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Slater · 10-06-2011, 09:31 PM

I think it is an interesting proposition, but the article, and possibly the book it is named after, badly misuses the word altruism. Few of the examples cited come anywhere near actual altruism. I think the article would be better called "Unhelpful Helping" or something like that. For instance, the anecdote with the oncologist looks a lot more like hubris than altruism. Basically that example amounts to a doctor who was so arrogant that he ignored his patients, their families, his colleagues and medical science in favor of his own inflated notions of his abilities. There is not a sniff of altruism in there.

Based on the article I'm not persuaded that pathological altruism is actually much of a phenomenon at all. Unhelpful helping, or whatever? Definitely. And also I think ElijahRene's initial point about people being unwilling to make hard decisions, unwilling often to even acknowledge that hard decisions need to be made, is a valid one and I think it would be interesting to try to unpack that and see where it comes from. I just don't think the article sheds any light on it.

Some of this stems from the relatively smooth lives of (especially) the middle class and above portions of our society. We expect things to work because they usually do. We expect to be protected because we usually are. Most of us don't face life-or-death choices all that often so we may be slow to really recognize or accept when we are facing one.

I also think part of it is that we have become a culture that expects miracles. I think odds-defying occurances are over-emphasized and perhaps spun by the media to make them seem even more miraculous than they are.

So the person who tries to cram 2000 people into lifeboats for 1000 may believe it will be okay because manufacturers often put artifically low limits on their products to guard against liability. Or they think they heard of this time when a rubber raft was way over capacity but it made it from Cuba to Florida, or whatever.

It think it is a different phenomenon than the unhelpful helping, though at times they may cross paths.

10-06-2011, 09:31 PM	#5
Slater Member How Do You Identify?: Butch Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Seattle area Posts: 147 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 41 Thanked 793 Times in 129 Posts Rep Power: 14631970	I think it is an interesting proposition, but the article, and possibly the book it is named after, badly misuses the word altruism. Few of the examples cited come anywhere near actual altruism. I think the article would be better called "Unhelpful Helping" or something like that. For instance, the anecdote with the oncologist looks a lot more like hubris than altruism. Basically that example amounts to a doctor who was so arrogant that he ignored his patients, their families, his colleagues and medical science in favor of his own inflated notions of his abilities. There is not a sniff of altruism in there. Based on the article I'm not persuaded that pathological altruism is actually much of a phenomenon at all. Unhelpful helping, or whatever? Definitely. And also I think ElijahRene's initial point about people being unwilling to make hard decisions, unwilling often to even acknowledge that hard decisions need to be made, is a valid one and I think it would be interesting to try to unpack that and see where it comes from. I just don't think the article sheds any light on it. Some of this stems from the relatively smooth lives of (especially) the middle class and above portions of our society. We expect things to work because they usually do. We expect to be protected because we usually are. Most of us don't face life-or-death choices all that often so we may be slow to really recognize or accept when we are facing one. I also think part of it is that we have become a culture that expects miracles. I think odds-defying occurances are over-emphasized and perhaps spun by the media to make them seem even more miraculous than they are. So the person who tries to cram 2000 people into lifeboats for 1000 may believe it will be okay because manufacturers often put artifically low limits on their products to guard against liability. Or they think they heard of this time when a rubber raft was way over capacity but it made it from Cuba to Florida, or whatever. It think it is a different phenomenon than the unhelpful helping, though at times they may cross paths.