Why Do We Help Each Other?

Why do we help each other? Helping one another is something that we inherently do - be it friends, family, random strangers or even animals. The coaching industry is proof that we can even monetize this feature of ours. However, the question arises: why? Why are we so keen on helping others? There are lots of accounts where people have even risked their lives to save other people.

However, from an evolutionary point of view, it seems futile. Traits are passed down from one generation to the next only if they are alive and stay so long enough to reproduce, so taking risks for others is the exact antithesis of such behavior. What is it that makes the human being so helpful?

To begin with, help is a very subjective thing. Just because a person believes they have helped does not mean that they have. A person who believes that they have helped an orphan by giving them money might not have actually helped them, because what the orphan might need at that stage is love, affection or a family. Answering a specific question with a vague answer is not helpful either. So, as you can see, help is a very subjective matter. That being said, there are people who actively go out of their way to help others. It shows that the person has compassion, empathy and heroism. But are these what prompt us towards helping people? Is helping others a human thing to do?

As a matter of fact, it isn’t. Several animals help each other in the wild, even cross-species. There are two types of help that animals do: symbiosis and acts of heroism. Symbiosis is something that most of us might be familiar with. Sucker fish cling on to whales, dolphins and other large animals for transportation and in return, they clean the bodies of these animals by eating the algal bloom and such from their bodies. When the crocodile opens its mouth and lies on shore, the Egyptian plover bird lands inside its mouth and feeds off the decaying meat in between its teeth. The crocodile does not eat the plover and in turn, gets free dental work. Then there are acts of heroism among animals such as dolphins rescuing humans and dogs from drowning and safely putting them on shore, and sometimes even putting their life on the line and warding off sharks from humans swimming alongside.?

So what separates us from the animals? Do we help each other just like the animals do? But what about selfless acts of protection and rescue? What about firefighters? What about the countless feats of taking a bullet for a friend or pulling a child away from the street? What about police officers risking their lives to save people??

Well, as it turns out, we aren’t the same as animals in that respect. There is a popular theory in the scientific community that explains this behaviour. It is called the Group Selection theory - it states that humans may have evolved traits such as selflessness and altruism, not to help a single individual survive, but for the greater good of the group. At some point in our evolution, primitive humans might have figured out that fighting within the group caused their own extinction and it was wiser, instead, to help one another survive and help each other.?

But then another dilemma that pops up: what about charity? Charity doesn’t make sense from an evolutionary standpoint, so where did that come from? Here, the role of humans as social animals comes into play. Humans have this innate need to prevent inequality in society - it is called inequity aversion theory. We are genetically engineered to help each other. Don’t believe me? fMRI studies of people who donate money towards charitable causes have shown that our body produces oxytocin and dopamine - which are part of our body’s reward system. It gives us a sense of happiness and satisfaction.?

Here is an interesting story about human civilization that will shed light on how exactly we as a civilization are to evolve for the future.

Margaret Mead, an anthropologist, was asked what the first sign of human civilization was. Now, most people were expecting things like evidence of the use of money, drainage systems, construction of cities, etc. However, Mead said, “A femur that had broken and mended.” In the animal kingdom, if you broke your leg, your lifespan is cut short. You can no longer stay with the pack, you are now the weak link. You must be sacrificed for the greater good of the pack. But humans settled down, found ways to gather food as a unit, not for just an individual, and hence gave importance to each and every person. They were given the privilege of healing themselves back to full health.?

That is what being human entails - the beautiful concept of a community of individuals helping one another, hand holding each other towards a better, more fulfilling life. We help another to evolve, not just as an individual, but also as a society.?