philosophy.. revise my paper to meet the requirements
Self-interest vs. Altruism
Altruism and Self-interest surface as innate motivations in human beings although they illuminate differing roles from the standpoint of evolutionary theory. Countless observations and controlled experiments have been conducted in an effort to verify and build on Darwin’s conclusions regarding self-interest and altruism. From honeybees sacrificing themselves for the sake of the colony to vervet monkeys sounding warning alarms during impeding danger, these serve as perfect examples of altruism. In light with this, Darwin remained in a dilemma wondering why an organism would act against its self-interest to protect the well-being of the other.
Self-interest, on the other hand, refers to an individual’s character whereby they think of themselves and their needs before anyone else’s. For instance, the majority of people in the business world today pursue careers and work big jobs not because of their desire to grow their employer’s business but for them to make the requisite money for survival and better livelihoods. The hard work and persistence as they work towards promotions and salary increments continues to be influenced by their innate desire to live more comfortably. Alternate to the employee’s perspective, an employer also depicts self-interest when he or she invests more in their business by allocating more resources to innovative strategies and the development of new tech with the purpose of remaining ahead of competition and making more revenues presently as well as in the future. Therefore, although altruism and self-interest may differ according to Darwin’s definition, these aspects make life better as individuals tussle to emerge the best thus propelling overall progress.
The land pyramid presupposes the existence of land as a biotic cycle usually referred to as the balance of nature (Leopold, 1987). Layers entailing the various species of animals that further reflect the levels of dependency build up the land pyramid. T
o start with, soil forms the bottom layer on which the plants lie on as the second lowest layer. Plants absorb raw energy from the sun, which aids in the manufacture of food. On top of the plant layer is the insect layer followed by a layer of birds and rodents. As evident by now, each layer is dependent on the one below it for food and other services such as in instances of symbiosis. At the same time, numbers reduce as layers progress upwards to ensure that the number of animals dependent on a lower layer for food do not exceed their numbers leading to depletion. Therefore, each carnivore remains matched with hundreds of prey from the apex to the base. The concepts of altruism and self-interest thus become more illuminated in the land pyramid distinctly.
Altruism mostly exists across species appearing on the same level of the land pyramid such as antelopes, bears, or human beings. At any one time, a mother remains willing to give up their life for the survival of their offspring irrespective of their species. More than once, antelopes and buffaloes have sacrificed their lives in pursuit of protecting the lives of the young and feeble ones. Evidently, this serves as an illustration of altruism whereby an animal representing a particular species places the needs and survival of others ahead of their own. Human beings also portray this tendency whereby certain situations compel them to risk their wellbeing for the sake of protecting that of others. In this regard, altruism facilitates oneness in each level and across certain levels where symbiotic relations are existent. Nonetheless, the human species also elucidates the highest level of self-interest when compared with any other species perhaps because of their mental capacity.
Self-interest becomes apparent whereby each animal within the land pyramid places their self-interests ahead of that of the others. For instance, when a lion chases after a herd of buffaloes, each one runs towards their own direction in an attempt to seclude themselves from the risk of being killed and eaten. In such a scenario, each buffalo remains interested in his or her own safety thus illustrating self-interest in the land pyramid. In real-world situations involving human beings, self-interest and altruism can be shown by the hundreds of thousands people who are either, sick, homeless, or poor. Altruism suggests that for one to lead a moral life, he or she ought to sacrifice incessantly for the wellbeing of the others whether through monetary means or other resources such as time and knowledge. At this point, self-interest prompts the question of how far one should go in pursuit of helping others. Does it mean that an altruist should sacrifice until the needy are on their level or until they denigrate to the needy people’s level?
Therefore, a balance between altruism and self-interest remains the most proficient state from both a land pyramid’s perspective as well as that of day-to-day human existence. Although an employee is driven by self-interest to reach greater heights in their career, their sacrifice and hard work demonstrates altruism as they end up benefitting their employer at a larger scale than themselves. Even with the noteworthy dissimilarities, self-interest and altruism continue to work together for the growth and coexistence of the food pyramid’s representatives from the lowest to the highest level.
References
Leopold, A., & Schwartz, C. W. (1949). A Sand County almanac, and Sketches here and there. New York: Oxford University Press.
