I had watched this episode and were amazed by the extent a person can do to help complete strangers (this story was based on real-life Infectious Disease guru, Dr. Paul Farmer). It appears that many people, including myself, are skeptical towards behaviours that appear to be altruistic.Introduction of the story.
Dr. Sebastian Charles was an internationally famous doctor who treated Africans for TB and had been persuading pharmaceutical manufacturers to donate more of their drugs to his cause. Dr Charles began to display symptoms typical of TB, and he tried to use this to publicize his cause. He refused to take medications for TB, and stated that he should be treated the same as those TB patients in Africa. Dr House was skeptical towards his altruistic behavior and regarded him as a hypocrite. Below are quotes extracted from this episode.
Dr. Eric Foreman: You figure that anybody that gives a crap about people in Africa must be full of it?
Dr. Gregory House: Yes. There is an evolutionary imperative why we give a crap about our family and friends, and there's an evolutionary imperative why we don't give a crap about anybody else. If we loved all people indiscriminately, we couldn't function.
Dr. Eric Foreman: Hmmm. So the great humanitarian's as selfish as the rest of us.
Dr. Gregory House: Just not as honest about it.
___________________________________________________________
(In scene in which Dr Charles disclose his diagnosis in front of the reporters)
House: "It's not about the kids dying every eight seconds, it's about the media stroking. Adulation and pats on the head."
Wilson: "That's your problem with him, isn't it?"
House: "Look at him, he loves it. Eats it up."
Wilson: "Yeah, the man actually enjoys what he does."
House: "Listen, I saved his life. That means I get credit for every life he saves from here on out."
Wilson: "I'll make sure Stockholm knows."
Altruistic behavior have always been a controversial topic, in which researchers are debating whether it is a result of egoistic motivation (e.g. For publicity) or pure altruism (simply want to help others). Few theories was generated to explain this tendency, and one of them is the Empathy-Altruism hypothesis.
According to Empathy-Altruism hypothesis, feeling of empathy leads to altruism behavior. Empathy had been defined as the ability to understand and feel how another person experiences a situation. It is assumed that we are more likely to empathise others who are similar and are familiar to us. Being similar makes it easier for us to imagine what they are feeling. This explains why we are more likely to risk our lives to save a close kin, as they are similar and well known to us.
Besides helping close kin, we are also likely to help strangers if we perceive them to be having similar values and beliefs. Thus the reason why Dr Charles was willing to sacrifice his life may be due to him perceiving African patients as similar to him. However, it is difficult to apply this theory in the above context, as we are unable to infer the extent to which he sees them as similar to him. The extent of perceived similarity helps in distinguishing between egoistic motivation (Low empathy) and altruism (High Empathy).
It is also empirically impossible to locate the cause of Dr Charles' “altruistic” behavior (especially when he is fictional). For example, he might have been close to one of the patients, but this relationship only occurred after he had worked there for a period of time, thus unable to explain why he had decided to work there in the first place. Other explanations for altruistic behavior, such as the presence of social norms and a model to imitate do not seem to apply to this context as well. It seems possible that Dr Charles possessed an altruistic personality, in which he showed personal responsibility in helping others. Nevertheless, it is unlikely that Dr Charles spent 10 years in Africa living in poor facilities and risked death, just for few minutes of media coverage.
It is fascinating to see how people are skeptical and suspicious towards help (For example, a stranger offering to help you carry your bag). Attribution theory may affect our perception of strangers' help. As there is a presence of external factors (e.g. our wallet in the bag), we are likely to attribute the help to external circumstances (e.g. wanting to steal our wallet) and discount the effect of internal states (the helper genuinely is being helpful).
In the context of Dr Charles, Dr House believed Dr Charles was a hypocrite and was just using the opportunity to gain publicity. This may result from social comparison, in which we compare with others to gauge our own abilities and attitudes. By comparing himself to Dr Charles, House's life seemed less socially desirable. In order to feel good about himself, Dr House criticised Dr Charles' altruistic actions as hypocritic and yet he tried to claim credit for these actions.
The motive of people who try to help us are often ambiguous, thus true altruism very much depends on whether you believe it exists, or not.
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