74 Altruism What's in it for Me

CHAPTER 1 What Is Altruism? PEOPLE HELP PEOPLE. WE SEE IT EVERY DAY. HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED WHY? There is an old Indonesian story about altruism. It is called "The Golden Watermelon." Long ago, a rich man died. His two sons each received half of the man's money. The older son, Muzakir, took his money and locked it in a strong box. He didn't share it with anyone. The younger son, Dermawan, was kinder. Dermawan shared his money with people who had none. Many people heard about Dermawan's kindness. They came to him and asked for money. Soon, Dermawan had no money left. Muzakir laughed at him and called him a fool.

第一章什么是利他主义？ 人们互相帮助。我们每天都能看到。 你有没有想过为什么？ 印度尼西亚有一个关于利他主义的古老故事。 它被称为“金色西瓜”。 很久以前，一个富人死了。 他的两个儿子每人得到了他一半的钱。 大儿子Muzakir拿走了他的钱，把它锁在一个结实的箱子里。 他没有告诉任何人。 小儿子德玛万（Dermawan）比较善良。 德马万把他的钱分给了那些一无所有的人。 很多人听说了德玛万的善举。 他们来找他要钱。 很快，德马万就没钱了。 穆扎基尔嘲笑他，称他为傻瓜。

One day, a bird with a broken wing fell into Dermawan's yard. Dermawan took care of the bird. He fed it rice from his own bowl. When the bird was better, it flew away. Later it returned and dropped a watermelon seed into Dermawan's garden. A watermelon grew, filled with pure gold! Muzakir learned about the golden watermelon. He caught a bird and broke its wing. Then he kept the bird and gave it old, bad rice. When the bird was better, it flew away, and Muzakir waited for his watermelon seed. Soon the bird returned with a seed. However, when Muzakir's watermelon grew, it was filled with disgusting, smelly dirt. The dirt covered Muzakir, and he ran away. Everyone laughed at him. In this story, Dermawan does good things for others, but altruism is more than that. Altruism must include making a sacrifice. Dermawan made a sacrifice when he gave his money away, and when he gave the bird rice from his own bowl. Both times, Dermawan showed what it means to be altruistic.

一天，一只断了翅膀的鸟掉进了德马旺的院子里。 德马万照顾这只鸟。 他用自己的碗喂它米饭。 鸟儿好了，就飞走了。 后来它回来了，把一颗西瓜籽扔进了德马旺的花园。 一个西瓜长出来了，里面装满了纯金！Muzakir知道了金色西瓜的故事。 他抓住一只鸟，折断了它的翅膀。 然后他把鸟养起来，给它吃又旧又坏的米饭。 等鸟儿好了，它就飞走了，Muzakir等着他的西瓜籽。 不久，鸟儿带着一粒种子回来了。 然而，当Muzakir的西瓜长大后，它充满了令人作呕的臭土。 泥土盖住了Muzakir，他跑开了。 每个人都嘲笑他。在这个故事中，德玛万为他人做好事，但利他主义不止于此。 利他主义必须包括做出牺牲。 德马旺把自己的钱送人，把自己碗里的饭给鸟吃，都是一种牺牲。 这两次，德马万都展示了什么是利他主义。

CHAPTER 2 Learning to Be Good PARENTS SPEND A LOT OF TIME TEACHING THEIR CHILDREN TO SHARE, AND IT WORKS. SCIENTISTS FOUND IF YOU GIVE CHILDREN MONEY, THEY WILL PROBABLY SHARE IT, EVEN WITH STRANGERS! For years, scientists and researchers have wondered about altruism. Why are people altruistic? Why would people sacrifice themselves to help others? One idea is that rewards teach people to be altruistic. The story of Muzakir and Dermawan is important. It is a teaching story for children. It teaches that altruism brings rewards. It also shows the bad results of being selfish. The story means to encourage young people to follow Dermawan's example to be generous, selfless (not selfish), altruistic.

第2章学会做个好父母花很多时间教他们的孩子学会分享，这很有效。 科学家发现，如果你给孩子钱，他们可能会与人分享，即使是与陌生人！多年来，科学家和研究人员一直对利他主义感到好奇。 为什么人是利他的？ 为什么人们要牺牲自己去帮助别人？ 一种观点认为，奖励教会人们变得无私。 Muzakir和Dermawan的故事很重要。 这是一个给孩子们讲的教育故事。 它教导我们，无私会带来回报。 它也显示了自私的坏结果。 这个故事是为了鼓励年轻人以德马旺为榜样，变得慷慨、无私（而不是自私）、无私。

The story of "The Golden Watermelon" is not unusual. Many children's stories teach the same lesson. "Help others," the stories say, "and good things will happen to you." In 2012, Brendan Haas, a 9-year-old American boy, earned a family trip to Disney World in Orlando, Florida, USA. He earned it by trading on the Internet. He began with a toy soldier and offered to trade it for something a little nicer. Then he traded for something a little nicer again. Each trade became more valuable. After four months, Brendan finally had the Disney vacation. However, Brendan didn't earn the trip for his own family. He earned it for a family he had never met. He gave the vacation to the family of a soldier who had died. Almost immediately, the boy became famous. His story appeared in many newspapers. He was interviewed on television. Then, because of his altruism, Disney World gave Brendan a trip for his own family.

“金西瓜”的故事并不罕见。 许多儿童故事都教导我们同样的道理。 “帮助别人，”故事说，“好事就会发生在你身上。” 2012年，9岁的美国男孩布兰登·哈斯赢得了一次全家去美国佛罗里达州奥兰多市迪士尼乐园的旅行。 他是通过网上交易赚来的。 他从一个玩具士兵开始，并提出用它交换一些更好的东西。 然后他又换了件好一点的东西。 每笔交易都变得更有价值。 四个月后，布兰登终于有了迪斯尼假期。 然而，布兰登并不是为自己的家人赢得了这次旅行。 这是他为一个素未谋面的家庭挣来的。 他把假期给了一位阵亡士兵的家属。 几乎立刻，这个男孩就出名了。 他的故事刊登在许多报纸上。 他接受了电视采访。 然后，由于他的利他主义，迪士尼世界为他自己的家人安排了一次旅行。

It is easy to see how rewards such as this can encourage altruism. But some people say that altruism based on reward is not true altruism at all. If we give to others only because we hope to be rewarded, then we are actually being selfish. Does this explain Brendan's actions? It seems not. When he received the Disney World trip for his own family, he didn't accept it. Like the first trip, he gave it away to another family. Brendan did not keep the second Disney World trip, but that does not mean he was not rewarded. Some scientists have discovered another reward for altruism: it feels good. Recently, a group of researchers studied charities. A charity is an organization that gives money, food, or other help to people who need it. There are charities for many different needs, such as education, medical research, or to fight poverty.

很容易看出这样的奖励是如何鼓励利他主义的。 但有些人说，基于奖励的利他主义根本不是真正的利他主义。 如果我们给予别人只是因为希望得到回报，那么我们实际上是自私的。 这能解释布兰登的行为吗？ 似乎不是。当他收到为自己的家人安排的迪士尼世界之旅时，他没有接受。 和第一次旅行一样，他把它送给了另一个家庭。 布兰登没有保留第二次迪士尼世界之旅，但这并不意味着他没有得到奖励。 一些科学家发现了利他主义的另一种回报：感觉良好。 最近，一组研究人员研究了慈善事业。 慈善机构是向需要帮助的人提供金钱、食物或其他帮助的组织。 慈善机构有许多不同的需求，如教育、医学研究或消除贫困。

Many people around the world donate money and other things to charity because they want to help others. The researchers wanted to learn why people do this. The researchers gave money to a group of people. Then they told the people they could keep the money or donate it to charity. While the people decided, the researchers studied their brains. The human brain has areas that become active when the person feels happiness and love. Researchers found that donating money to charity made these places in the brain active. In other words, giving money away made the people feel happiness and love. Why would giving money away create good feelings? Perhaps it is because we are taught to do so. We are told from childhood that giving is important. We are told that good people share what they have. So when we share, we feel happy. Our brains reward us for being good.

世界上许多人向慈善机构捐款和其他东西，因为他们想帮助别人。 研究人员想知道为什么人们会这样做。 研究人员给一组人钱。 然后他们告诉人们，他们可以留着钱，也可以捐给慈善机构。 在人们做决定的同时，研究人员研究了他们的大脑。 当人感到幸福和爱时，大脑的某些区域会变得活跃。 研究人员发现，向慈善机构捐款会使大脑中的这些区域活跃起来。 换句话说，送钱让人们感到幸福和爱。 为什么送钱会让人产生好感？ 也许是因为我们被教导要这样做。 我们从小就被告知给予很重要。 我们被告知，好人会分享他们所拥有的。 所以当我们分享时，我们会感到快乐。 我们的大脑奖励我们做得好。