Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors | Cosmos: Possible Worlds

OK, just for argument's sake, suppose we're nothing more than the sum total of our genetic inheritance. It's not as bad as it sounds. There are passages in our DNA that are every bit as heroic as anything ever written in any epic saga.

[low growl] [gentle music] [birds chirp] [ominous music] [growl deepens] [dramatic music] The mother is stotting, deliberately putting her own life in danger to alert the herd and buy time for them—so that her offspring and the rest of the herd can get away. If this isn't heroism, what is? And yet, this act of valor is encoded in the Thompson gazelles' programming. Does that make it any less brave? She risks being eaten in order to save her kin, and that's the key. Kin selection is that genetic impulse for self-sacrifice prevalent throughout the kingdoms of life, even us.

Skeptical? Then do this thought experiment with me. Imagine trying to sleep soundly at night knowing that your children are starving, homeless, or gravely ill. For almost all of us, this would be unthinkable. But 16,000 children die each day of easily preventable hunger, neglect, or disease. Children continue to die as we sleep well and watch this show. They are far away. They're not directly related to us. Now tell me you don't believe in the reality of kin selection. We will die to protect the carriers of our DNA and turn away from the suffering of those who don't. Kin selection can inspire us to die saving a brother, but it's also the drive exploited by the demagogue and the supremacist, the us against them.

[inspiring music] Another thought experiment—imagine you're making the first approach to a newly discovered planet. You've used various techniques to ascertain that this world supports an astonishing variety of life forms. You want to make contact, but not with their version of a scorpion, cobra, or great white shark. You want to find the form that's most likely to respond gently with empathy and intelligence.

These macaque monkeys are members of what might be the most compassionate species on Earth. This was demonstrated in a ghastly series of experiments conducted in the 1960s. 15 macaques were fed only if they were willing to pull a chain and electrically shock an unrelated macaque whose agony was in plain view through a one-way mirror. If they refused to shock another macaque, they starved. After learning the ropes, the monkeys frequently refused to pull the chain. In one experiment, only a small percentage would do so, while more than 2/3 preferred to go hungry. One macaque went without food for nearly two weeks rather than hurt its fellows.

Here's the part that really gets me. Macaques, who had themselves been shocked in previous experiments, were even less willing to pull the chain. Relative social status or gender of the macaques had little bearing on their reluctance to hurt others. These experiments permit us to glimpse in non-humans a saintly willingness to make sacrifices in order to save others, even those who are not close kin.