For decades, research has focused on the psychology of human suffering since it has been the main issue in our society. Poverty. Human Exploitation. Child Abuse. That suffering, as unpleasant as it is, often also has a bright side to which research has paid less attention: compassion. Human suffering is often accompanied by beautiful acts of compassion by others wishing to help relieve it.
In IAM Group Ltd. alone, we have thousands of volunteers to different charity institutions all over the world. The question is what drives this people to serve food to the homeless, offer someone advices and feed a stray cat?
What is Compassion?
The definition of compassion is often confused with that of empathy. Empathy, as defined by researchers, is the visceral or emotional experience of another person’s feelings. It is, in a sense, an automatic mirroring of another’s emotion, like tearing up at a friend’s sadness. Altruism is an action that benefits someone else. It may or may not be accompanied by empathy or compassion, for example in the case of making a donation for tax purposes. Although these terms are related to compassion, they are not identical. Compassion often does, of course, involve an empathic response and an altruistic behavior. However, compassion is defined as the emotional response when perceiving suffering and involves an authentic desire to help.
Is Compassion Natural or Learned?
Many researches have argued this topic for years and years. One point though, remains dominant above all of them. Though economists have long argued the contrary, a growing body of evidence suggests that, at our core, both animals and human beings have what APS Fellow Dacher Keltner at the University of California, Berkeley, coins a “compassionate instinct.” In other words, compassion is a natural and automatic response that has ensured our survival.
It is not surprising that compassion is a natural tendency since it is essential for human survival. As has been brought to light by Keltner, the term “survival of the fittest,” often attributed to Charles Darwin, was actually coined by Herbert Spencer and Social Darwinists who wished to justify class and race superiority. A lesser known fact is that Darwin’s work is best described with the phrase “survival of the kindest.” Indeed in The Descent of Man and Selection In Relation to Sex, Darwin argued for “the greater strength of the social or maternal instincts than that of any other instinct or motive.” In another passage, he comments that “communities, which included the greatest number of the most sympathetic members, would flourish best, and rear the greatest number of offspring.” Compassion may indeed be a naturally evolved and adaptive trait. Without it, the survival and flourishing of our species would have been unlikely.
No matter the nature of compassion is, the important matter is that people are willing to help selflessly in order to save another. How good it is to see swarm of people doing their best to offer relief goods to victims of flood in Yokohama, Japan or volunteers gathering used books to teach children in Ghana, Africa. IAM Group Limited has a lot of accounts about these. Would you like to add your story?
