读书与人性：我们是好人吗？

Welcome to our podcast.

Today we will chat about reading books.

What kind of books?

Reading biology books.

Biology is the science that studies life.

Many people like to read classic books.

For example, Darwin's books.

Darwin was a very famous scientist.

He wrote a very famous book.

The book's name is "The Descent of Man".

Have you read this book?

If you have read it, you might be unhappy.

Why unhappy?

Because the book says humans are selfish.

What is selfish?

Selfish means only loving oneself.

Darwin believed humans compete to survive.

We want ourselves to succeed.

We want our families to succeed.

In order to succeed, we must win.

So, many biologists think morality is fake.

Being a good person is also fake.

This sounds very pessimistic.

This is the first point we are discussing today.

Classic biology makes us feel human nature is cold.

Next, let's look at the second point.

Not everyone agrees with Darwin.

In the last few decades, this has also been a big issue.

Some scientists have different views.

For example, there was a scientist named Kropotkin.

He observed many animals.

He found that animals also help each other.

This is called "cooperation".

Many new books are talking about cooperation.

Why were humans able to conquer the earth?

Because we can cooperate.

We work together.

We solve problems together.

We learn rules from a young age.

These rules make us united.

If we are united, we are powerful.

This sounds much better than Darwin's theory.

This makes us feel humans are kind.

But, is this the truth?

This is only half the story.

Now, we want to talk about the third point.

This is the most important point.

Human nature is very complex.

We are neither completely selfish nor completely selfless.

We are very smart.

This smartness allows us to learn to disguise.

The article mentioned a word.

Called "opportunism".

What does this mean?

It means we look at the situation.

If someone is watching us, we cooperate.

Because we need a good reputation.

If no one is watching us, what happens?

If no one knows, we might cheat.

Scientists have done many experiments.

For example, a game about sharing money.

If names are public, everyone is very fair.

If names are secret, everyone takes more money.

What does this show?

It shows we do not naturally want to be fair.

We are just afraid of being discovered.

There is also a very interesting phenomenon.

Called "moral licensing" (or credentialing).

It means, if you feel you are a good person.

For example, you did a good deed yesterday.

Today you might do a bad deed.

Because you feel you are already good.

So, you find an excuse for yourself.

This is really ironic.

So, what is the conclusion?

The conclusion is, don't be too naive.

Reading books lets us see the truth.

The truth is, humans can cooperate and also compete.

If we don't look at this side, we can't understand the world.

We cannot rely only on human nature.

We need good rules.

We need good education.

Good rules make cheating become very difficult.

Good rules make cooperation become easy.

So, don't just trust feelings.

Trust systems and rules.

This is today's content.

Reading might make you not optimistic.

But reading makes you clear-headed.

Being clear-headed is more important than being optimistic.

Thank you everyone for listening.

See you next time.