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Why Do People Are Altruistic When Helping Is Altruist?

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People are altruistic when helping is profitable. In chapter 3: “Unbelievable Stories About Apathy and Altruism” of their book SuperFreakonomics (2009), Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner state that people are not pure altruistic. (125) Furthermore, people are altruistic when there are beneficial incentives for them. On my high school’s Hallowmas back in China, some students possess booths for selling things. One friend who wanted to sell lottery tickets asked me for help because he didn’t have experience of selling. As a person who had been sold things for several times, I helped him by preparing materials, decorating the booth and cashiering. There are several reasons why I helped my friends, which suggests that people tend to be more altruistic when people can get current and future sake by helping others. …show more content…

There was no hesitation when my friends asked me for help. I helped friendship which belonged to both me and him. During the time I worked with him, we enjoyed and looked forward to work together in the future. I didn’t think of this reason so deep until I was asked to write it down. Friendship was the incentive which existed in my heart, which just motivated me to help without any doubt. This reason was apparent to both me and my friends because we were friends. However, friendship as a type of relationship is for future use. People can get future sake by cultivating friendship. In chapter 3: “Unbelievable Stories About Apathy and Altruism” of their book SuperFreakonomics (2009), Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner discover that local sellers give better deals than out-of-town sellers to earn a good relationship with consumers. (116) In this case, friendship and reputation work in the same way. As people expect others to be nice, they do good to others first. Namely, people help for future

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