The kindness of strangers

Bruce Hood

We often help others in situations where there is no immediate benefit to ourselves or indeed there is no reward in the future. We are even willing to help strangers. Young children start to help strangers surprisingly early. At 18 months, they will spontaneously pick up dropped items and open doors or boxes to help an experimenter even when they are not told to do so or given a reward. In fact, rewarding children makes them less helpful because we generally do not like having our acts of kindness reduced to something that was done for obvious gain. It is unlikely that children have been trained to help, but rather, they do so because it is in our human nature. Animals can help other members of their own species, but the observations of helping in non-human primates are sporadic and open to alternative interpretations that divide the scientific community. In fact, some argue that the basic principle of helping others out of good will is uniquely human.

我們經(jīng)常幫助別人的情況下，沒有立即的利益，或確實(shí)沒有回報(bào)的未來(lái)岁忘。我們甚至愿意幫助陌生人。孩子們很早就開始幫助陌生人超升。在18個(gè)月大的時(shí)候，他們會(huì)自發(fā)地?fù)炱鸬袈涞奈锲凡富玻蜷_門或箱子來(lái)幫助實(shí)驗(yàn)者室琢，即使他們沒有被告知這樣做或得到獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)。事實(shí)上落追，獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)孩子會(huì)讓他們更不樂于助人盈滴，因?yàn)槲覀兺ǔ２幌矚g自己的善舉淪為為了明顯的利益。孩子們不太可能被訓(xùn)練去幫助別人淋硝，相反雹熬，他們這樣做是因?yàn)檫@是我們?nèi)祟惖奶煨浴?dòng)物可以幫助自己物種中的其他成員谣膳，但對(duì)非人類靈長(zhǎng)類動(dòng)物的幫助觀察是零星的竿报，而且有不同的解釋，這在科學(xué)界是有分歧的继谚。事實(shí)上烈菌，一些人認(rèn)為，出于善意幫助他人的基本原則是人類獨(dú)有的花履。

Chimpanzees will reliably help a human retrieve an out-of-reach object, but the helping may have been shaped during their captivity. Whenever we see domesticated animals performing feats that are not observed regularly in their natural habitat, we have to ask whether those abilities are part of their repertoire or rather demonstrations of the power of learning and expectations. After all, researchers have been arguing that domestication changes brains and behavior. Semi-wild chimpanzees and other non-human primates appear to cooperate, but they do not necessarily think of helping as a selfless act. There are many reports of animals working in collaboration but ultimately these are strategies to benefit the individual.

黑猩猩確實(shí)可以幫助人類找回一個(gè)夠不到的物體芽世，但這種幫助可能是在它們被囚禁期間形成的。每當(dāng)我們看到馴養(yǎng)的動(dòng)物表演在它們的自然棲息地通彻畋冢看不到的技藝時(shí)济瓢，我們不得不問(wèn)，這些能力到底是它們表演的一部分妹卿，還是學(xué)習(xí)和期望的力量的展示旺矾。畢竟蔑鹦，研究人員一直認(rèn)為馴化會(huì)改變大腦和行為。半野生黑猩猩和其他非人類靈長(zhǎng)類動(dòng)物似乎會(huì)合作箕宙，但它們并不一定認(rèn)為幫助是一種無(wú)私的行為嚎朽。有很多關(guān)于動(dòng)物合作的報(bào)道，但最終這些策略都是有利于個(gè)體的柬帕。

Chimpanzees will lend a hand to help another gain access to food, but not if they have to give up food that is already in their possession. Not only do chimpanzees fail to share food with non-relatives but that selfishness also applies to mothers and their babies. When their baby is begging for food, it has been observed that mothers will pass on a morsel, but when they do, it is usually done reluctantly and she gives the less nutritious and appetizing parts of the plant to her baby. Of course, chimpanzee mothers possess a maternal instinct to protect their babies, but apparently that nurturing does not reliably extend to readily giving up a treat or two. Can you imagine a human mother behaving like that at the local nursery group?

黑猩猩會(huì)幫助其他黑猩猩獲得食物哟忍，但如果它們必須放棄已經(jīng)擁有的食物，它們就不會(huì)伸出援手陷寝。黑猩猩不僅不與非親屬分享食物锅很，這種自私也適用于母親和她們的孩子。當(dāng)它們的寶寶乞討食物時(shí)凤跑，我們觀察到粗蔚，媽媽們會(huì)遞上一小口，但當(dāng)它們這么做時(shí)饶火，通常是不情愿的，媽媽們會(huì)把營(yíng)養(yǎng)價(jià)值較低致扯、讓寶寶開胃的部分給它們肤寝。當(dāng)然，黑猩猩媽媽擁有保護(hù)自己孩子的母性本能抖僵，但很明顯鲤看，這種養(yǎng)育并不會(huì)可靠地延伸到輕易放棄一兩個(gè)食物。你能想象一個(gè)人類母親在當(dāng)?shù)赝袃核谋憩F(xiàn)嗎?

For humans, helping is all about emotions. We help others out of the goodness of our hearts. As Abraham Lincoln said, "When I do good, I feel good. When I do bad, I feel bad. That's my religion." The kindness of strangers reminds us that humans are an altruistic species willing to help others even when there is no obvious payoff. We do so because it seems right but also because we feel better about ourselves and worse when we do not. When we help others we get a "warm glow"— an experience that registers in the pleasure centers of our brain.

對(duì)于人類來(lái)說(shuō)耍群，幫助他人完全是情感上的义桂。我們是出于好心幫助別人的。正如亞伯拉罕·林肯所說(shuō):“當(dāng)我做好事時(shí)蹈垢，我感覺很好慷吊。”當(dāng)我做得不好的時(shí)候曹抬，我感覺很糟糕溉瓶。這就是我的宗教“瘢”陌生人的善意提醒我們堰酿，人類是一種利他的物種，即使沒有明顯的回報(bào)张足，也愿意幫助別人触创。我們這樣做是因?yàn)樗雌饋?lái)是正確的，但也因?yàn)槲覀兏杏X更好为牍，當(dāng)我們不這樣做時(shí)哼绑，我們感覺更糟岩馍。當(dāng)我們幫助別人的時(shí)候，我們會(huì)得到一種“溫暖的光輝”——一種記錄在我們大腦愉悅中樞的體驗(yàn)凌那。

The other mechanism that promotes altruism is not pride, but the fear of criticism from others for not helping. Two famous economists, Ernst Fehr and Simon G?chter developed a cunning game to test people's motives to help the group. They had teams of adults play a game where they were given tokens worth money that they could either keep or put into a collective pot as an investment that would be paid out to everyone irrespective of whether they contributed to the pot or not. The best strategy is for everyone to contribute, but someone who wants to get the most out of game — in other words, to be a freeloader — should not contribute any of their own money and just reap the benefits of all the other players willing to make a contribution. The game was played anonymously, but after each round of the game it was revealed who had contributed what Now players were given the chance to "fine " those who had not contributed sufficiently to the pot. The twist was that whoever imposed the fine also had to pay for the privilege even though they would not get their money back.

另一個(gè)促進(jìn)利他主義的機(jī)制不是驕傲养叛，而是害怕別人因?yàn)椴粠兔Χu(píng)雅潭。兩位著名的經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家恩斯特·費(fèi)爾(Ernst Fehr)和西蒙G?chter開發(fā)了一個(gè)狡猾的游戲來(lái)測(cè)試人們幫助群體的動(dòng)機(jī)。他們讓一組成年人玩一個(gè)游戲，在游戲中蛤迎，他們得到了價(jià)值不菲的代幣，他們可以把這些代幣保存起來(lái)刨秆，也可以把它們作為一種投資放入一個(gè)集體的罐子里犬金，無(wú)論他們是否為這個(gè)罐子做出了貢獻(xiàn)，這些代幣都會(huì)被支付給所有人驹尼。最好的策略是對(duì)每個(gè)人都做出貢獻(xiàn),但是有人想要的游戲——換句話說(shuō),是一個(gè)不速之客——不應(yīng)該貢獻(xiàn)任何他們自己的錢,獲得收益的其他玩家愿意做出貢獻(xiàn)趣避。游戲是匿名,但在每一輪的比賽是揭示造成現(xiàn)在玩家有機(jī)會(huì)“罰款”那些沒有做出了足夠的貢獻(xiàn)。轉(zhuǎn)折是誰(shuí)實(shí)施罰款還必須支付特權(quán),即使他們不會(huì)把錢拿回來(lái)新翎。

As the study progressed, something interesting happened. Even though it came at a cost to impose a fine, players were more willing to pay up in order to punish freeloaders. Over time, freeloaders started to contribute more to the pot as the rounds continued. Punishment was changing their behavior. We prefer to punish transgressors even when it comes at a cost to ourselves, but that punishment eventually changes selfish people's behavior.

隨著研究的進(jìn)展程帕，有趣的事情發(fā)生了。盡管罰款是要付出代價(jià)的地啰，但球員們更愿意付錢來(lái)懲罰揩油者愁拭。隨著時(shí)間的推移，白吃白喝的人會(huì)隨著回合的繼續(xù)而做出更多的貢獻(xiàn)亏吝。懲罰改變了他們的行為岭埠。我們寧愿懲罰違規(guī)者，即使這需要付出代價(jià)蔚鸥，但這種懲罰最終會(huì)改變自私的人的行為惜论。