6 ms·

I won't express an opinion on who is more altruistic, [edit] because I don't think I have sufficient data to draw a broad conclusion. Studies on college campus

by meany 4y ago

I won't express an opinion on who is more altruistic, [edit] because I don't think I have sufficient data to draw a broad conclusion. Studies on college campus like these always seem pretty weak to draw societal wide conclusions from. These tiny experiments are usually conducted on college students and often are not reproduce-able. "In one of these experiments, the researchers, led by doctoral student Paul Piff, gave participants the opportunity to share $10 with an anonymous stranger. A few days earlier, the participants had all filled out a questionnaire in which they reported their socioeconomic status. The results showed that people who had placed themselves lower on the social scale were actually more generous than upper class participants were." This strikes me as a pretty weak study to extrapolate to any society wide conclusions.

Baeocystin 4y ago
Having spent my childhood in one of the poorer corners of the globe, it tracks with what I experienced, for what it's worth. When folks don't have much, group sharing any bounty received, and being the recipient of others', is how people survive.
- notch656a 4y ago
  It may also be the case that a community more inclined towards socialism ('sharing any bounty') doesn't fair as well, and is disproportionately likely to be poor. Not saying that's the case, but it's one possible explanation of why poor communities would disproportionately exhibit that behavior.
  - Baeocystin 4y ago
    I honestly think you have it in reverse. If you and your community are poor, the only way to survive is through cooperation. The folks that didn't participate? You don't see them because they didn't survive. So yes, you see cooperative behaviors in the poorest of communities. Because other behaviors at that income level are incompatible with life!
    - notch656a 4y ago
      I noticed you countered by using 'cooperation', a word found nowhere in my above comment. I do not think this is an accident, and calling me to have it 'in the reverse' of a word I never said is no doubt a deliberate and misleading framing on your part, although I admit it is rather clever
      - Baeocystin 4y ago
        ? I used cooperation as a synonym for sharing the bounty, which is think is perfectly reasonable. Please assume good faith in discussions here. HN is run differently than most internet fora.
        notch656a 4y ago
        AussieWog93 4y ago
        Notch, accusing someone of "deliberate and misleading framing" arguments because they didn't use the exact, precise language that you did is assuming bad faith. Your argument is weak, obtuse and unproductive. He clearly explained why you're wrong by explaining a culture he was deeply familiar with, and your response is a faux-intellectual straw man. If you can't deal with the fact that you're not the suppository of all wisdom, please get off HN and go outside.
        notch656a 4y ago
        Clearly my argument 'one possible explanation of why poor communities would disproportionately exhibit that behavior' is weak and one saying literally 'other behaviors at that income level are incompatible with life' is not? I've merely made a conjecture, I find it extremely weak, obtuse, and unproductive to just say welp 'incompatible with life' as if that is that. My argument was a mere possibility. The counter argument was a factual statement about literal 'incompatible with life.' The latter is much stronger, in fact my counterparty made a statement much more closer to how one who believes they are the suppository of all wisdom would behave. Going back and phrasing this as "sharing any bounty" being synonymous with "cooperation", and then using cooperation in connection with saying I got it in reverse, is about as bad faith as it gets.
kthejoker2 4y ago
A better study on US Army officers, though focused more on empathy and narcissism rather than altruism https://journals.aom.org/doi/abs/10.5465/amj.2015.0680 https://journals.aom.org/doi/abs/10.5465/amj.2015.0680

by meany 4y ago

Baeocystin 4y ago

Having spent my childhood in one of the poorer corners of the globe, it tracks with what I experienced, for what it's worth. When folks don't have much, group sharing any bounty received, and being the recipient of others', is how people survive.

notch656a 4y ago
It may also be the case that a community more inclined towards socialism ('sharing any bounty') doesn't fair as well, and is disproportionately likely to be poor. Not saying that's the case, but it's one possible explanation of why poor communities would disproportionately exhibit that behavior.
- Baeocystin 4y ago
  I honestly think you have it in reverse. If you and your community are poor, the only way to survive is through cooperation. The folks that didn't participate? You don't see them because they didn't survive. So yes, you see cooperative behaviors in the poorest of communities. Because other behaviors at that income level are incompatible with life!
  - notch656a 4y ago
    I noticed you countered by using 'cooperation', a word found nowhere in my above comment. I do not think this is an accident, and calling me to have it 'in the reverse' of a word I never said is no doubt a deliberate and misleading framing on your part, although I admit it is rather clever
    - Baeocystin 4y ago
      ? I used cooperation as a synonym for sharing the bounty, which is think is perfectly reasonable. Please assume good faith in discussions here. HN is run differently than most internet fora.
      - notch656a 4y ago
        AussieWog93 4y ago
        Notch, accusing someone of "deliberate and misleading framing" arguments because they didn't use the exact, precise language that you did is assuming bad faith. Your argument is weak, obtuse and unproductive. He clearly explained why you're wrong by explaining a culture he was deeply familiar with, and your response is a faux-intellectual straw man. If you can't deal with the fact that you're not the suppository of all wisdom, please get off HN and go outside.
        notch656a 4y ago
        Clearly my argument 'one possible explanation of why poor communities would disproportionately exhibit that behavior' is weak and one saying literally 'other behaviors at that income level are incompatible with life' is not? I've merely made a conjecture, I find it extremely weak, obtuse, and unproductive to just say welp 'incompatible with life' as if that is that. My argument was a mere possibility. The counter argument was a factual statement about literal 'incompatible with life.' The latter is much stronger, in fact my counterparty made a statement much more closer to how one who believes they are the suppository of all wisdom would behave. Going back and phrasing this as "sharing any bounty" being synonymous with "cooperation", and then using cooperation in connection with saying I got it in reverse, is about as bad faith as it gets.

kthejoker2 4y ago

A better study on US Army officers, though focused more on empathy and narcissism rather than altruism https://journals.aom.org/doi/abs/10.5465/amj.2015.0680 https://journals.aom.org/doi/abs/10.5465/amj.2015.0680