Why some people are more altruistic than others | Abigail Marsh

Translator: Aziza Pulatova Reviewer: Nazarbek Nazarov

There's a man out there, somewhere,

Qaylardadir aktyor Idris Elbaga

who looks a little bit like the actor Idris Elba,

biroz o’xshab ketuvchi bir inson bor yoki 20 yil ilgari

or at least he did 20 years ago.

shunday qiyofada bo'lgandir.

I don't know anything else about him,

U o'z hayotini xatarga qo'yib,

except that he once saved my life

hayotimni asrab qolganidan boshqa

by putting his own life in danger.

u haqida hech narsa bilmayman.

This man ran across four lanes of freeway traffic in the middle of the night

Mudhish avtohalokatdan so'ng bu inson

to bring me back to safety

meni xavfsiz joyga eltish uchun

after a car accident that could have killed me.

to’rt tirband trassa yo’l yoqasidan yugurdi.

And the whole thing left me really shaken up, obviously,

Bularning bari meni chuqur sarosimaga soldi,

but it also left me with this kind of burning, gnawing need

biroq o'sha daqiqada uning harakatlari

to understand why he did it,

mazmunini anglash istagi uyg’ondi,

what forces within him caused him to make the choice

hayotim bilan qarzdor bo’lgan, o’z hayotini xatarga

that I owe my life to,

qo’yib o'zga kishining hayotin qutqardi

to risk his own life to save the life of a stranger?

undagi qanday ichki kuch bu tanlovni

In other words, what are the causes of his or anybody else's capacity for altruism?

berdi. Boshqacha aytganda, u yoki har kimning altruistik xulqni

But first let me tell you what happened.

namoyon etishiga nima turtki bo’ladi? Ammo

That night, I was 19 years old

undan oldin nima bo'lganini

and driving back to my home in Tacoma, Washington,

aytib berishga ijozat bering. 19 yoshda edim,

down the Interstate 5 freeway,

Takomadagi uyimizga mashinada

when a little dog darted out in front of my car.

qaytayotgan edim. To’satdan mashinam qarshisidan

And I did exactly what you're not supposed to do,

kuchukcha chiqib qoldi va men qilmasligimiz kerak

which is swerve to avoid it.

bo’lgan bir ishni qildim

And I discovered why you're not supposed to do that.

ya’ni undan qochish uchun rulni burdim.

I hit the dog anyways,

Va bu noto'g'riligini angladim.

and that sent the car into a fishtail,

Itni baribir urib yubordim. bu mashinani sirpanib,

and then a spin across the freeway,

trassa bo’ylab aylanishiga va oqibatda

until finally it wound up in the fast lane of the freeway

tirband mashinalar shiddat bilan qatnaydigan

faced backwards into oncoming traffic

yo’l yoqasiga og’darib tushirdi

and then the engine died.

va motor ishdan chiqdi.

And I was sure in that moment that I was about to die too,

O’shanda hayotim ham yakunlanganiga

but I didn't

amin edim, ammo

because of the actions of that one brave man

ag’darilgan mashinamni ko’riboq undan chiqarish,

who must have made the decision

hayotimni asrab qolish uchun

within a fraction of a second of seeing my stranded car

zulmatda tirband trassa yo’l yoqasi bo’ylab yugurishga

to pull over and run across four lanes of freeway traffic

bir ondayoq jasorat topgan insonning

in the dark

sa’y-harakatlari tufayli

to save my life.

bu voqea yuz bermadi.

And then after he got my car working again

So’ngra mashinamni qayta ishga tushirib, o'zimni

and got me back to safety and made sure I was going to be all right,

xavfsiz joyga eltdi va sog’ayib ketishimga ko’zi yetib

he drove off again.

mashinasida tark etdi.

He never even told me his name,

U menga hatto o’z ismini aytishga ulgurmadi va

and I'm pretty sure I forgot to say thank you.

unga rahmat aytish yodimdan ko’tarilgani aniq.

So before I go any further,

Shu bois so’zlashda davom etishdan oldin,

I really want to take a moment

sizlardan bir daqiqa olishni

to stop and say thank you to that stranger.

va shu notanish insonga rahmat aytishni juda istardim.

(Applause)

(Qarsaklar)

I tell you all of this

Bularni so'zlab berdim

because the events of that night changed the course of my life to some degree.

chunki o’sha tungi voqealar hayotimni

I became a psychology researcher,

o’zgartirib yubordi. Tadqiqotchi

and I've devoted my work to understanding the human capacity to care for others.

psixolog faoliyatimni g'amxo'rlik qilish

Where does it come from, and how does it develop,

qobiliyatini o'rganishga bag’ishladim.

and what are the extreme forms that it can take?

Uning negizi va hayratli jihati nimada?

These questions are really important to understanding basic aspects

Bu savollar shaxs ijtimoiy tabiatining tub

of human social nature.

mohiyatini anglashga

A lot of people, and this includes everybody

ko’maklashuvchi savollardir. Ko’pchilik

from philosophers and economists to ordinary people

bularga filosof, iqtisodchilardan to oddiy

believe that human nature is fundamentally selfish,

aholi shaxs tabiatining egoistligiga,

that we're only ever really motivated by our own welfare.

ya'ni o’z manfaatimizdan ortmaymiz, deydi

But if that's true, why do some people, like the stranger who rescued me,

Agar bu rost bo’lsa, meni qutqargan inson

do selfless things, like helping other people

o'xshash ba'zi insonlar xavfga qaramay

at enormous risk and cost to themselves?

yordami uchun jabrlansa ham yordam beradi?

Answering this question

Bu savolga javob berish

requires exploring the roots of extraordinary acts of altruism,

altruizmning g’ayrioddiy xulqi ildizlarini

and what might make people who engage in such acts

va bunday insonlarning farqli hislatlarini

different than other people.

tahlil qilishni talab etadi.

But until recently, very little work on this topic had been done.

Biroq bu ishlarning salmog'i yetarlimas.

The actions of the man who rescued me

Meni qutqargan shaxsning harakatlari

meet the most stringent definition of altruism,

altruizm tushunchasini yaxshi izohlaydi,

which is a voluntary, costly behavior

ya’ni asosida hech qanday manfaatsiz,

motivated by the desire to help another individual.

jabr ko'rsa ham o'zgalarga yordamga

So it's a selfless act intended to benefit only the other.

oshiqish. O'zgalar manfaatini ko'zlovchi fidokorona harakat.

What could possibly explain an action like that?

Bunday xulqni qanday izohlash mumkin?

One answer is compassion, obviously,

Bulardan biri, shubhasiz, odamiylikdir.

which is a key driver of altruism.

u altruizmning asosi.

But then the question becomes,

Biroq shunda savol o’zgaradi,

why do some people seem to have more of it than others?

bu xislat nega ba’zilarda ko’proq?

And the answer may be that the brains of highly altruistic people

Sababi altruist insonning miyasi boshqalarnikidan

are different in fundamental ways.

tubdan farqlanishida deyish mumkin.

But to figure out how,

Bunga oydinlik kiritish maqsadida,

I actually started from the opposite end,

aslida ishni teskari, psixopatlarni

with psychopaths.

o'rganishdan boshladim.

A common approach to understanding basic aspects of human nature,

Birovlarga yordam berish xislatini

like the desire to help other people,

tushunishda qo’l keluvchi sodda yondashuv

is to study people in whom that desire is missing,

bunday istakdan mahrum shaxslarni o'rganish

and psychopaths are exactly such a group.

psixopatlar ayni shu toifa shaxslaridir.

Psychopathy is a developmental disorder

Psixopatiya nasldan-naslga o’tuvchi,

with strongly genetic origins,

rivojlanishdagi nuqson bo’lib,

and it results in a personality that's cold and uncaring

sovuqqon va bag'ritosh shaxsiyat,

and a tendency to engage in antisocial and sometimes very violent behavior.

ba'zida o'ta tajovuzkorlikka moyillikdir.

Once my colleagues and I at the National Institute of Mental Health

Ruhiy salomatlik institutida hamkasblarim bilan psixopat

conducted some of the first ever brain imaging research

o’smirlarda miya skanerlari tadqiqotini olib bordik

of psychopathic adolescents,

va bizning xulosalarimiz

and our findings, and the findings of other researchers now,

va bu boradagi boshqa tadqiqotlar xulosasi

have shown that people who are psychopathic

psixopatlarda ayni uch xususiyatning

pretty reliably exhibit three characteristics.

mavjudligiga ishora qilmoqda.

First, although they're not generally insensitive to other people's emotions,

Ular o'zgalarning tuyg'ulariga loqaydmas,

they are insensitive to signs that other people are in distress.

balki iztirobli holatiga sovuqqonlik bilan qarashadi

And in particular,

Va ayniqsa, ular yuzdagi

they have difficulty recognizing fearful facial expressions like this one.

bunday qo’rquv ifodalarini ajratishda qiynalishadi

And fearful expressions convey urgent need and emotional distress,

qo’rquv ifodalari esa hissiy iztirobni yetkazadi

and they usually elicit compassion and a desire to help

hamda buni ko’rgan kishilarda odamiylik va

in people who see them,

ko'mak istagini uyg’otadi,

so it makes sense that people who tend to lack compassion

odamiyligi zaif kishilarning bunday

also tend to be insensitive to these cues.

alomatga beparvo bo'lish moyilligi ham bor

The part of the brain

Yuzdagi qo’rquvni

that's the most important for recognizing fearful expressions

tanishda muhim vazifa o'tovchi miya sohasi

is called the amygdala.

amigdala deb ataladi.

There are very rare cases of people who lack amygdalas completely,

Amigdaladan butkul mahrum bemorlar juda oz

and they're profoundly impaired in recognizing fearful expressions.

ular qo'rquvni butkul aniqlay olishmaydi.

And whereas healthy adults and children

Sog’lom bolalar va katta yoshlilar

usually show big spikes in amygdala activity

qo’rquv aks etgan yuzga boqqanlarida

when they look at fearful expressions,

ularning amigdalasi yuqori darajada faol

psychopaths' amygdalas are underreactive to these expressions.

psixopatlar amigdalasining faolligi zaif

Sometimes they don't react at all,

Ba’zida bu faoliyat umuman yo'q

which may be why they have trouble detecting these cues.

ehtimol shu sabab bu alomatlarni ilg'amas.

Finally, psychopaths' amygdalas are smaller than average

psixopatlarning amigdalasi 18-20 foiz

by about 18 or 20 percent.

o’rtacha amigdaladan kichikroq.

So all of these findings are reliable and robust,

Bu topilmalarning bari ishonchli

and they're very interesting.

va ular juda qiziqarli.

But remember that my main interest

Asosiy maqsadim kishilar nega

is not understanding why people don't care about others.

boshqalar haqida qayg’urmasligini emas buning aksi

It's understanding why they do.

qayg'urishini tushunish edi

So the real question is,

Muhim savol esa shunday,

could extraordinary altruism,

psixopatiyadan tubdan farq qiluvchi,

which is the opposite of psychopathy

odamiylik va birovlarga yordam qo’lini

in terms of compassion and the desire to help other people,

cho’zishni ko’zlovchi altruizm

emerge from a brain that is also the opposite of psychopathy?

psixopatiyadan o'zgacha miya ta’sirida yuz berishi mumkinmi?

A sort of antipsychopathic brain,

Psixopatiyaga qaysidir jihatdan teskari

better able to recognize other people's fear,

miya, yuz ifodasiga ta’sirchan amigdala va

an amygdala that's more reactive to this expression

ehtimol o’rtacha miyadan yirikroq miya o'zgalar

and maybe larger than average as well?

qo’rquvini yaxshiroq ilg'ashi mumkinmi?

As my research has now shown,

Tadqiqotlarim natijasi bularning barchasi

all three things are true.

haqiqat ekanligini ko’rsatdi.

And we discovered this

Biz bu natijaga chinakam

by testing a population of truly extraordinary altruists.

altruist insonlarni sinovdan o'tkazib

These are people who have given one of their own kidneys

erishdik. Ular o’z buyraklaridan birini butkul

to a complete stranger.

notanishga berishgan.

So these are people who have volunteered to undergo major surgery

Buyraklaridan birining jarrohlik bilan

so that one of their own healthy kidneys can be removed

olinib, ehtimol qachon ko'rishmaydigan

and transplanted into a very ill stranger

notanish xasta bir kishiga o’tkazilishiga

that they've never met and may never meet.

o'z ixtiyori bilan rozilik bildirgan.

"Why would anybody do this?" is a very common question.

“Nega bunday qilishadi?” degan savol

And the answer may be

tabiiy. Javob g'ayritabiiy

that the brains of these extraordinary altruists

altruistlarning tafakkurlari noodatiy

have certain special characteristics.

xislatga egaligida bo’lishi mumkin.

They are better at recognizing other people's fear.

O'zgalarning qo’rquvini yaxshiroq ilg'aydi

They're literally better at detecting when somebody else is in distress.

o'zgalar iztrobini yaxshiroq ilg’ashadi.

This may be in part because their amygdala is more reactive to these expressions.

Bu qisman bunday yuz ifodasiga amigdala ta’sirchanligi

And remember, this is the same part of the brain that we found

bilan izohlanadi. Miyaning shu sohasi

was underreactive in people who are psychopathic.

passivligi psixopatlarda kuzatilgan edi.

And finally, their amygdalas are larger than average as well,

va ularning amigdalasi hajmi o’rtachadan

by about eight percent.

sakkiz foiz yirikroq.

So together, what these data suggest

Ushbu ma’lumotlardan ko'rinadiki,

is the existence of something like a caring continuum in the world

dunyoda bir uchi psixopatlar va boshqasida

that's anchored at the one end by people who are highly psychopathic,

odamiylik va altruizmga oshiqqan

and at the other by people who are very compassionate

insonlarni o’lchovchi g’amxo’rlik shkalasi

and driven to acts of extreme altruism.

borligiga ishora qilmoqda.

But I should add that what makes extraordinary altruists so different

Yana shuni ham aytishim kerakki, odamiylik

is not just that they're more compassionate than average.

fidokor altruistni boshqalardan ajratuvchi

They are,

yakka xislat emas.

but what's even more unusual about them

yanada hayratlanarli jihati shundaki,

is that they're compassionate and altruistic

ulardagi odamiylik va altruistik xislat

not just towards people who are in their own innermost circle

do’st va birodarlari doirasidagi yaqinlari

of friends and family. Right?

bilangina cheklanmaydi. Chunki

Because to have compassion for people that you love and identify with

siz sevgan va sizga dilbandlarga odamiylik

is not extraordinary.

ko'rsatish noodatiy hol emas.

Truly extraordinary altruists' compassion extends way beyond that circle,

Chin altruistning odamiylik chegarasi bu

even beyond their wider circle of acquaintances

doiradan chetga, hatto tanishlari doirasi

to people who are outside their social circle altogether,

qolib, ijtimoiy guruhdan chetdagi butkul

total strangers,

notanish kishilargacha, meni

just like the man who rescued me.

asrab qolgan inson bunga misol.

And I've had the opportunity now to ask a lot of altruistic kidney donors

Endilikda o’z buyragini bergan ko’plab

how it is that they manage to generate such a wide circle of compassion

altruistlardan o’zgalarga shu darajadagi

that they were willing to give a complete stranger their kidney.

odamiylik ko'rsatish sababini bila olaman.

And I found it's a really difficult question for them to answer.

Ularning javob qaytarishi mushkulligiga

I say, "How is it that you're willing to do this thing

amin bo'ldim." Hech kim buni xayoliga ham

when so many other people don't?

keltirmaganda, siz qanday oshiqasiz?

You're one of fewer than 2,000 Americans

Siz notanish kishiga buyrak bergan

who has ever given a kidney to a stranger.

2000 amerikalikdan birisiz.

What is it that makes you so special?"

Sizni farqlovchi jihat nimada? "

And what do they say?

Va ular nima deydilar?

They say, "Nothing.

Ular shunday deydi “hech qanday

There's nothing special about me.

Boshqalardan farq qilmayman.

I'm just the same as everybody else."

Hamma qanday bo’lsa, shundayman."

And I think that's actually a really telling answer,

O’ylashimcha, savolga javob aynan shunda,

because it suggests that the circles of these altruists don't look like this,

chunki altruistlarning doirasi bunday emas

they look more like this.

aksincha bundayligiga ishora qilyapti.

They have no center.

Ularda umuman markaz yo’q.

These altruists literally don't think of themselves

Bunday altruistlar tom ma’noda o’zlarini

as being at the center of anything,

biror nimaning markazi, o'zgalardan

as being better or more inherently important than anybody else.

yaxshi va ahamiyatliroq deb bilishmaydi.

When I asked one altruist why donating her kidney made sense to her,

Bir altruistdan buyragini berish sababini

she said, "Because it's not about me."

so'radim. U esa “Gap men haqimda emas.”

Another said,

Boshqa biri esa,

"I'm not different. I'm not unique.

“Boshqalardan farqim yo'q. Noyob emasman"

Your study here is going to find out that I'm just the same as you."

Izlanishingiz siz bilan o'xshashligimizni isbotlaydi.

I think the best description for this amazing lack of self-centeredness

O’zgalar manfaatini o’zinikidan ustun qo'yish xislatiga

is humility,

eng yaxshi

which is that quality that in the words of St. Augustine

ta'rif avliyo Avgustin so’zi bilan aytganda insonni farishta

makes men as angels.

qiluvchi fazilat, bu kamtarlik.

And why is that?

Nega deysizmi?

It's because if there's no center of your circle,

Negaki doirada hech qanday markaz bo'lmasa

there can be no inner rings or outer rings,

uning ichki yoki tashqi xalqasi yo’q,

nobody who is more or less worthy of your care and compassion

boshqalardan ko’proq yo kamroq mehrga arziydigan

than anybody else.

hech kim bo’lmaydi.

And I think that this is what really distinguishes extraordinary altruists

Bu g’ayritabiiy altruistni oddiy

from the average person.

insondan ajratib turadi.

But I also think that this is a view of the world that's attainable by many

Bu ko’pchilik, balki aksariyat insonlar

and maybe even most people.

erishsa bo'ladigan dunyo manzarasidir.

And I think this because at the societal level,

Chunki altruizm va odamiylik xislati jamiyat

expansions of altruism and compassion are already happening everywhere.

doirasida allaqchon har yerda yuz bermoqda.

The psychologist Steven Pinker and others have shown

Psixolog Stiven Pinker va boshqalar fikricha

that all around the world people are becoming less and less accepting

sayyoramiz aholisi o’zlarining hamisha kengayuvchi doirasidagi

of suffering in ever-widening circles of others,

insonlarning aziyat chekishlga yo’l qo’ymayapti,

which has led to declines of all kinds of cruelty and violence,

bu hayvon tahqirlanishidan tortib oilaviy tahqirlanish, o'lim

from animal abuse to domestic violence to capital punishment.

jazosidek barcha turdagi qabohat, yovuzliklarning kamayishiga olib kelgan.

And it's led to increases in all kinds of altruism.

Bu altruizmning o’sishiga sharoit yaratdi.

A hundred years ago, people would have thought it was ludicrous

O'tgan asr insonlar hozirgi odamlarning

how normal and ordinary it is

qon berishi, suyak iligi

for people to donate their blood and bone marrow

transplantatsiyasi odatiy hol ekanligini

to complete strangers today.

ahmoqlik deb o’ylagan bo’lardi.

Is it possible that a hundred years from now

Insonlar bundan yuz yil keyin

people will think that donating a kidney to a stranger

notanish kishiga buyrak berish xuddi

is just as normal and ordinary

hozir qon berish kabi normal

as we think donating blood and bone marrow is today?

va odatiy hol deb o’ylashlari mumkinmi?

Maybe.

Ehtimol.

So what's at the root of all these amazing changes?

Bu ajoyib o’zgarishlarning mohiyati nima?

In part it seems to be

Bu qisman farovonlik

increases in wealth and standards of living.

va yashash sharoitining yaxshilanishidan.

As societies become wealthier and better off,

Jumhuriyatlar farovonlashib borgani sayin,

people seem to turn their focus of attention outward,

odamlar ham voqelikka befarq emasdek.

and as a result, all kinds of altruism towards strangers increases,

va natijada xayriya va buyrak berish kabi

from volunteering to charitable donations and even altruistic kidney donations.

altruizmning turli ko’rinishlari ortmoqda.

But all of these changes also yield

Biroq, bu o’zgarishlarning bari

a strange and paradoxical result,

paradoksli xulosaga ham sabab bo'ladi.

which is that even as the world is becoming a better and more humane place,

ya’ni dunyo yanada insonparvarlashyapti

which it is,

va bu ayni haqiqat

there's a very common perception that it's becoming worse

biroq u yanada qabohatlashyapti degan

and more cruel, which it's not.

noto'gri tushuncha ham yo’q emas.

And I don't know exactly why this is,

Buning boisini aniq bilmayman,

but I think it may be that we now just know so much more

ammo fikrimcha, hozir biz yiroqdagilarning

about the suffering of strangers in distant places,

aziyatlari haqida juda ko’p narsa bilamiz,

and so we now care a lot more

va shu sababli o'zgalarning

about the suffering of those distant strangers.

g'am-tashvishlariga chuqurroq qayg'uramiz.

But what's clear is the kinds of changes we're seeing show

Guvohi bo’layotgan o’zgarishlardan aniqki,

that the roots of altruism and compassion

inson tabiatida qancha yovuzlik bo'lmasin,

are just as much a part of human nature as cruelty and violence,

ehtimol undan ham ko’proq odamiylik va

maybe even more so,

altruizm ildizlari mujassam

and while some people do seem to be inherently more sensitive

Ba’zilar o'zgalar iztiroblariga ko’proq

to the suffering of distant others,

qayg'uruvchi tabiiy qobiliyati bo'lsa-da,

I really believe that the ability to remove oneself

Markazidan o'z "men"ini chetlatish

from the center of the circle

va hatto begonalarni kiritgan

and expand the circle of compassion outward to include even strangers

odamiylik doirasini kengaytirishga

is within reach for almost everyone.

hammaning qurbi yetishiga ishonaman.

Thank you.

Rahmat.

(Applause)

(Qarsaklar)