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  3. Researchers at the University of California-Berkeley are challenging our long-held belief that humans are hard-wired to be selfi

Researchers at the University of California-Berkeley are challenging our long-held belief that humans are hard-wired to be selfi

admin2012-07-11  51
问题     Researchers at the University of California-Berkeley are challenging our long-held belief that humans are hard-wired to be selfish. Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection was misinterpreted by his male popularizers, the researchers say. Rather than "every man for himself," Darwin believed that humans are successful as a species precisely because of our nurturing, selfless and compassionate traits.
    Why has it taken so long for Darwin’s central revelation to be properly interpreted? "We’ve had too many men in social science," Berkeley psychology professor Dacher Keltner told me in an interview. " Female scientists acknowledge that ’ fight or flight’ is part of human nature, but so is caring for people. " This is no touchy-feely feminist theory. Hard science is showing how the human capacity to care is wired into our brains and nervous systems.
    In my book Passages in Caregiving, I urge women who assume the whole responsibility for taking care of an elderly parent or chronically ill spouse to build a Circle of Care. Reach out to your brothers and sisters,friends,neighbors and community volunteers to help you care,because no one can perform this overwhelming role alone. You will be as stunned as I to learn how the most selfless caregivers are rewarded with greater longevity. Stephanie Brown, associate professor of preventive medicine at SUNY-Stony Brook, followed a group of older adults caring for family members with dementia (痴呆) and other illnesses. If they offered care more than 14 hours a week, they were less likely to die in a seven-year period than their peers.
    "Survival of the Kindest" is not just a theory. It is becoming a revolutionary cultural movement. There are many signs that caring is gaining currency. Keltner,who has been studying the science of this instinct for 15 years, says we are coming to the end of our cycle of greed. Berkeley and Stanford universities now have compassion centers devoted to the study and teaching of this theory. It will run up against hostility among the Hobbseians. Ayn Rand wrote, " If any civilization is to survive, it is the morality of selfishness that men have to reject. " As Americans,we have a cultural bias against caring.
    Oh, sure, we give our families gifts generously during the holiday season, but in a capitalist system based on unrestrained competition, we worry that if we care, we lose. Compassion is a woman’s word. In men, it’s cast as weak, when in fact it makes us stronger under stress and more highly respected by our peers. For so long we have repeated the careless saying " Nice guys finish last. " But the 40 richest Americans who took the Giving Pledge to commit half their fortunes to doing good are no spring chickens. Here is my reinterpretation: Nice guys die last.
What do we learn about Darwin’s theory from the first paragraph?
选项 A、It supports the traditional belief that humans are selfish.
B、The most selfish man will be selected as the survivor.
C、The fittest is selected in quite a natural way.
D、Selflessness helps humans to develop into a successful species.
答案D
解析 推理判断题。定位句指出，达尔文认为人类之所以是成功的物种就在于人的养育、无私以及怜悯的特质。D)是对定位句的同义转述，故为本题答案。A)与第一段陈述正好相反，B)是大家对达尔文进化论的误解，C)在原文中未论述到，故排除。
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