrifice". 

About ancient Egypt, Herodotus (484-425 BC) tells us that “

The Egyptian Priests do to kill anything that has life, except such things as they offer in sacrifice, and animals are accounted sacred. Should any one kill any of these beasts, if wilfully, death is the punishment”.

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In ancient Greece, Pythagoras (580-500 BCE) urged respect for animals. He believed that humans have the same kind of souls as animals, in fact, it is the same one spirit that pervades the universe. The souls transmigrated from humans to animals. Pythagoras bought animals from the market to set them free in nature, where they belonged according to him.

In any culture, the mentally ill or retarded can be stripped of their human rights to free movement by being strapped to their beds. 

• Western democracies with women presidents or prime ministers snugly accept that they can’t have women priests, as they are considered inferior to men. 
• 4 million Americans, over 80% of them black, have been permanently disenfranchised because of even petty crimes. 

Has anyone ever heard of monkeys being jailed for stealing bananas or seagulls detained as “unlawful enemy combatants” and given shock treatments for terrorising people in market squares?

Now, as the seventh Great Ape, humans are consistently driving the other six to extinction, extending ‘human’ rights to animals is a great moral step for the human animal.

Midsummer Ritual Bonfire in Different Cultures

Why do people in different cultures celebrate natural phenomena like midsummer or the summer solstice? 

Are these rituals remnants of an ignorant “pagan” past or are they quests for discovering man’s own identity and finding answers to questions about our origin and destiny, our role in the big picture?

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Midsummer Celebrated in Many Cultures Worldwide

Midsummer or summer solstice is celebrated in many cultures as the longest day of the year. Especially in the northern hemisphere, from Finland to Spain, it is often associated with bonfires. In many European countries people gather around bonfires, often fed with old and unwanted wooden furniture, broken boats and some people jump over the fire while making wishes. 

Though 24^th June is technically the longest day, 21^st June is celebrated in most countries since the Gregorian calendar reform. But neo-pagans celebrate summer solstice on June 24^th along with most European folk festivals. 

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Origin of Midsummer Festivals is Pagan

As with many other pagan festivals, midsummer has been Christianized in most Western countries. In England it has become “St. John’s Eve”, “St John’s Day” or feast of John the Baptist in many countries, in Russia it is Ivan Kupala Day, in Poland it is Noc Kupały or Noc Świętojańska.

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The ancient Germanic, Slav and Celtic tribes in Europe celebrated Midsummer with bonfires. Midsummer night, when in the far reaches of the northern hemisphere the sun does not sink even at midnight, was full of fire festivals and love magic, and divination. Pairs of lovers would jump through the luck-bringing flames believing that the crops would grow as high as the couples were able to jump. Through the fire's power, maidens tried to find out about their future husband, and spirits and demons were banished.

Modern Wiccan Version of Midsummer

Like the ancient Celts, the modern Wiccans believe that at Litha or the Feast of the Faeries at twilight in midsummer, the portals between the worlds open and faeries may enter our world. Humans who welcome them are blessed with joy and wisdom. The modern Druids call midsummer Alban Hefin while the ancient druids called it “Alban Heruin” or "Light of the Shore".

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Evidence of Midsummer in Ancient Cultures

There is evidence of Midsummer festivals in ancient cultures: 

• in Newgrange in Ireland from around 3000 BC
• among the Essenes, a Jewish sect from 1^st century A.D.
• the ancient Hopi and the Nachez people in the Americas 
• the Chinese. For the Chinese the summer solstice ceremony celebrates the earth, the feminine yin force. It complemented the winter solstice, which celebrates the heavens, masculinity and yang forces. 
• Even the peoples of North Africa, particularly in Morocco and Algeria, especially the Berbers also celebrate midsummer.

In many countries there are many kinds of beliefs and traditions related to Midsummer. Even William Shakespeare speaks of “Midsummer madness” in his most delightful play, Twelfth Night as a form of madness brought on by the heat of midsummer.

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Midsummer or Juhannus is the Most Important Festival in Finland

In Finland, midsummer or Juhannus is the main festival of the year when cities are virtually empty as people go to their countryside cottages. People gather around the kokko or bonfires and watch the fire. 

Juhannus is a popular day for weddings as also unfortunately excessive drinking, drowning and accident figures (driving a car and drowning) are the highest in the year. In earlier days, maidens went naked to the meadows the night before to collect seven different wild flowers, which they placed under their pillows so that they then dreamt of the man who would become their husband. 

More about these Finnish midsummer rituals here.