The Basic Idea
In 2007, something unexpected happened in a New York subway station. A construction worker named Wesley Autrey witnessed a young man suffer a seizure, stumble, and fall onto the train tracks. Autrey saw the lights of the next train coming around the corner and without a second thought dove onto the tracks to protect the young man. As there was little time, Autrey threw himself over the man’s body, pressing the man down into one of the drainage cracks, acting as a human shield to protect him from the train. Luckily, both men survived. When Autrey was asked what compelled him to do such a selfless act, he replied, “I just saw someone who needed help. I did what I felt was right.” Autrey’s brave behavior is a classic example of altruism. Altruism the practice of making sacrifices for other people’s benefits due to our care for their well-being. The opposite of altruism is egoism: the sole concern for maximizing one’s own welfare, regardless of the needs of others.
If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed.
– Albert Einstein
