Humans are social creatures. We suffer when we’re isolated and thrive when we’re part of a community. When we extend a helping hand to members of our community when it costs us something, it’s known as altruism. Helping others doesn’t always come at a cost, but its rewards are often unclear. So why is it important? Here are ten reasons:
#1. It’s part of the human experience
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Humans start showing altruism at a young age. This implies that it’s not necessarily something we’re socialized for, but rather something that’s part of our brains. Scientists theorize that helping others ensured the survival of the human race. On the surface, this doesn’t make sense when considering evolution. If altruism is part of our inherent nature, shouldn’t it be limited to people who share our genes? That’s clearly not the case as people help strangers all the time, even when it’s risky. This long-standing mystery involves many types of researchers and scientists.
#2. It might be present in other animals
When studying altruism, researchers look beyond humans to the rest of the animal world. They’ve found that animals will sometimes help each other with no clear benefit to themselves. In one study, monkeys were offered food, but when they took it, it delivered an electric shock to another monkey. The monkeys began refusing food. In 2008, a bottlenose dolphin led two beached whales to safety. In many situations, animal altruism isn’t selfless because there’s some benefit to the giver, but other cases confuse that conclusion. What exactly is going on remains a subject of research.
#3. It activates your brain’s reward centers
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The idea that altruism is somehow “hardwired” in humans is supported by brain chemistry. In a Science study, a team of researchers gave $100 to participants and put them in an fMRI scanner. They were then given opportunities to donate their money to a food bank. Donations were either voluntary or involuntary, so scientists could see the difference between giving willingly or being forced to give. When participants gave willingly, there were higher amounts of dopamine in the part of the brain associated with processing unexpected rewards. This activation could explain why people continue to give even when it costs them something.
#4. It strengthens social connection
When you help someone else, you get a positive feeling in return. For the person you’ve helped, they also feel good thanks to your action. This creates a strong sense of belonging and connection between you. In communities where kindness and altruism are valued, people are more likely to feel safe and happy. The opposite is also true. In communities where no one helps each other, there isn’t as much social connection.
#5. It boosts your self-esteem
The positive feelings you get from helping others impacts how you see yourself. Research suggests that when people give, especially to people they don’t know, it increases their self-esteem. That help can include giving money, volunteering with an organization, or engaging in spontaneous acts of kindness.
#6. It can improve your health
Many factors contribute to good health. Helping others may play a role, too. A research team from the University of British Columbia gave money to a group of people with high blood pressure. Half of the participants were told to spend the money on themselves while the rest were told to spend it on someone else. A few weeks later, the people who had spent money on others had significantly lower blood pressure than those who spent the money on themselves.
#7. It can lengthen your life
Helping others isn’t only good for your health – it can help you live longer. One 2003 study looked at a group of older adults, some who were giving social support and others who were receiving it. After five years, it was giving social support that made a person more likely to still be alive at the end of the study period. This was true even when researchers controlled for factors like physical health, mental health, marital status, and so on.
#8. It’s good for the workplace
For many, the workplace is not known as a hub of kindness and altruism. Work can be competitive, which doesn’t usually align with helping others. Research shows, though, that helpful workplaces are linked to better sales, better products, and increased productivity. How coworkers help each other matters. If help is motivated by personal benefits, people tend to offer help less often. Offering help before it’s been requested is also not especially welcome in a workplace.
#9. It improves your relationships
As we already know, being helpful strengthens social connections. That leads to stronger, more fulfilling relationships. Within the context of romantic relationships, kindness, empathy, and helpfulness contribute to happiness and satisfaction. All relationships – including friends and family – benefit when people approach them with a giving mindset.
#10. It gives meaning to life
Humans have always searched for the meaning of life. Research shows it could be connected to helping others. In a preliminary study from The Journal of Positive Psychology, researchers asked 400 participants how often they engaged in altruistic behaviors and how meaningful their life felt. Participants who reported more altruism found greater meaning in their lives. Why? It could be because of altruism’s connection to better relationships and social connection, which research consistently shows it’s essential to a person’s feeling of purpose.
It's frustrating to hear people on the Right, including some who should know better, claim there's 'no evidence' of significant, possibly outcome-changing fraud in the last presidential election — even as the forensic audit in Arizona uncovers multiple discrepancies.
Clearly, they're confusing 'evidence' with 'proof.'
No, there may not be absolute, incontrovertible proof of election fraud — yet. But there is plenty of evidence, good reasons a rational person might question the outcome. Here are ten that come to mind, in no particular order:
Eyewitness testimony. Since November 3, hundreds of people have come forward to report that they personally witnessed various irregularities in the vote-counting process: ballots run through tabulating machines multiple times; 'pristine' mail-in ballots; ballots that appeared to have been printed on different paper or filled out by machines — the list goes on.
Two questions come to mind. First, what would these witnesses stand to gain by making knowingly false claims? Many submitted actual affidavits, subjecting themselves to potential legal liability. Second, could that many people simply be mistaken? It seems unlikely.
Our own eyes. Actually, the eyewitness testimony confirms what many of us have since seen for ourselves, via security camera footage: cases of ballots being pulled out from under tables in Fulton County, Georgia, right after observers were told to go home for the night. Vans pulling up to TCF Center in Detroit, with dozens of boxes unloaded in the dead of night.
We also saw, live on television, huge, sudden jumps in vote totals for Biden, in some cases accompanied by corresponding drops in Trump's totals.
Are there innocent, plausible explanations? Perhaps. But I have yet to hear any. Mostly, we're just told, 'Move along, folks. Nothing to see here.'
Statistical anomalies. Some of the most persuasive evidence comes from mathematicians like Edward Solomon, who have conducted in-depth statistical analyses and concluded that the reported election results are highly improbable, if not impossible. Documented anomalies include repeated percentages that could not occur naturally and number sequences that appear to violate Benford's Law, governing the standard distribution of first digits. Both are considered valid indicators of fraud in criminal cases.
Expert testimony. Along with Solomon, we also have other internationally recognized experts like Jovan Hutton Pulitzer who have put their reputations on the line — in Pulitzer's case, by devising a method of forensically examining ballots using computer imaging. These are people who have little to gain from taking an unpopular position. That they do so openly, for no other reason than that they value the truth, speaks volumes.
Credible proponents. When pressed to choose between two sides of a controversial issue about which I'm unsure, I typically look at the proponents of the opposing views. If one side appears more honest, rational, and credible than the other, I tend to lean that way.
Beyond the experts, there are many election skeptics whose opinions I respect. Some are friends and family members; others are national figures like Garland Favorito; Matthew DePerno; and especially David Clements, on whose Herculean efforts much of this information is based.
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Constitutional questions. For me, one of the biggest issues is whether or not the election was conducted in accordance with the Constitution. It appears that, in several states, it was not.
The Constitution expressly cedes authority for conducting elections to state legislatures. But in Pennsylvania, election laws were changed by the Executive Branch and then upheld by the Judiciary, over the objections of the Legislature. In my home state of Georgia, much of the election process seems to have been shaped by back-room deals between the governor and the 'shadow governor,' Stacey Abrams. I don't see how either can be constitutional.
Lack of evidentiary hearings. 'But the courts have debunked all these allegations,' the left cries. Not exactly. Yes, most (but not all) of the lawsuits brought so far have been dismissed, mostly on technicalities. Very few courts have actually taken time to hear the evidence.
This brings to mind the old philosophical conundrum about the tree falling in the forest: if you have actual evidence, but the courts refuse to hear it, does it make a sound?
Democrat obstructionism. Despite all those 'wins' in court, and amid absurd claims that this was 'the most secure election in history,' Democrats seem oddly reluctant to allow for investigations. In fact, in Arizona and elsewhere, they appear to be in a state of abject panic, willing to do almost anything to disrupt, discredit, or delay audits.
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Why, if there was no fraud, are they so adamant? Approximately half the country questions the election. Why not allow the audits to proceed and put those doubts to rest?
Big Tech propaganda. Whether or not actual fraud occurred, there's no question Big Tech had its thumb on the scale — promoting false narratives that helped Biden (Russian collusion, the 'good people' lie, accusing Trump of downplaying the pandemic) while suppressing factual reports that might have hurt him — in particular, the Hunter Biden laptop story. Zuckerberg, Dorsey, et al. have essentially admitted as much — and they continue propping up the Biden administration to this day, using the same tactics.
That, folks, is propaganda—and I'm not aware of any situation in history where propaganda was necessary to promote the truth.
The smell test. Finally, there is this: the whole thing just stinks to high heaven. A sitting president earns more votes than any sitting president in history; he increases his vote totals among Blacks, Hispanics, and women; he wins 18 of 19 'Bellwether Counties,' along with Florida, Ohio, and Iowa — long the guarantors of presidential victory; his party picks up seats in the House; and he still loses?
That makes no sense. I might not be able to prove it isn't true, but I'll tell you this: I don't believe it for a minute.
Image via Pickpik.
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