The Joy of Altruism: Understanding Its True Nature

Altruism brings joy, reinforcing the idea that helping others is essential for a healthy society.

### The Joy of Altruism: Understanding the Connection Between Helping Others and Happiness
* 😊 Many argue that true altruism doesn't exist since helping others often brings **immense joy to the helper**, leading to the perception of **selfishness**.
* 🧑 People who donate kidneys to strangers frequently express that it is **one of their life's greatest achievements**, indicating a paradox in altruistic actions.
* 📺 A reference to a Friends episode illustrates the debate over whether good deeds can be entirely **selfless**, as characters question the **motivations behind altruistic acts**.
* 📜 The Doctrine of Double Effect suggests that the morality of an action is based on its **intended outcome**, distinguishing between **altruistic intentions** and the **happiness derived from helping**.
* 🧘 Matthieu Ricard, a Buddhist monk, emphasizes that finding joy in helping others does not negate altruism; rather, it is a **fundamental aspect of being altruistic**.
* 🤝 Helping begrudgingly can lead to feelings of **guilt rather than gratitude**, reinforcing the idea that **joy in giving is essential for genuine altruism**.
* 🌍 Altruism's connection to joy highlights our social nature, suggesting that a society thrives when its members find **happiness in helping one another**.
* 🧠 Taking care of mental health is crucial for fostering a **willingness to engage in altruistic behavior**, and platforms like BetterHelp can facilitate this process for individuals seeking support.

- One of the reasons that many people argue there's no such thing as true altruism—people are never truly motivated to help other people for their own sake—is because, paradoxically, altruism is a source of enormous joy for people who help others. People who have donated kidneys to strangers will reliably tell you it's one of the best things they've done in their life, they would do it again in a heartbeat if they could, they're glad every day that they did it. And so, it's easy to look at something like that and say, Aha! Well, then it wasn't really altruistic because if it brought you such pleasure, well then it must have been selfish. I think there was actually a Friends episode about this exact question. - 'This isn't a good deed. You just wanna get on TV, this is totally selfish. - Whoa, whoa, whoa.

What about you having those babies for your brother? Talk about selfish. - What, what are you talking about? - Well, yeah, it was a really nice thing and all, but it made you feel really good, right? - Yeah, so? - Well, it made you feel good, so that makes it selfish. Look, there's no unselfish good deed, sorry.' - I think there's a little bit of a puritanical streak in the idea that for something to be moral, it can't also be joyful. There may be people who are suspicious about any behavior that brings us too much pleasure, that somehow it can't at heart be simultaneously a source of pleasure and morality. But I don't tend to think that that's true. I would say, because this makes people more likely- once they've done something altruistic, they see what a positive effect it has on other people, they experience the vicarious joy of helping other people-

they're much more likely to do it again. It's one of the reasons we are such an altruistic species, is because we take joy in helping other people. The way philosophers put it is in terms of something called The Doctrine of Double Effect, which is basically the idea that the morality of a behavior is a factor of not just its outcome, but its intended outcome. So, if the goal of helping others was to achieve happiness, then that's not very altruistic. However, if you help other people, given happiness as a foreseeable outcome of that behavior happens anyways, that doesn't take away from the goal of actually helping them. There's a Buddhist monk and neuroscientist named Matthieu Ricard, who in his book, Altruism, I think boiled this topic down succinctly, and I'll paraphrase him. He said, The fact that helping others brings us joy is not contradictory to the idea of altruism.

In fact, that's what it means to be altruistic: to find it a source of joy to help other people. If we didn't find helping other people pleasurable, we wouldn't be altruistic. This becomes obvious when you think of the counterexample, which is the person who gives begrudgingly, the person who gives and finds it a source of unhappiness and wishes they hadn't done it. Most of us would not want to be helped by somebody who helped begrudgingly. That would be a source of guilt, not gratitude. And in fact, most people, when they're helped by somebody who they know helped them voluntarily because they sincerely wanted to, are much more likely to feel all of those positive effects of gratitude that are a source of joy universally. I think the fact that altruism brings us joy is certainly not evidence that altruism is never genuinely motivated by a desire to help other people.

Really, it's a sign that we are a fundamentally social species, that joy is catching, that we are built to want to help those around us, and that that is the basis of a good society. And we want to be members of a society where people take joy in helping others. Hey Big Thinkers. Not only is helping other people joyful and enjoyable. It has also been shown to enrich mental well-being. But if you're in a rut, you might find it difficult to want to engage with other people at all, let alone help them. Taking care of your mental health isn't just important for your overall well-being. It can also help you become more involved with the people in your surrounding community. Therapy is an effective way to improve your mental well-being, but it turns out therapy has some issues of its own. Like finding the right therapist, fitting into their schedule, getting to their office. And of course, the cost.

Today's sponsor, BetterHelp, was created to help address those problems because you deserve to focus on yourself and make your mental well-being a priority. BetterHelp is convenient, built around your schedule, and surprisingly affordable. Start by filling out a brief questionnaire to be matched with a licensed therapist who fits your needs and preferences and connect with them by phone, video chat, or messaging. If you're not comfortable with your therapist, you can change at any point at no additional cost. Let BetterHelp connect you to a therapist who can provide the support you need, all from the comfort of your home. You can go to betterhelp.com/bigthink or choose Big Think during the signup process to save 10% on your first month. - Want to dive deeper? Become a Big Think member and join our members-only community, watch videos early, and unlock full interviews.

People say altruism is selfish. They’re not wrong | Abigail Marsh

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Big Think

Altruism often brings immense joy to those who help others, leading to the argument that it can't be purely selfless.

The idea that moral actions can't also be joyful reflects a puritanical perspective.

However, experiencing the positive effects of altruistic deeds can encourage individuals to continue helping others.

Altruism is rooted in the joy of helping others, with the Doctrine of Double Effect highlighting the importance of intended outcomes.

Matthieu Ricard, a Buddhist monk and neuroscientist, argues that finding joy in helping others is a key aspect of true altruism.

Helping others voluntarily and sincerely leads to positive effects of gratitude, reinforcing the genuine motivation behind altruistic behavior.

The Importance of Helping Others for Mental Well-Being

Helping others is a joyful and enriching activity, essential for a good society.

Taking care of your mental health can increase your desire to engage with and help others.

Therapy is effective for improving mental well-being, but it can have challenges such as finding the right therapist, scheduling, and cost.

BetterHelp: Your Path to Mental Well-Being

BetterHelp offers convenient and affordable therapy, tailored to your schedule.

You can connect with a licensed therapist through phone, video chat, or messaging, and switch therapists at no extra cost if needed.

com/bigthink or choose Big Think during registration to save 10% on your first month.