Dawking, Genes and Bees
Hello Kind People,
It’s been a slightly longer break but it has given me food for thought on this journey as TGP completes two months in action. And in these mere few weeks, I have been travelling through the terrains of evolution, science, psychology and history. It’s been amazing period filled of insights and exploration into this journey of kindness.
Our Kind Find for this edition :
Did you know that bees are a key part of our ecosystem and help pollinate food crops. One third of the food that we consume each day relies on pollination by bees.
They support the growth of trees, flowers, and other plants, which serve as food and shelter for creatures large and small. Bees contribute to complex, interconnected ecosystems that allow a diverse number of different species to coexist.
They are in decline on a global scale as they face many threats, from habitat loss to the use of toxic pesticides, climate change.
In order to save the bees, all of us have to do our bit but this piece of news caught my attention.
KIND is one of my favorite brands when it comes to sustainability and actually living up to the brand name of kind.It is the First Snack Company to Commit to Exclusively Source Almonds From Bee-Friendly Farms by 2025.
What does that mean for the bees ?
It will help improve the bee ecosystem since the farms will have to stop using pesticides to supply for KIND. As a baseline, it is expecting its almond suppliers to reserve 3-5% of their farmland for dedicated pollinator habitat to support bees, butterflies and other pollinators. In addition, KIND has worked with its suppliers to eliminate any use of neonicotinoids and chlorpyrifos, two pesticide treatments that are thought to be harmful to pollinators.
We hope this is the start of many brands who will move to more sustainable practices which are more kind to our planet and environment.
What can we do to save the bees ?
If you have a garden or green spaces, avoid synthetic products. Instead, use organic products and natural aids such as compost to improve soil health and adding beneficial insects that keep pests away like ladybugs and praying mantises. Support organic farmers and produce.
Food for Thought :
As I foray into the science and history behind kindness, I found this interesting piece of information that hopefully stirs up some soul searching in you as well.
Richard Dawking built upon the selfish gene theory based on George William’s book, “Adaptation and Natural Selection”. In simple terms, altruism is not based upon relative group but occurs more at a gene level. Dawking went on to study this further and put forward the selfish gene theory. His theory was that the more two individuals are genetically related, the more sense (at the level of the genes) it makes for them to behave selflessly with each other.
In my personal view, the biases probably determine our altruistic inclinations and that is a discussion for another day.
But there are lot of disagreements with the selfish gene theory. Charles Darwin in his book The Descent of Man highlights the role of sympathy in evolution :
“With mankind, selfishness, experience, and imitation, probably add .... to the power of sympathy; for we are led by the hope of receiving good in return to perform acts of sympathetic kindness to others; and sympathy is much strengthened by habit. In however complex a manner this feeling may have originated, as it is one of high importance to all those animals which aid and defend one another, it will have been increased through natural selection; for those communities, which included the greatest number of the most sympathetic members, would flourish best, and rear the greatest number of offspring.”
But if that is the case why do we live in a world that is unequal and the divide of class and wealth still exists.
This reminds me of a story from my childhood. House helps are a common feature in India. They are mostly women who help with cooking and housekeeping in a family where most of the members are working. We also had a house help whom I called as Amma. She was a part of my growing up years and had a daughter who was few years older than me. Come the annual festival of harvest, she would ensure that she got me a little gift each year. I would go to her place and gorge on a buffet of delicious sweets and food. I would celebrate the festival at her place.
This was a long time back and her salary might have been a meagre few hundred rupees as we were not rich by any means. As a child, I did not realise the economics of money. But today I do and am overwhelmed by her warmth and care. Why did she do what she did? Why did she spend that few rupees on me?
My mother and father were the epitome generosity despite our own conditions. Why did they walk the extra mile ? They could had the life of their dreams had they chosen to ignore people who needed support. Well, I am glad that they did what they did and I wouldn’t want it to be any other way. I have seen a host of wealthy people who hardly helped others despite their ability to do so. Do they have the selfish gene in that case?
This alludes to a study conducted by Berkeley university which found statistics around the fact that rich are more unlikely to help and probably a decent percentage suffer from the compassion deficit. It has been found that people from the lower income levels are more generous than the rich.
So does the vagus nerve which plays a key role in compassion not work for them ? I would be like to be optimistic and believe the capacity to be kind exists in all of us but how we respond and grow up are a product of the influences and environment around us. What do you think of this ? Do share your thoughts.
Reflection for the week :
“Because that’s what kindness is. It’s not doing something for someone else because they can’t, but because you can
.”
–
Andrew Iskander
In other news :
We have 7 episodes of the The Gentle Project Podcast up and running. Each episode is a wonderful view into perspectives around human potential and kindness. Please do tune in and subscribe to the the podcast.
Our top read article was the link between Atithi Devo Bhava and Greece. Curious ? Read it here.
Here are some photos from my recent adventure to Arundel :
As you would have noticed that I love spending time in nature and believe that my alter ego resides in a tree :). Would love to know what is that calms you and makes you feel at home, send me a note at kindnessisuper@gmail.com
Please share your thoughts with us and do visit our website. See you with more stories and views. Do share and subscribe to our newsletter :)
Stay Safe, Stay Kind.