ScienceDaily -- Wesley Autrey, a black construction worker, a Navy veteran and 55-year-old father of two, didn't know the young man standing beside him. But when he had a seizure on the subway platform and toppled onto the tracks, Autrey jumped down after him and shielded him with his body as a train bore down on them. Autrey could have died, so why did he put his life on the line - literally - to save this complete stranger?
Donald Pfaff, the author of the new book The Neuroscience of Fair Play: Why We (Usually) Follow the Golden Rule, thinks he has the answer. Our brains, he says, are hardwired to do unto others as we would have them do unto us. Individual acts of aggression and evil occur when this circuitry jams.
More...
See also:
We Help Friends Due To Empathy; Relatives Due To Expectation Of Reciprocity
Consideration For Others Stimulates Positive Behavior
Money Buys Happiness When You Spend On Others, Study Shows
