Altruism Vs Humanism

Darwin, a famous scientist, once argued that “altruism is an essential part of the social instincts” (Altruism). In Darwin’s opinion, altruism is synonymous with sympathy or benevolence; however, recent neuroscience studies show that when humans behave altruistically, their brains are trained to crave pleasure and reward. During the seventeenth century, the Puritans believed that the world was a corrupt place and that all humans were sinners who had a predestined eternity that they could attempt to achieve through the Protestant work ethic. On the contrary, those influenced more by logic and reason, like Humanists Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, believed that all people were good and that doing good was the best way to serve God. In most instances, people do good only because the fear the consequences of not doing good; however, some individuals, like the Humanists, do good because they want to make the world a better place.
Although the Puritans may have had good intentions, the main purpose of their acts was only to be rewarded with Heaven at the end of their lives. Like Humanists, Puritans worked diligently; however, they felt that they would not be rewarded by the wrathful God that if He “should let you go, you would immediately sink and swiftly descend and plunge into the bottomless gulf, and your healthy constitution, and your own care and prudence, and best contrivance, and all your righteousness, would

On the other hand, Humanism is becoming scarcer as the world’s population continues to grow. Instead of teaching members of our daunting world “to not let their left hands know what their right hands are doing”, our world encourages people to desire earthly and heavenly rewards. Ultimately, our world floods with people who are drawn to the Puritanical beliefs that will eventually destroy them, instead of the Humanist beliefs that will likely reconstruct