Hidden depths 2 the evolutionary basis for human empathy compassio (original) (raw)

We are increasingly aware of the role of emotions and emotional construction in social relationships. However, despite their significance, there are few constructs or theoretical approaches to the evolution of emotions that can be related to the prehistoric archaeological record. Whilst we frequently discuss how archaic humans might have thought, how they felt might seem to be beyond the realm of academic inquiry. In this paper we aim to open up the debate into the construction of emotion in early prehistory by proposing key stages in the emotional motivation to help others; the feeling of compassion, in human evolution. We review existing literature on compassion and highlight what appear to be particularly significant thresholds in the development of compassion for human social relationships and the evolution of the human mind.

We are increasingly aware of the role of emotions and emotional construction in social relationships. However, despite their significance, there are few constructs or theoretical approaches to the evolution of emotions that can be related to the prehistoric archaeological record. Whilst we frequently discuss how archaic humans might have thought, how they felt might seem to be beyond the realm of academic inquiry. In this paper we aim to open up the debate into the construction of emotion in early prehistory by proposing key stages in the emotional motivation to help others; the feeling of compassion, in human evolution. We review existing literature on compassion and highlight what appear to be particularly significant thresholds in the development of compassion for human social relationships and the evolution of the human mind.

Altruism is considered as a selfless behavior with the concern of others well-being. It is a very essential behavior with regard to the existence and survival of various species in the world including humans. The survival and maintenance of life and social control is highly depends on the altruism of the members in various levels. Hence it was always an interesting topic to discuss. Various theories have been proposed over the time to explain the evolution's of altruism in animals and humans but left various limitations. As altruism is a complex behavior and manifest in different ways it may need a combined approach to interpret. The current article try to make an attempt to summarize various point of views and theories in to three different perspectives in a way to understand the evolution of altruism in humans in an easier way.

Based solely on natural selection, altruism can be examined in the framework of kinship. In 1964 W. D. Hamilton's work explained that if an individual can determine that he or she is related to the recipient, that individual will enjoy a benefit to his inclusive fitness which would negate the cost of performing the altruistic act for said recipient. This makes sense in an obvious way, and kin selection is a powerful and viable mechanism for the explanation of kin altruism. This theory, however, does not explain non-kin altruism except if the example concerns a parasite or mimic which pretends to be related to the altruist (Trivers, 1971) or if we consider the evolutionary psychology perspective which states that because altruism has been practiced between kin for such a lengthy period of time that we are genetically programmed to act accordingly (Wilson, 2004). If we broaden this model past a dyad of close relatives and apply it to a larger group, a population within a species, it is easy to be misled into thinking that group selection is a feasible explanation for altruistic tendency. Group selection theory states that individuals act with concern for and the intention of promoting the entire group. If we stretch the logic that the goal of life is reproduction to say that the goal of the individual is to take responsibility for perpetuation of their species we could deduce that all individuals would eventually be self

Human infants as young as 14 to 18 months of age help others attain their goals, for example, by helping them to fetch out-of-reach objects or opening cabinets for them. They do this irrespective of any reward from adults (indeed external rewards undermine the tendency), and very likely with no concern for such things as reciprocation and reputation, which serve to maintain altruism in older children and adults. Humans’ nearest primate relatives, chimpanzees, also help others instrumentally without concrete rewards. These results suggest that human infants are naturally altruistic, and as ontogeny proceeds and they must deal more independently with a wider range of social contexts, socialization and feedback from social interactions with others become important mediators of these initial altruistic tendencies.