Abigail Marsh: Why some people are more altruistic than others
Abigail Marsh: Hvorfor nogle folk er mere altruistiske end andre
Abigail Marsh asks essential questions: If humans are evil, why do we sometimes go to extraordinary lengths to help others even at a cost to ourselves? Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
Idris Elba en smule,
like the actor Idris Elba,
for 20 år siden.
traffic in the middle of the night
trafikkeret motorvej midt om natten
that could have killed me.
der kunne have dræbt mig.
left me really shaken up, obviously,
selvfølgelig virkelig rystet,
kind of burning, gnawing need
at træffe det valg
caused him to make the choice
to save the life of a stranger?
eller alle andres evne
or anybody else's capacity for altruism?
hvad der skete.
mit hus i Tacome, Washington,
in Tacoma, Washington,
darted out in front of my car.
what you're not supposed to do,
skal gøre,
køre udenom.
ikke bør gøre dette.
you're not supposed to do that.
til at miste grebet på vejen,
in the fast lane of the freeway
overhalingsbanen
hvor motoren så derefter døde.
også var ved at dø,
that I was about to die too,
takket være den modige mands handlinger
of that one brave man
i en brøkdel af et sekund efter
of seeing my stranded car
om at trække ind til siden
across four lanes of freeway traffic
i mørket for at redde mit liv.
og fik mig tilbage til sikkerhed
and made sure I was going to be all right,
I forgot to say thank you.
vil jeg rigtig gerne bruge et øjeblik på
to that stranger.
the course of my life to some degree.
the human capacity to care for others.
det er at have omsorg for andre.
udvikler det sig
and how does it develop,
former det kan udfolde sig i?
that it can take?
for vores forståelse af de basale aspekter
to understanding basic aspects
and this includes everybody
til almindelige mennesker,
and economists to ordinary people
fundamental egoistisk,
is fundamentally selfish,
by our own welfare.
af vores egen trivsel.
hvorfor gør nogle mennesker,
like the stranger who rescued me,
uselviske ting, som at hjælpe andre
like helping other people
og bekostninger for dem selv?
til ekstraordinære
of extraordinary acts of altruism,
og hvad der måske gør folk der
who engage in such acts
anderledes end andre.
om dette emne blevet udført.
on this topic had been done.
af næstekærlighed,
definition of altruism,
bekostelig adfærd
hjælpe et andet individ.
to help another individual.
intended to benefit only the other.
fordel for den anden.
en handling som den?
explain an action like that?
seem to have more of it than others?
fra meget uselviske mennesker
of highly altruistic people
forstå basale
basic aspects of human nature,
hvori dette ønske ikke findes,
in whom that desire is missing,
denne slags mennesker.
der er kold og ligeglad
that's cold and uncaring
del i asocial
and sometimes very violent behavior.
på Det Nationale Institut for Psykisk Helbred
at the National Institute of Mental Health
brain imaging research
psykopatiske unge,
fra andre forskere,
of other researchers now,
who are psychopathic
karaktertræk.
three characteristics.
ufølsomme over for
insensitive to other people's emotions,
er de ufølsomme over
that other people are in distress.
mennesker er i nød.
frygtsomme ansigtsudtryk som dette.
fearful facial expressions like this one.
hastende behov og følelsesladet lidelse,
urgent need and emotional distress,
compassion and a desire to help
i folk som ser dem,
normalt viser mangel på medfølelse
who tend to lack compassion
over for disse signaler.
for recognizing fearful expressions
who lack amygdalas completely,
når det kommer til
in recognizing fearful expressions.
in amygdala activity
mandelkerne aktivitet
are underreactive to these expressions.
under-reaktive til disse udtryk.
reagerer de ikke overhovedet,
trouble detecting these cues.
de har svært ved at opfange disse signaler.
are smaller than average
mindre end gennemsnittet
are reliable and robust,
pålidelige og robuste,
min primære interesse
why people don't care about others.
tænker på andre.
and the desire to help other people,
og ønsket om at hjælpe andre,
the opposite of psychopathy?
modsatte af psykopati?
other people's fear,
andre folks frygt,
to this expression
reaktiv til disse udtryk
end gennemsnittet?
af ekstraordinære altruister.
of truly extraordinary altruists.
one of their own kidneys
en af deres nyrer
to undergo major surgery
meldt sig frivilligt
healthy kidneys can be removed
en meget syg fremmed
og nok heller aldrig vil.
gøre det?" er et meget normalt spørgsmål.
is a very common question.
ekstraordinære altruister
extraordinary altruists
andre menneskers frygt.
other people's fear.
fornemme når andre mennesker er bekymrede.
when somebody else is in distress.
er mere reaktiv overfor disse udtryk.
is more reactive to these expressions.
del af hjernen som vi fandt under-reaktiv
of the brain that we found
in people who are psychopathic.
også større end gennemsnittet
are larger than average as well,
like a caring continuum in the world
som et omsorgskontinuum
af folk som er meget psykopatiske,
by people who are highly psychopathic,
som er meget medmenneskelige
who are very compassionate
næstekærlige handlinger.
extraordinary altruists so different
disse altruister så anderledes
medmenneskelige end gennemsnittet.
more compassionate than average.
udsædvanligt ved dem
og medmenneskelige
and altruistic
af venner og familie.
who are in their own innermost circle
that you love and identify with
at vise medmenneskelighed
medfølelse går langt ud over den cirkel,
extends way beyond that circle,
består af deres bekendte
circle of acquaintances
som de slet ikke kender,
their social circle altogether,
to ask a lot of altruistic kidney donors
at spørge en masse altruistiske donorer
en så bred cirkel af medfølelse
such a wide circle of compassion
give deres nyre til en helt fremmed.
a complete stranger their kidney.
at det er
question for them to answer.
for dem at svare på.
til at gøre det,
you're willing to do this thing
spørger jeg.
slående svar,
a really telling answer,
at altruisternes cirkler
of these altruists don't look like this,
ikke på dem selv som
don't think of themselves
eller generelt vigtigere end andre.
important than anybody else.
hvorfor det gav mening for hende
why donating her kidney made sense to her,
svarede hun
Jeg er ikke unik.
at jeg er præcis som dig."
that I'm just the same as you."
for this amazing lack of self-centeredness
mangel på selvcentrerethed
hvilket er den egenskab
that in the words of St. Augustine
gør mænd til engle.
centrum i din cirkel,
no center of your circle,
nogle indre eller ydre ringe,
or outer rings,
værdig din omsorg
of your care and compassion
der virkelig adskiller
distinguishes extraordinary altruists
fra den gennemsnitlige person.
of the world that's attainable by many
der er opnåeligt af mange
udbredelser af næstekærlighed
because at the societal level,
are already happening everywhere.
og andre har vist
and others have shown
mindre og mindre godtagende
are becoming less and less accepting
altid voksende cirkler af hinanden,
circles of others,
of all kinds of cruelty and violence,
til vold i hjemmet
to capital punishment.
i alle former for næstekærlighed.
in all kinds of altruism.
ville folk have tænkt
would have thought it was ludicrous
og almindeligt det er
blod og knoglemarv
their blood and bone marrow
fra nu vil tænke at det er
a hundred years from now
that donating a kidney to a stranger
at donere en nyre til en fremmed
blod og knoglemarv er i dag?
and bone marrow is today?
disse fantastiske forandringer?
of all these amazing changes?
and standards of living.
bliver rigere og bedre stillet
wealthier and better off,
their focus of attention outward,
alle former for
towards strangers increases,
til velgørenheds donationer
and even altruistic kidney donations.
er ved at blive bedre
becoming a better and more humane place,
hvilket den er
af at den er ved at blive værre,
that it's becoming worse
hvorfor folk har den opfattelse,
vi ved så meget mere
that we now just know so much more
fra fjerntliggende steder,
of strangers in distant places,
os meget mere om
of those distant strangers.
disse fremmede.
de forandringer vi ser
of changes we're seeing show
næstekærlighed og medfølelse
som mishandling og vold er,
as cruelty and violence,
at være mere sensitive
to be inherently more sensitive
de ikke kender,
at evnen til at fjerne sig selv
to remove oneself
til selv at inkludere fremmede
outward to include even strangers
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Abigail Marsh - PsychologistAbigail Marsh asks essential questions: If humans are evil, why do we sometimes go to extraordinary lengths to help others even at a cost to ourselves?
Why you should listen
How do we understand what others think and feel? An associate professor in the department of psychology and the interdisciplinary neuroscience program at Georgetown University, Abigail Marsh focuses on social and affective neuroscience. She addresses questions using multiple approaches that include functional and structural brain imaging in adolescents and adults from both typical and non-typical populations, as well as behavioral, cognitive, genetic and pharmacological techniques. Among her ongoing research projects are brain imaging and behavioral studies of altruistic kidney donors and brain imaging studies of children/adolescents with severe conduct problems and limited empathy.
Marsh's 2017 book The Fear Factor: How One Emotion Connects Altruists, Psychopaths, and Everyone In-Between explores the extremes of human generosity and cruelty.
Abigail Marsh | Speaker | TED.com