this post was submitted on 03 May 2025
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If you really boil it down, all that any species ever does is in some way an attempt to propagate its genes. We aren't any different either. The artistic spark that got Davinci to paint the Mona Lisa was there due to such behaviour being an evolutionarily beneficial trait (being good at art increases the social standing of a person and thus increases their chances of reproduction). I don't want to sound cynical about this because I'm not. That's just life. It really doesn't matter. The painting is still beautiful.
I don't try to propagate my genes Β―β \β _β (β γβ )β _β /β Β―
Perhaps not with conscious intent. I suppose even staying alive and contributing to a society still means that you help your relatives pass their genes on. Even gay penguins do this when they adopt an orphaned egg.
I don't even live near any of my relatives, and anyone I would help would be about as related to me as any other human (so, not related). Perhaps in another time period I would've helped my tribe, but that is not the society I live in today.
Not that it really matters here, because I have no obligation to help genes.
Every other human around you has almost the same genes as you. Just being kind to others is already a tiny contribution to the survival of the species and the genes we share. Pretty sure one would have to be actively suicidial or a Bond villain in order to not to help the genes that survive on with every breath anybody ever takes.