![\"Altruistic](\"https:\/\/saravanan.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/AltruisticAnimal.jpg\" "\\"AltruisticAnimal\\"")
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We often confuse the selfish motives of our genes with the motives an the animal. We shouldn\u2019t. We are not our genes. We are not more. We are not less either. We are different.<\/p>\n
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There is a human gene called DRD4. \u00a0A mutation in the DRD4 gene can give ADHD\u00a0(Attention Deficit Hyper Activity) to the people who have the mutation. \u00a0People who have ADHD have difficulty with controlling their impulse. \u00a0Many of them marry young, have early pregnancy, have many kids, etc. \u00a0In all, there is every reason to expect the DRD4 mutation (and ADHD) is going to increase in the human population.<\/p>\n
ADHD, of course, can pre-dispose a person to several setbacks. \u00a0Learning difficulty is the most well known affliction of ADHD. \u00a0People with ADHD are more vulnerable to addictive behavior, temper outbursts, poor job performance, etc. \u00a0About 65% of the inmates in Western prisons suffer from ADHD spectrum disorders.<\/p>\n
DRD4 is clearly behaving in a way that is detrimental to the carrier animals. \u00a0But the same behavior is helping the gene to maximize the number of its own copies in the population.<\/p>\n
Genes behave in a way that increases the number of its copies. \u00a0Over time, any gene that doesn’t doesn’t toe the line gets ‘subsumed’ by other aggressive genes. Because our language lacks adequate words to describe such behavior, we talk as if the genes are people (anthropomorphic thinking) and claim that the gene is behaving selfishly and we call such a gene a selfish gene. \u00a0Obviously, the gene is not people and it doesn’t think or act. \u00a0More importantly, genes don’t have any objective or motive. \u00a0They are mindless.<\/p>\n
While the genes always act in a purest self-serving way (or they perish), sometimes their behavior is counter intuitive. \u00a0Altruism is one such paradox. \u00a0An altruistic animal seem to be an evolutionary dead end. \u00a0But among pack\/herd animals, taking care of one another had increased the chances of all the animals in the pace\/herd. \u00a0Over time, only the animals with altruistic genes were alive and the rest perished. \u00a0While altruism appears self-less, it is in reality promoted by a gene acting in pure selfish fashion.<\/p>\n
But when an animal feels altruistic, the feeling of altruism is very real. \u00a0Even though the altruism is a product of a selfish gene, that is a mere technicality. \u00a0It is like saying “oxytocin release in your brain makes a mother bond with her child”. \u00a0Of course it is true. \u00a0But the technicality doesn’t make the mother-child bonding any less real.<\/p>\n
We often confuse the selfish motives of our genes with the motives an the animal. \u00a0We shouldn’t. \u00a0We are not our genes. \u00a0We are not more. \u00a0We are not less either. \u00a0We are different.<\/p>\n