The Sacrificial Instinct

Think we don't care about others? Think again. the Star examines
the compassionate side of human nature.

Here is a question for the season of festivals. Where do the miseries of the outer world and the celebrations of your personal life connect? Where do you fit in?
The initial reaction is to treat such questions as fruitless sentiments. But then the sky goes dark, and the street lights and the house lights in the villages and the cities pop on, and you are faced with yourself. Bertrand Russell wrote an essay about all that, a short but intriguing essay called "Three Passions I Have Lived For." Here are Russell's three: The longing for love; the search for knowledge; and what he called "the unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind."
The first two require no external reminders. It is the third passion, the overwhelming sympathy for the suffering of others that seems to call for frequent updating.
Compassion leading to altruism?

Toby Tanser, head of Shoe4Africa, laying the foundation stone of a children's hospital in Kenya. Photo: courtesy: Toby Tanser

Feeling compassion is one thing; acting on it is another. Does compassion promote altruistic behaviour? In his research, social psychologist Daniel Batson, makes the case that it does. According to Batson, when we encounter people in need or distress, we often imagine what their experience is like. To take the perspective of another is not only one of the most human of capacities; it is one of the most important aspects of our ability to fulfil the social contract. When we take the other's perspective, we feel an empathic state of concern and are motivated to address that person's needs and enhance that person's welfare, sometimes even at our own expense. If our minds draw an association between a victim and ourselves — even a relatively trivial one — the compassion we feel for his or her suffering is amplified greatly. And when experienced, compassion overwhelms selfish concerns and motivates altruistic behaviour.

Cultivating compassion
It has long been assumed that selfishness, greed, and competitiveness lie at the core of human behaviour. It takes little imagination to see how these assumptions have guided most realms of human affairs, from policy making to media portrayals of social life. But recent scientific findings show that compassion is deeply rooted in our brains, our bodies, and in the most basic ways we communicate. Neuroscience studies suggest that the brain structures involved in positive emotions like compassion are subject to changes brought about by environmental input. What's more, a sense of compassion fosters compassionate behaviour and helps shape the lessons we teach our children. A landmark study of altruism by sociologists Pearl and Samuel Oliner found that children who have compassionate parents tend to be more altruistic.
Simply realising this, however, is not enough; we must also make room for our compassionate impulses to flourish. Research provides ample evidence to show what we can gain from more compassionate relationships, schools, hospitals, workplaces, and other institutions. They do more than make us reconsider our assumptions about human nature. They offer a blueprint for a more compassionate world.

Compassion— A pair of shoes at a time
Toby Tanser of Manhattan runs to help others.
He heads Shoe4Africa an organisation that began in 1995 as an informal effort to send running shoes to Kenyan athletes who couldn't afford proper footwear. In the years since, it has grown into a charity raising thousands of dollars to build a public children's hospital in the city of Eldoret, Kenya. Tanser says via email, “I think that for a long time in my life I did not realise how blessed and lucky I was to be born with things I took for granted; like food on the table, water than ran clean from a tap, healthcare that was free. I went through life as a 'taker' – taking from society, feeling a sense of entitlement to do so, and believing that problems were too big for me to solve, or even attempt to make any difference. I felt that was not my job in life, so leave it to others. Then I took a trip to Africa...”
Getting into the head of benefactors
The purpose of helping others might be the same for the super rich and people with limited means, research shows. Jen Shang, formerly faculty at the Centre of Philanthropy at Indiana University in an interview last year said, “Millionaires and donors of modest means alike begin their philanthropic journey with the same purpose--- fulfilling human potential. Millionaires might then think about setting up foundations to fulfil this purpose on a large scale, while a donor with modest means might help an African child through individual sponsorship.”

Love thy neighbour
All major religions tell us that compassion compels us to dethrone the egotism, self-preoccupation and selfishness that hold us back from the divine and put ourselves in the place of another. These traditions have also pointed out that it is not sufficient to confine our benevolence to those we find congenial – to our own ethnic, national or ideological group. We must have what an ancient Chinese sage called jian ai---"concern for everybody."
Dr NaJma Khan Majlis, professor, department of Islamic History and
Culture at University of Dhaka says, “The cardinal principle of all religions is to serve humanity. Islam puts special emphasis on compassion and sacrifice for others. Qurbani reminds us that Islam is a religion of sacrifice and we must serve others with our time, effort and wealth. The fundamental concept of Qurbani is that we must be prepared to sacrifice everything for Allah.”
Philosophical perspective
You have to help those in need not because it is your moral responsibility but you love them. Dr Abdul Matin, professor emeritus, department of Philosophy, University of Dhaka says, “If you owe someone money, you must pay him or her back. That is your moral responsibly. But whether you will help someone who asks for it is a matter of compassion. I believe love for living beings is greater than morality. If you help your younger brother not out of love but of a sense of moral responsibility, will your brother be happy?

We must make room in our heart for our compassionate impulses to flourish. Photo: Anurup Kanti Das

Compassion Made Easy
Does the experience of compassion toward one person measurably affect our actions and attitudes toward other people? If so, are there practical steps we can take to further cultivate this feeling? David DeSteno, of Northeastern University has conducted experiments that answered yes to both questions. He writes in an article, “…Effortful adherence to religious or philosophical dictums though clearly valuable and capable of producing results, is not the only way to go. There is nothing special about tapping in synchrony; any commonality will do. Increased compassion for one's neighbour, for instance, can come from something as easy as encouraging yourself to think of him as (say) a fan of the same local restaurant instead of as a member of a different ethnicity.”

Kind hearted women
Several studies have been published in the last two years — the first systematic research into gender and philanthropy — revealing that women generally donate more, are more actively involved in the giving charities, demand more proof of effectiveness and prefer somewhat different causes than men.

Think small
Bertrand Russell called his passion unbearable for he felt his passion was undercut by powerlessness. When you feel with someone his pain, it is intensified by your imagination and prolonged by countless echoes for help. The miseries of the world are overwhelming.
So let's reduce them to control. Work in a slum. Feed someone hungry. Volunteer for a humanitarian organisation. Read to the blind. Help out in a school. And your connection to all that?
Be grateful that you are able to offer some help in a world that cries out to you, to me, in the distance, every morning, every evening.