Minding Other People's Business

Why Do Good? Brain Study Offers Clues - Forbes.com

I came across this very interesting article in Forbes the other day. It reports a recent study on the neurophysiology of "altruism." The researchers designed an experiment to see what regions of the brain increased in activity in altruistic people, as opposed to selfish people, upon seeing something good happen to someone else. They hypothesized that the "warm and fuzzy" department would increase activity, that is, the region associated with pleasure and reward. This would support the belief I've often heard that all love and service is really self-serving; I help other people because it feels good, or because it gives me something to be proud about.

Surprisingly, the study found that it is not the reward system, but the system that responds to meaningful stimuli in the environment, which is active, for example, when I see something threatening to me. Under the constraints of the experiment, this region was much more active in those who exhibited unselfish than in those who were selfish.

What motivates people to do good, the study suggests, is not self-satisfaction, but a deep, even primal solidarity by which I identify with a neighbor, realizing that "that could have been me." I haven't read the full study, only the report in Forbes, but it leaves me with some new questions. Here are a couple.

What I would study if I were a neurologist:
1) What trains or cultivates the region of the brain in question so that one responds to situations others face? Personal tragedy? Service work?

2) "Altruism" (there must be a more profound word they could have used!) often moves us to make costly sacrifices. How do ascetic practices, such as fasting, affect this region of the brain?

3) How much depends on genetics? How much on the way a child is raised?

Anyway, I was pretty pleased to see that a new scientific study is challenging the widespread assumptions of rational choice theory. Perhaps it will turn out that humans are even biologically a bit deeper than modern economics suggests.

Natalie's Big Day

Natalie's Baptism

Finally! I've got photos up from Natalie's baptism (plus a few bonus photos from other times during her 7 weeks so far on this side of the womb.

International Blog of Mystery

After putting a counter on my blog a couple months ago, I was excited when, checking statistics yesterday, I discovered that my blog has been visited by two people each from Canada and Sweden!

In other news, I'm signing off today to go on retreat this weekend (I'm about ready for a retreat, too), so I won't post again until sometime next week.

Shout outs

Just a couple shout-outs before I get back to work.

A tip of the hat to the Colts, super-bowl bound finally. If you didn't see the game last night, it was a great one. We had an impromptu game watch party at my house last night, and it was much fun, so I think it might be a precursor to a Superbowl party two weeks from now!

Tip of the hat to my new favorite flight site, www.kayak.com, which searches hundreds of other flights to find you the best deals, emails you when better deals come up, and offers graphs of fare trends so you know when a good time to buy is. I got my ticket to Florida for my goddaughter Hana's first birthday party there, and I'm officially a fan.

Finally, a tip of the hat to being done with graduate school applications! The last one is officially stamped, sealed, and [being] delivered! For those who haven't been keeping up with my future plans, I'm applying to doctoral programs in theology at U of Chicago, Boston College, Fordham, and Marquette. Apps were due between December and February. I'm glad I don't have to think about applications for a while, but I feel like I'm back in high school; even though I'm not expecting to hear back from anywhere until early March, I am always eager to check the mail when I get home from work, just in case... I'll keep folks posted here as I hear back, especially if it's good news.

And now, back to work.