Salon.com > Alan Honick http://www.salon.com Sat, 25 May 2013 18:22:58 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Are we born with a sense of fairness? http://www.salon.com/2012/12/26/are_we_born_with_a_sense_of_fairness/ http://www.salon.com/2012/12/26/are_we_born_with_a_sense_of_fairness/#comments Wed, 26 Dec 2012 16:03:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=13154830 Pacific Standard Evolutionary biologist Gordon Orians and I are working on a project to investigate the origins and evolution of the human sense of fairness, and the role it plays in modern social, economic, and political institutions. I recently gave a talk on the subject.

To begin the talk, I asked the audience members to recollect their first encounter with the concept of fairness. I had formed a fledgling hypothesis, and wanted to put it to the test.

As people raised their hands, I called on them to share their memories. A pattern quickly emerged:

  • “I had to take the rap for something my sister actually did!”
  • “My parents gave my brother a puppy, and I’m the one who loved dogs. He didn’t even like them.”
  • “I came from a family with nine siblings, and we had to fight each other for food.”
  • “I was an only child, and I really wanted a brother – all my friends had brothers.”
  • “I was foreign, and different, and all the other kids singled me out to pick on.”

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