Why Do Human Beings Do Good Things? The Puzzle of Altruism

What is the definition of altruism?

• the belief or practice of unselfish concern for someone else's well-being

• the ability to never lie and to always tell the truth

• to spend time together in one place with friends

It's true that, in genetic terms, it's not necessarily self-defeating for us to help people close to us, our relatives or distant cousins- they carry many of the same genes as us, and so helping them may help our genes to survive. (P2)

• True

• False

What is the name of the construction worker in paragraph one that that jumped on top of a young man's body to protect him from being ran over by a subway train, ultimately saving his life?

• Bradly Cooper

• Wesley Autrey

• Jonathan Vasquez

• Simon Caldwell

Egoic altruism is the idea that there is not such thing as "pure" altruism. Egoic altruism is where people help strangers only because it makes us feel good about themselves. (paragraphs 3-5)

• True

• False

Pure altruism is the idea that you do something for someone and the motivation is an impulsive unselfish desire to alleviate suffering. (P6)

• True

• False

What thing was used as an example of acting out of pure altruism by the author? (P7)

• a cat

• a dog

• a rabbit

• a spider

According to the author, empathy is the root of all pure altruism. (P8)

• True

• False

The author believes that all living things are interconnected. (P8)

• True

• Flase

There is a direct connection between living things that makes it possible for us to identify with other people, to sense their suffering and respond to it with altruistic acts. (P9)

• True

• False

Finish the sentence:

One way that I acted altruistically was when ______________.

(remember, altruism is where you care for another person's well being for completely unselfish reasons.)