One legacy of the overwhelming Left-liberal bias in academia, especially in the social sciences, is the avoidance and rejection of hypotheses that have the potential to damage the politically held beliefs of the Left. A sort of secular taboo exists against studies and findings which undermine concepts like altruism and egalitarianism and which suggest any significant genetic differences between cultures, races, genders, or which document genetic predisposition toward behaviors that aren’t politically correct like aggression or violence.
Democrats outnumber Republicans in Sociology and Anthropology by more than 25 to 1.
From Gene Expression, data: Dan Klein
The academic sanctity of altruism is so intense that there is no named mental disorder for its excess listed in either the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders or the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems publications. So how is it that the “Bible of Psychiatry” could lack such a condition? Perhaps because Psychiatry has always had a strong pseudo-scientific bent influenced heavily by pop-culture and politics: the politics of the Left.
There are numerous qualities and traits that are deemed good, moral, and even essential to normative life that are nevertheless evidence of a personality disorder when exhibited in excess. Drinking water, eating food, and exercise are biological necessities but polydipsia is considered clinical evidence of mental illnesses like schizophrenia when its cause is psychogenic versus biogenic. Excessive eating is classified as Binge Eating Disorder. Compulsive exercise is associated with several body perception disorders. Lack of emotions is captured in psychopathy and antisocial personality disorder and excessive emotionality is a sign of histrionic personality disorder. There’s even a name for something as specific as collecting books in excess: bibliomania. Heck, in the brand new DSM-5, they’ve even added a mental disorder for drinking excess amounts of coffee! Caffine Intoxication.
There’s no such designation for excess altruism despite there being roughly 300 disorders in the DSM.
The closest is “self-defeating personality disorder” which lists “engages in excessive self-sacrifice that is unsolicited by the intended recipients of the sacrifice” as one of its indications. This disorder, however, was not formally included in the body of the DSM and was merely a proposal in the appendix of the third edition that was included only to be rejected–a sort peremptory dismissal–and has failed to appear in all subsequent editions. Sure we considered the possibility that it exists, but it doesn’t because we say so.
Of note, two scientists who were working on proposed revisions for the newly released DSM-5 have quit the project over concerns for the lack of objectivityand failure to focus on evidence:
the [DSM-V] proposal displays a truly stunning disregard for evidence. Important aspects of the proposal lack any reasonable evidential support of reliability and validity. For example, there is little evidence to justify which disorders to retain and which to eliminate. Even more concerning is the fact that a major component of proposal is inconsistent with extensive evidence.
In my attempt to discern if anyone other than Rand has considered altruism to be a vice instead of a universal virture I queried google with terms like “excessive altruism” and “compulsive self-sacrifice” before arriving at “pathological altruism” which proved to be the most forthcoming.
Given such infertile conditions for evidence-based science and hostility to politically incorrect or unpopular theories through conformity and group-think, it’s not surprising that challenges to the historical paradigms and their icons (such as Freud) are slow in coming and are most likely going to feature minds who are skeptical of Left-liberal doctrine. So can altruism be a vice? Ayn Rand certainly believed so on a philosophical level, and so does a new book that not only coins the term “Pathological Altruism,” but investigates the harms it can bring.
Give us the layman’s explanation of “pathological altruism.” What is it?
Pathological altruism is an evolutionary oxymoron. What do I mean by this? Altruism is underpinned by traits and behaviors, such as empathy, that evolved to help us humans function smoothly together. But altruism has an oxymoronic flip side—sometimes our well-meaning attempts to help others can make matters worse. As Pathological Altruism reveals, this can happen far more often than you might think.
Do you have a story or a case study that illustrates how altruism can be harmful?
The same parent who might run into a burning house to save her child can be the parent who “helicopters” in to a university and threatens a lawsuit because her darling son received a well-deserved D on his report card. Altruism can be beneficial at every level of society—a brother’s love, a neighbor willing to lend a helping hand, a philanthropist’s endowment. But in the same way, pathologies of altruism can be harmful in many ways, at many levels. The Germans followed Hitler not because they believed he was evil, but because they believed that by following him, they were doing something good. My most recent book, Cold-Blooded Kindness (Prometheus), uses a true crime story as a literary vehicle for exploring how our own feelings of empathy and caring for others can be used as a manipulative tool. This is a critical concept. It can be deeply empowering to learn that sometimes it’s normal and healthy to turn off our feelings of empathy—that handling our feelings for others in a responsible fashion can allow us, and those we love, to live healthier, happier lives.
To which disorders can selflessness gone awry contribute?
It’s important to realize that selflessness gone awry is not necessarily affiliated with any diagnosable disorder. In fact, because of society’s emphasis on the benefits of altruism, empathy, and caring for others, the problems affiliated with these seemingly beneficial traits have been largely ignored by science. Pathological altruism is associated with disorders and conditions such as anorexia, the amorphous traits of codependency, animal hoarding, depression, excessive and misplaced guilt, and self-righteousness. It is also seen in suicide bombing—the one common trait of suicide bombers is their sense of altruism for those who share their ideology. Pathologies of altruism can even underlie genocide. A Rwandan Hutu, for example, didn’t wake up in the morning and think “Gee, I’m feeling totally evil today—I’m going to go out and kill Tutsis.” No—instead, he thought—“I’ve got to protect my family and people against those cockroaches, the Tutsis.” In other words, it was feelings of altruism, as well as hatred, that impelled many Hutus to kill.
What factors/conditions in an individual’s personality most contribute to altruism becoming warped?
The road to pathologies of altruism can take a number of different paths. Warped altruism can arise from excessive feelings of empathy and caring for others—some people are simply naturally hypersensitive. Or it can arise from self-righteous, inflexible feelings of certitude—we may jump to conclusions and be absolutely convinced that we are helping others, and be unable to look pragmatically at the results of our “help.” Our sense of kindness, in other words, can sometimes blind us, allowing us to be manipulated, or simply to make faulty knee-jerk decisions that ultimately worsen the very situation they were meant to solve. This is a powerful and important idea—one that is vital for us to understand if we truly mean to help others.
So what does this all have to do with dogs? Well, I contend that pathological altruism plays a significant role in the dysfunctions preset in the shelter and rescue community in dogs and is a major source of friction between those groups and breeders. More on that later.
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I am really looking forward to the follow up on this!
Long before I got to your last paragraph, I though “Hmm…sounds like the majority of the rescue community”.
Enter DEUCY!!! The marvelous two-headed kitten. Huffington post says most such cats don’t live long, but those caring for him say his prospects are good for a long life!!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/12/two-faced-kitten-deucy_n_3428292.html?animals
Oy!
I guess this is just a hair better than the days where the cat would be kept alive in shitty quarters, just to make someone money in a freak show. But either way, there’s some level of morbid fascination involved. You don’t have to travel to see Deucy at a carnival. Deucy is being passed all over the internet, and associated videos of other “freak” animals pop up alongside him.
This is kindness?
I think they should just put the poor thing down. His own momma rejected him for a reason.
“Pathological Altruism” is one of the main branches of the tree of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. It’s had a name all along. Rescuing when one can responsibly do so probably isn’t so bad, but add a dash of fiscal irresponsibility, child neglect, hoarding, addiction, enabling, outright self sabotage or the psychotic need to control others and you are suddenly in LA-LA land.
Just ask me what you want to know, my mother fit all of the above and there were times we went without to feed 35 cats, 20 dogs or God knows what else that made it to “Noah’s” door.
I was the “cold” and unfeeling one. Facts be damned.
Reading up on OCD and I’m not seeing pathological altruism coming to the front. Maybe it’s there in more focused writings than the sort of broad-brush strokes you’ll find on the internet, but you’d think that it would merit its own designation, no? I mean, if Caffine Intoxication is specific enough to get a subject heading, you’d think a pathology based upon excessive self sacrifice would merit an analysis all its own.
I’ve seen it claimed as well that it’s a form of co-dependency, but again, like OCD, I don’t think the main thrust of the definition fits well.
Obsessive-Compulsive as a personality disorder is a separate condition from OCD as we think of it (hand washing, checking for fires, hoarding).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obsessive-compulsive_personality_disorder
vs
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obsessive%E2%80%93compulsive_disorder
Thanks for the links. I still don’t see pathological altruism being listed in the diagnostic.
it isn’t- I was just pointing out that there are 2 forms of OCD and altruism, even if it’s not explicitly spelled out, fits one diagnosis better than the other. *
Maybe it’s a form of Munchausen’s.
There was actually a Law and Order: Criminal Intent starring Stephen Colbert (before he had his own show) that essentially dealt with pathological altruism, although it wasn’t called that. The episode I am thinking of was called “The Saint” and premiered in 2004. It deals with an expert forger. The main reason he became a forger was that when he was a child, his mother continually sold his belongings (and her own) and drained their bank accounts to give money to the church.
If you research Munchausens (and various forms of autism spectrum disorder as well) you will find them missing from the latest DSM (DSM-5), so perhaps it’s not that we lack a name for some of these behaviors, but that the diagnostic manual that is supposed to list and define these problems is seriously lacking. IE: Munchausen’s is not listed as such. It is now called factitious disorder, which may fit many of these rescue people.
It may well be that it is political as defined by Christopher, but if it were I would think the elimination of some forms of autism spectrum disorder, for example, would be included.
I alluded to Münchausen Syndrome by Proxy in this post:
http://www.border-wars.com/2012/06/munchausen-by-harley.html
And obviously I think it is at work in some form in this same community as well. I’d make a distinction though that there are cases of pathological altruism that are not MSbP and are different enough to warrant a distinction.
There’s a lot of common fodder here though, like White Knight Syndrome and Savior Complex (which are, of course, informal terms not official terms).
It seems Chris makes a valid point that the differences seem to demand a distinction. Compulsive behavior and Pathological altruism seems to be associated with disorders and conditions such as anorexia, the amorphous traits of codependency, animal hoarding, depression, excessive and misplaced guilt, and self-righteousness.
> avoidance and rejection of hypotheses that have the potential to damage politically held beliefs.
The same personality disorders can be seen in suicide bombing—the one common trait of suicide bombers is their sense of altruism for those who share their ideology. Pathologies of altruism can even underlie genocide.
The road to pathologies of altruism can take a number of different paths to the best of my comprehension and experience in the Dog World. Warped altruism can arise from excessive feelings of empathy and caring for others—some people are simply naturally hypersensitive.
Or it can arise from self-righteous, inflexible feelings of certitude. Sadly, it seems may jump to conclusions and be absolutely convinced that they are helping others, and be unable to look pragmatically at the results of our “help.”
Our sense of kindness, in other words, can sometimes blind us, allowing us to be manipulated, or simply to make faulty knee-jerk decisions that ultimately worsen the very situation they were meant to solve. This is a powerful and important idea—one that is vital for us to understand and remain objective. Looking forward to avenues you explore.
As someone with Left-liberal background I protest
1. Altruism can be traced to the Sermon on the Mount, if not before, and it’s advocy shows up in most, if not all, major religions. Some right wingers equate it to socialism. B.S. it’s much older.
2. Pathological altruism has more to do with self-righteousness than it has to do with altruism. (“It is easier to save 10000 sinners than it is to save one righteous man”…if I remember the Bible quote). Animal hoarding can as easily be interpreted as a form of greed as a form of altruism. Really, it’s neither. It’s compulsive and delusional.
3. Goody-goody rescue types are a PITA. They have nothing to do with the great American tradition of philanthropy….or many psychologically sound forms of altruism. As an advocate of plain speech, I’d prefer to call them goody-goody sickos than pathological altruists.
The topic raised by Chris on the social sciences specifically Psychological Altruism and Egalitarianism :”Left-liberal bias in academia, especially in the social sciences, is the avoidance and rejection of hypotheses that have the potential to damage the politically held beliefs of the left. ” I believe is a worthy reexamination of issues facing the Dog Fancy today and a hypotheses well worth the efforts in discussion.
Pathological altruism is an evolutionary oxymoron. What do I mean by this? Altruism foundations are supported by traits and behaviors, such as empathy, that evolved to help us humans function smoothly together.
Altruism has an oxymoronic reverse side where sometimes our well-meaning attempts to help others can make matters worse. As Pathological Altruism reveals, this can happens far more often than you think in the world of individuals with an inability to jump outside the box of current established political and social mores of the dog world. Unconscionable and unrelenting retaliation counterpart of a fact or trait of a malignant narcissist social ideology group behavior.
I see terms such as Double Dilute/ White Merle as being popularized in vernacular speech and is a manner of controlled chaos, open secret, organized mess, alone in a crowd, that superficially contradictory are juxtaposed in such as way no one is aware of the contradiction. Writers for generations have used oxymora as paradoxes to call attention to contradiction.
There has been many debates as to whether “true” altruism is possible. The theory of Psychological Egoism suggests that no act of sharing, helping or sacrificing can be described as truly altruistic, as the individual may receive an intrinsic reward in the form of personal gratification.. The validity of this argument depends on whether intrinsic rewards qualify as “benefits.”
The term altruism may also refer to an ethical doctrine that claims that individuals are morally obliged to benefit others. Used in this sense, it’s usually contradictory to egoism, which is defined as acting to the benefit of one’s self.
Please restate in plain English. “Unconscionable and unrelenting retaliation counterpart of a fact or trait of a malignant narcissist social ideology group behavior.”
Huh? I’d recommend George Orwell’s essay, “The politics of the English Language” circa 1948.
Sorry, Chris rose this topic to a very high academic level in my opinion of ‘critical thinking” and is quite refreshing in today’s society of lack of problem solvers. You might wish to review the entire statement: Altruism has an oxymoronic reverse side where sometimes our well-meaning attempts to help others can make matters worse….”
Now oxymoron statements have been used in great literature for decades to point out the contradictions. Such as spay and neutering young puppies before their growth plates have closed.
There are two types of animal hoarders.
One where they start of with just one litter or a hand full of animals,don’t neuter or separate them and end up with a house full in a couple of years. These kind of people are often severely depressed and are apathetic of whatever happens around them.
Then the rescue hoarders that will try to “rescue” any animal they see on the streets,shelters and even steal animals from homes they see as unfit. Something unfit could be as simple as keeping the dog outside during the day.
These people are not only delusional but very much self righteous. Their home is really not any better then where they got the animals from, but in their minds it is.
Altruism can go one on one with delusional thinking.
Chris like you reading up on OCD The frequent upsetting thoughts are called obsessions. To try to control them, a person will feel an overwhelming urge to repeat certain rituals or behaviors called compulsions. People with OCD can’t control these obsessions and compulsions. Most of the time, the rituals end up controlling them.
We look at do-gooders as a special sort of breed; people who possess extraordinary traits of altruism, or self-less concern for the well-being of others, even at the expense of their own existence. It seems I and others now consider this an addiction to being good.
http://www.science20.com/rogue_neuron/addicted_being_good_psychopathology_heroism-60137
“As crazy as it sounds, there may be a closer link than most people would think between the extreme-altruistic personality and sociopathic personality. Would it shock you to know that two people, one with the traits of extreme-altruism (X-altruism) and the other the traits of a sociopath, could be related? Even siblings? And that their personality traits are very similar, with only a few features to distinguish them? Research by Watson, Clark, and Chmielewki from the University of Iowa, “Structures of Personality and Their Relevance to Psychopathology”, present a convincing argument in which they support the growing push for a trait dimensional scheme in the new DSM- V to replace the current categorical system. “
Altruism and excessive altruism have been mostly the concern of philosophy and psychology rather than sociology and anthropology, although possibly evolutionary anthropology might include altruism as a specific topic of study. It is widely recognised that there is more than one kind of altruism and the relationship of altruism to in-groups (where it applies) and out-groups (where it most often doesn’t). Behaving altruistically, although ultimately to further one’s own interests, reciprocal altruism, is far better than disinterested altruism, which is the ultimate in self sacrifice eg suicide bombers. Not sure you can just put ‘warped’ in front of altruism and create a new kind of category, it isn’t useful if it isn’t used by more than one person. I prefer to go with empathy and empathy is definitely not always good. It is most often not objective, responding to all manner of ‘gut feelings’, reason would be a far better guide to behaviour. Hoarders fall into the category of people who find it hard to get rid of anything, it could be bags of rubbish, piles of old newspapers etc, nothing to do with altruism or empathy.