So I was watching this show called 'Dark Matters: Twisted But True' on the science channel. I would recommend this show to any of you, if you're into science and mystery as much as I am. But anyway, the particular episode I watched included a story about a scientist named George Price, maybe you've already heard of him. He was a very socially awkward person, but he was very book smart. He was very scientific, so just as a lot of scientists are, he was atheist. He didn't believe in God at all. At one point he was reading about Evolution and he was so inspired by the idea that he decided to do a series of experiments. He was confused about one thing- if we have evolved so much to get to where we are now, then why would human kindness even exist? If human kindness was in our genes, then we wouldn't have survived so long. The reason why is because if you have the 'human kindness' gene in at least 1 of 2 human beings, then we would have humans sacrificing themselves for their children or other causes. Or they would be so selfless that they would only take care of others rather than themselves. This would be a weakness in any species, thus causing the species to potentially become extinct (or almost extinct). So, Price pretty much proved that any human kindness you have ever been exposed to has some kind of underlying meaning as to improve your species or the other species. For example, you have a friend named Jill. You've always been nice to Jill and since you're nice to her, she decides to share her food with you. That would improve your species because it is helping you survive. Either that, or you subconsciously view her as a 'mate'.... Makes sense to me, but if you view the video, it is explained a lot better.
Later on in life, Price was working on a mathematical formula. This formula proved that God does, in fact, exist. (It actually explained the reason why Price thought this was true and the actual formula, but I can't recall exactly why). So, then Price gave in and started living by 'the book'- but I believe that it was just an experiment to disprove his 'Evolution Theory' and prove that there was 'human kindness', just like Jesus practiced in the bible. He got rid of almost all of his possessions (the ones he didn't necessarily need), and he let alcoholics and junkies move into his apartment with him, allowing them to take everything they needed or wanted. Soon, they cleaned him out, leaving him completely homeless and only drinking one pint of milk a day. He was living out on the streets when his friend found him and took him in. He talked Price into working on another project with him. Soon, Price was back up on his feet, but the battle of the two theories always bothered him. It eventually became too much for Price because he could never figure out if something he did was out of 'human kindness' or there was some underlying meaning to it that benefited him, as to improve his species. So, eventually, they found Price dead. He had cut his own throat.
If you'd like to watch a little bit about Price, you can watch here: http://science.discovery.com/videos/dark-matters-dangers-of-selflessness.html
There was another experiment I saw and I can't remember if I saw it on the internet or television or wherever... It was about mice. Although mice are a lot different from the human species, they are alike in many ways. They need food, water, and shelter to survive, while humans need basically the same things. So, basically what they did was lock up a mouse in some sort of box (I think it's a box, I can't really remember for sure.) The box wasn't just a box, it was a puzzle. A puzzle that a mouse could and did eventually solve in order to get out of the box. Then, they had two different boxes. One mouse in one and one mouse in the other. The mouse that had already solved the puzzle before in one, and another mouse that hadn't yet been exposed to the puzzle in the other. The mouse recalled the puzzle and easily escaped this time, but instead of leaving the other mouse to figure out the puzzle on it's own, it helped it to escape. Is this for the mouse's benefit or is it for some sort of 'humanMouse Kindness' (LOL!)... I wouldn't think it was 'kindness', but when you hear the next part of the experiment, you probably will... Later, they added food to the equation (cheese, I think it was). Whichever mouse made it out first got the food, leaving the other to starve. Well, Mouse #1 escaped first, as expected. The mouse ate some of the food, keeping the rest. Then, it proceeded to help mouse #2 escape from the box, then it gave mouse #2 the rest of the food! Because, they did the same experiment with dogs and Dog #1 ate all of the food for itself, leaving the other to starve. Does this show that mice are more more clever than dogs? Does this show that 'Kindness' does exist in the genes of certain species? Or do you think that the mouse did it because somehow it would benefit his species and survival in some way?
Mannnn, told you I was a science geek! But I'm not much with words, so sorry if I did a horrible job explaining this to you!
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