wex@ittvax.UUCP (Alan Wexelblat) (08/11/83)
Bill price has put forth the view that altruism is based on a "zero-sum" game. This is simply not demostrable. I can just as easily say that altruism is based on the assumption that the only way OUT of the zero-sum loop is to help others, because in doing so, you create something more than you had before (eg good will on the part of the recipient, and moral satisfaction on the part of the giver), and that this something more is desirable. I should like to see some evidence that altruism is necessarily a no-win situation. --Alan Wexelblat decvax!ittvax!wex