30: The Fear Factor with Abigail Marsh
Circle of Willis
00:00
The Paradox of Altruism
The paradox of altruism is that people who do things like donate kidneys are very sensitive to other people's fear. This seems to result from strong amygdala responses to others' fear, which is probably some reflection of their own capacity for fear. So what they're doing, it's not that they're fearless, it's that they're brave. They're overriding their fear response to help somebody else. And you can still simulate that state, but it shifts away from defensive behavior toward protective behavior.
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