Footpath to Selflessness

Biologist at the Harvard, Mr Nowak has written, Cooperation is the architect of creativity throughout evolution, from cells to multicellular creatures to anthills to villages to cities.

As humankind now tries to solve global challenges, which create on daily basis, we must also find new ways to cooperate in some form or other. The basis for this cooperation must be selflessness (the toughest of all to achieve).

The aspiration to help other kinds without expectation of reflection for ourselves is not just a noble ideal. Generosity of that kind raises the quality and promotes the connotation of our lives, and that of the descendants to come; in fact, our survival may even depend on it. We must have the perceptivity to recognize this, and the fearlessness to say so.

The world in this case faces three monumental challenges:

• Ensuring everyone good order living conditions
• Improving life happiness
• Protecting our globe

Conventional cost-benefit thinking struggles to reconcile these necessitates, because they span different time frames. We worry about the economy from day to day; but we consider our delight over the course of a lifetime, while our concern for the atmosphere will mainly benefit future generations.

A selflessness approach requires few exchanges that occur as a compromise. An understanding investor will never speculate frantically with his clients savings, despite the potential gain for himself. A compassionate citizen will at all-time think first how his activities affect his community at large. A selfless generation will exercise care with the planet, exactly in order to leave a liveable world to its descendants. Selflessness makes us all better off.

This vision of the world may seem noble-minded after all; economics, evolutionary biology, and psychology have habitually claimed that humans share an essentially selfish nature. Nevertheless, researches over the past 3 decades indicate that true selflessness does exist and can extend beyond kinsfolks and community to include welfare of humans generally and of other species too. Furthermore, the altruist does not have to suffer for his deeds (indicating the good); on the contrary, he/she often benefits indirectly from them, and the selfish actor often creates misery for himself.

Studies have shown that an individual can learn to be selfless. Neuroscientists have identified three components of selflessness that can develop as acquired skills:

• Empathy (understanding and sharing the feelings of another)
• Loving kindness (the wish to spread happiness) 
• Compassion (a desire to relieve the suffering of another)

Fellowships, too, can become more self-sacrificing and may even relish an evolutionary advantage over their more selfish counterparts. Exploration on the evolution of cultures suggests that social values can change more quickly than our genes. Consequently, if we are to stimulate a more caring world, we must first recognize the importance of selflessness, only then cultivate it among individuals, and promote change in the societies.

Nowhere is the need to domesticate this gratitude clearer than it is in our economic system. The improbable pursuit of endless numerical (quantitative) growth chairs intolerable strains on our sphere and thereon widens inequalities. However, drawing back that growth would create other glitches; forcing people to compete for shrinking assets and resources would spread joblessness, insufficiency, and even violence.

As a result, equilibrium must be struck. Global community as a whole must lift 1500 million people out of poverty, while the excesses of the world’s richest, which source the majority of ecological degradation must be restricted. We need not impose more levies to attain this, but we have to encourage the wealthy that the everlasting pursuit of material gain is both unmaintainable and unnecessary for excellence of life.

This concept of harmony can be promoted by broadcasting indices of personal well-being and ecological preservation, in conjunction with the standard GDP data. For an example, government of Bhutan accounts for social and natural wealth of its populaces, in addition to the GDP figures.

We could also launch an exchange, together with conventional securities markets, comprising of the ethical organizations, such as social enterprises, fair-trade groups, etc. Several initiatives, for example, in Brazil, and the United Kingdom have already taken small steps in the said direction. Small steps lead to big changes. 

As the value of selflessness becomes more and more understandable, the approach will spread through the economy, advancing all the societies, future generations, and the sphere, too.