Can Altruism Become a Way of Life in our Society?
Several hands holding hearts, Is it feasible to build societies that are more equitable and where everyone works selflessly for the benefit of others? The picture of altruism as a way of life includes a focus on the success of our solidarity effort as well as a call for more empathetic education .
Altruism is understood in simple words as an attitude of solidarity opposed to selfishness. We can then say that it is our actions and the intention to do or not do something that determines how altruistic or selfish we are.
Matthieu Ricard, considered the happiest man in the world, emphasizes the issue of motivation and assures that "it is extremely important to promote an altruistic motivation over a selfish one." According to Ricard, the world has made serious selfish decisions that affect us all. An example is climate change, the product of a set of individualistic decisions that did not consider future generations but instead focused on short-term needs. What is the path, what should we do to create societies where altruism is an inherent part of them? This question brought to mind two recent concepts:
EMPATHIC EDUCATION and EFFECTIVE ALTRUISM :
According to number of studies, promoting in class behaviors that result in respect for the status or circumstances of others can help people become more compassionate and open minded and as a result, help society become human centered. And if we combine education with the efficacy of our altruistic actions, the outcome would be what Australian philosopher Peter Singer refer to as "Effective Altruism".
What this movement tells us is that in addition to empathy with a specific cause, it is important to make sure that whatever we do to help the others really have a positive impact. How? Using reason and logic, knowing our possibilities and limitations when it comes to helping. Not all of us will be able to donate time, but we can contribute with our knowledge and if math doesn't fail us, constantly donate money to effective organizations that can generate social impact on a large scale. According to Peter Singer, anyone can practice effective altruism by using their intelligence, profession, and logic to change lives.
In summary, creating more altruistic societies requires a change of mentality where we educate new generations around the recognition and importance of the other and where we all also use our abilities to reason, understand and act for the good of society, always seeking to generate the greatest possible impact.
What is your opinion about it? What else does it depend on to build a more altruistic society? Share it in the comments!
