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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.