books

For the Sake of Another

Ashley Karllin Los Angeles Review of Books
Is contemporary altruism the new activism? Or is it what writer Teju Cole once called an iteration of a "White Savior Industrial Complex"? Ashley Karlin takes up these complicated questions in this review of Altruism: The Power of Compassion to Change Yourself and the World, by scientist-turned-Buddhist philosopher Matthieu Ricard. The answers, she suggests, may have as much to do with questions of power as with the desire to do good.

One for All, and All for Hunt

Natalie Angier New York Times
The dogs are “true altruists,” essentially willing to shorten their lives for the sake of the hive, They’re even further along the line of evolving into the mammalian equivalent of honeybees than we thought.
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