24. By compassion
humankind will be saved
Posted by T. T. in February
2019
A post-graduate
Fellow, Yumi Kawakami, had been working as a volunteer in a hospice for terminal care. She found that some staff were working there purely altruistically, without expecting any
return. She wondered how a
person could be so altruistic, when humans are nothing more than animals having the selfish
gene. Then she decided to make this question her main research theme and finally she wrote her dissertation and got her Ph.D.
After this work Yumi Kawakami’s interpretation of altruistic
behaviour is quite simple. Although her theory is not fully accepted yet in
academic circles, it seems reasonable, and it will lead to a clear-cut interpretation
for the essential matter of saving future people, which will be more significant
than an academic honour.
Her interpretation is well explained by the picture
below.
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Ancient humans acquired culture and language, and then the strong
feature of compassion evolved uniquely among animals. Due to having strong
compassion, ancient humans would feel a story told to them as if it were an event
actually experienced by them, and thus they could have a defence against
dangers and thereby save their lives without having had experience of such
dangers before.
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