Altruism of humans towards species may have helped them thrive, suggests study

From the early years of life, humans have been carrying the urge to extend their hands to animals, as per the researchers who observed the interaction between toddlers and friendly dogs.

Children, who were as two years old only, took extra effort to help dogs get tasty treats and toys which were kept beyond their reach, even though they had never met the dogs before, scientists observed.

The research emphasises that the desires of dogs can be understood by the toddlers and they are willing and have to ability to extend their help to the dogs, even though there is very less chance that the dogs would return the favour.

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“It’s really special to see how early this begins,” stated Dr Rachna Reddy, who is the study's first author and an evolutionary anthropologist and holds posts at both Duke University and Harvard University.

“From early in our development we have tendencies to behave prosocially towards other people, to try to understand what’s going on in their minds,” she stated. She added that as per the latest study even toddlers “have the motivation and the ability to extend this kind of helping behaviour to other animals”.

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The researchers stated that humans may have been able to thrive in the world because of their friendly approach towards other species, which is visible even in children who are very young and learning to talk and walk.

“Animal domestication was really advantageous to human survival. It really enabled us to live and thrive, there’s a huge evolutionary benefit. Why we came to domesticate animals is a big mystery, and this is one piece of evidence that might help us to understand that mystery,” Reddy said.

(With inputs from agencies)

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