Tuesday, June 21, 2011

The secret of happiness (yes, now you know) « Pro-Human Extremist

An great look at how altruism may actually be the key...and also selfish.

The secret of happiness (yes, now you know) « Pro-Human Extremist:
"Caring for and serving others brings joy and peace of mind greater than anything we get from indulging ourselves. A life dedicated merely to self-gratification, however successful it appears to be, is ultimately hollow and unrewarding.

Why is this? Because that is how we are made—that is our nature. The human species has evolved by natural selection so that each of us has a sincere capacity for altruism. It’s not always uppermost in our minds, and we don’t always act on it, but at bottom we do care about other people and want them to be well. Helping others is what gives our lives meaning. And without an opportunity to do so, we come to feel that our lives are pointless, and we become dissatisfied. All of that is a product not merely of social conditioning but of our biological nature.
Read the rest of it...It is worth it!

As many of you know Joel (the author) is a biology professor at SBU.

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