Train ride to Goa - What to do with altruism?

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Oh man... I just experienced some true India. I decided to take a train up north to the state Goa. It was those night trains that take 14 hours to get to the place. I spoiled myself by buying some 'first class' tickets on the train. I was half expecting the rooms to be like clean and have a nice window. Hahaha, so wrong, Vic, so wrong. The only space I had was the size of an upper bunk bed with a curtain! Such a cramped space for such a long ride. Then it started pouring so hard (finally) and it created a huge flood, blocking our path halfway. So we waited for an hour, then 2 hours... then 3 hours then 5 hours, then 7 hours!! I am so happy I'm not claustrophobic (fear of small and enclosed space) because 7 hours is looong time to wait in a small space. Then it took another 3 hours to finally get to Goa. So I broke a new record of transportation time for myself : 24 hours! I wouldn't say it was a nightmare, but it definitely was a challenge for my first Indian train ride! I'm just thankful there wasn't any live chickens in the train! haha

Altruism-

My brother once told me that altruism does not exist. I interpreted altruism as the act of showing love and compassion to others, so naturally, I believed it exists. However, Jon interpreted altruism as the act of showing love and compassion to others WITHOUT any selfish reasons whatsoever. With my interpretation, giving beggars money would be considered altruistic because I’m displaying compassion. But with Jon’s interpretation, he would say this act is not altruistic because I gave money to the beggar and felt good about it. Giving money to the beggar made me feel good and gave me good sleep, thus, I had selfish intentions behind giving money. Made sense. I tried thinking of everything I’ve ever done that was good and really evaluated whether I felt good about it. Pretty much everything that I did for others was in a way, selfish because I felt good about it. When I had to drive long distances for a friend as a favor, I thought I was being completely selfless because I had nothing to gain from it. But at the end, he was really grateful, kept thanking me and called me his life saver. These comments made me feel good and made it all worth the long drive for a friend, which shows that I gained something from my benevolence. Selfish. The only way this scenario would have been possible in Jon’s interpretation of altruism is if the friend just got out of the car, said nothing, and walked away. This would mean that I did something good for my friend and I did not feel good about it, in fact I would feel like shit. But this scenario is almost impossible in the real world because if my friend just got out and left without showing any gratitude after I drove 5 hours for him, then I’d be really mad at him. And if I express anger then it is not displaying benevolence nor altruism. I would be thinking ‘how can he be so ungrateful after everything that I did for him’ (which shows that I helped him with some kind of selfish intention). Another scenario is when you give complements to others. You are saying it to make her feel good, but subconsciously, you also say it so that she will like you. Because if she turned around and said, “thanks, oh and since we're being so honest, you sometimes look like a crushed potato with make-up on it” you would be mad because you just gave her a complement and you expected a complement in return! However, if you were truly altruistic, then you wouldn’t be mad because you did good for others even though you were hurt in return.

In ethology (study of animal behavior) altruism refers to behavior by an individual that increases the fitness of another individual while decreasing the fitness of the actor. Many scientists refute the idea of Darwin’s survival of the fittest and believe in altruism in the animal kingdom where it is survival of the nicest. Anyway, I think it is so difficult to help others while it is hurting you and on top of that, you don’t even get a ‘thank you’ or any sign of appreciation for it. Who would do such a thing? I’ve thought of so many different scenarios of people helping others while hurting themselves, but at the end, all of them receive a sign of appreciation. Except for one. This person is the most altruistic icon that I can possibly think of. Who is he? Batman!

I apologize if I am about to geek out on you with comics, but by now, all of you have watched at least two superhero movies and it is about time you learned about the symbolism behind these icons instead of perceiving them as superhero for kids. Batman, is truly a one of a kind in the comic world. When Bob Kane first created Batman in the 60’s, he wanted to create a dark superhero. He wanted to create a superhero that had the persona of a villain. This is why Batman is always in the dark and chooses to instill fear into his opponent. Superman was the obvious ‘good guy’ that everyone could look up to and try to model after. But Batman? In the comic world, other heroes found it hard to trust Batman because he was always so secretive and in the dark about things even though he was the most righteous of them all. Batman, the protector of Gotham City, was always helping others but was always hurting himself in the process. I don’t just mean physically, I mean emotionally. You don’t ever see Batman smiling after a fight, do you? The more he fights for the protection of the people, the more he becomes Batman, and the more he becomes Batman, the more detached he becomes with his human side, Bruce Wayne. Writers have a harder time depicting Bruce Wayne to the audience than depicting Batman because he is so emotionally disorganized. Bruce Wayne is rich, lonely, famous, philanthropist, vengeful, playboy, womanizer, egotistic and lastly, emotionally traumatized by the murder of his parents. He chooses to be Batman even though it kills his happiness as Bruce Wayne. More on altruism of Batman, notice how he never stays around after he beats up the bad guy to receive the thank you from the victim, he just disappears into the darkness. He couldn’t care one bit about the gratitude, he just did what he thought was necessary to help and got out of there. Superman wold always say something cheesy as he flies away like, "Believe in yourself, and you can achieve anything~"

Now let’s analyze the movie, The Dark Knight. There’s a scene in the movie which a lot of people overlooked. It was during the climax where Joker called Batman and gave him the choice to save Harvey Dent at some warehouse or Rachel at an office building. Harvey Dent represented the greater good of Gotham City because he was the district attorney that put so many criminals in jail. He was the "face of the people". Rachel, on the other hand, was just one insignificant person to Gotham city… but the Joker knew the significance of her to Batman. While other villains saw Batman as a frightening hero icon, Jokes sees him as just a man behind a costume. The man behind the mask, Bruce Wayne, couldn’t help himself and chose to save the person he loved instead of choosing Harvey Dent, who was the greater good for society. He was selfish, un-altruistic. But then what happened? When Batman reached the office building, expecting to find Rachel, he found Harvey Dent instead and had to save him and let Rachel die! The Joker lied to him! Why did Joker lie to him? Because Joker wanted to completely transform Bruce Wayne into Batman. Remember when the Joker insanely said to Batman, “Kill you? Hahahaha, I don’t want to kill you”. In a sense, Joker was helping to create Batman and killing Bruce Wayne. Rachel was like his one true shot of having a ‘normal’ life but Joker took that away from him so that he would truly become Batman and would have to play Joker’s game forever. Joker brought altruism out of Batman. Batman realized this and that’s why at the end of the movie he decided to take the blame of Harvey Dent’s death because if Gotham city found out that Harvey became the psycho Two-Face who went around killing people, then all the criminals would be let out of jail because the district attorney is insane. Batman wouldn’t allow it, so for the greater good of Gotham, he told commissioner Gordan to tell everyone that it was him who killed all the people that Harvey Dent killed. Batman helps the greater good and in return, he receives hate from the public instead of appreciation. All the while, he is hurting himself even more by detaching himself from Bruce Wayne. The last shot of the movie was him running off into the darkness while the police were hounding him down.

The only true altruistic hero is the most misunderstood. He would be happier if he could give up being Batman and find love as Bruce Wayne. But he knows as long as there is a Joker out in the world, there has to be a Batman. It’s an endless and cruel game that Joker plays on Batman. It’s the biggest joke of all and that’s why he’s called the Joker.
Sigh… Batman, you are the only altruistic person in the world and you’re not even real... so does that mean Jon’s interpretation of altruism is fictional then?

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Photos

My space
single bed w/ curtain

the 1st class section
this is the section i was in

kiddies!
I made some friends on the train

Yep! you guessed it..
Magic! haha, they were amazed

My space
I let the kids play with my big camera, haha it was cute

for real?
the kboy was good with the camera

Yep! you guessed it..
look at that ferocity

Comments

[Mama jenny]

Good arguement
It is indeed very difficult to be not selfish, especially when feelings are also count as "return". I love those pictures. India kids looks so smart and cute.

[Jc]

Book!
Wheres the book?!?

[steve Chang]

i am back to a place called home
hi Vic, while you were traveling at your little dirty space for 24 hours , i was slept on my own bed for last 10 hours at Taipei , then A-Li prepared the birdnest soup as my breakfast. however , we all felt inspired of good life experience , didn't we ? Jon said altrusim is not exist ? wait until his baby girl born , he will change his mind , my superhero , keep on backpacking in Gao. dad

[BigBro]

The Myth of Altruism
Wow, it’s as if this blog was MEANT just for me to read bro! Refuting my theory with an in-depth analysis of the best comic movie ever made? Love it! But here’s my counter argument of why even the great fictitious character of Batman is NOT altruistic. But first, a preface of my own twisted definition of “altruism”. True altruism to me is the act of aiding others in the absence of ANY benefit to oneself (consciously or sub-). Sometimes these benefits are very obvious (e.g. receiving praise, money, fame, gratefulness), but most of the time, they are much more subtle. For instance, there are more underlying rewards such as avoidance of punishment, alleviating guilt, escaping shame, relieving distress, or even as some Evolutionist psychologists might argue, sacrificing one’s well-being so that the next generation of its biological genes might continue to survive (explains why vampire bats will throw-up blood so that another blood-deprived bat might survive). So Vic, perhaps the real reason why you drove your friend five hours home in the first place is that because you know if you didn’t, you’d feel guilty or even ashamed for not doing so. Perhaps it’s related with your fear of loneliness where you rationalized that if you didn’t help a friend in need, you’d have one less person to rely on for companionship. Perhaps seeing a friend (or any person) in distress causes you distress (empathy) so you’d be willing to do something to alleviate that negative feeling. Or perhaps you believe in heaven (or karma or Nirvana) and thus hold the belief that doing a “good” deed will get you closer to that destination and hence a step further away from the polar opposite (hell/purgatory/non-enlightenment, etc). So does it make you any less of a “good” person because you received some form of “reward” for your actions? I definitely don’t believe so. But does it mean you didn’t receive ANY benefit from helping your friend? I contend you did, and thus it’s not truly “altruistic”…not by my strict definition anyway. Yes, of course I realize what a cynical, egotistical viewpoint this is of not only the human race but the animal kingdom as well. However, the bottom line is: I believe the mere act of helping others is in itself intrinsically rewarding, and therefore, by definition, un-“selfless”. So back to the Dark Crusader, I would argue Batman isn’t truly altruistic for deciding at the end of the movie to let Harvey Dent be the “White Knight” because doing so provided Batman with a reward. It allowed him to escape his guilt of creating Two-Face in the first place. Bruce Wayne (similar to Peter Parker) is a character driven by guilt. Remember from “Batman Begins” that the main motivator behind why “Batman” was created is to provide Bruce with a way of dealing with the guilt of not being able to face his fears of bats, which led to him and his parents leaving the theater early, which led to the murdering of his parents. In fact, the only time Batman was about to retire was when Bruce started to realize that perhaps the death of his parents wasn’t entirely his fault. Ultimately, Bruce’s intense motivation to escape from his own shame and guilt drove him to punish himself (another reason why he never smiles) out in a icy prison camp in an almost suicidal manner. Once again, Batman’s intense motivation to escape the shame and guilt of killing Gotham’s only “White Knight”, led him to punish himself by continuing to be the near-suicidal Dark Knight, because not doing so would have caused him even more guilt and shame. So Batman might have consciously decided he was going to be a “hero” by giving Gotham the “greater good” in honoring Harvey Dent’s death, but in actuality, he might have done it for the reward of escaping further guilt, and thus, Batman is not altruistic either. So sorry bro, even our fictitious hero isn’t altruistic! But like I said, that doesn’t make Batman, or even real heroes like Mother Theresa, Gandhi, Jesus, etc., any less of a “good” person just because they also benefit from their actions!

[lostbuddha]

Yes!
Haha, I miss our comic book discussions bro, haha nobody looks deeper behind the picture than you! You said you wanted to start blogging so I figured this blog about your philosophy and favorite comic book hero would get you started! I must say, you're a solid blogger bro! Hope you keep it up cause you're good at taking your audience through the story coherently. BTW, download this bollywood movie called Ghajini. Trust bro, Julie will love it too

[Srinivas]

Your Journey
Hi, the berth you have booked on the train journey to Goa is not 1st class as mentioned in your blog. It is 2 tier A/C.

[lostbuddha]

Then I got Scammed!
Haha, I think I got scammed by the person who bought it for me then. He overcharged me and said he was gonna get a 1st class ticket for me. Beware other travellers! BTW, the 2nd class isn't too bad, I'd recommend it.