Balance between Generosity and Greed

Many of us often wonder what makes people greedy.  When we have the opportunity to be generous we usually feel so much better.  Why is that we often witness greed to the point of being inconsiderate of other people's hardships?
I grew up in a family where generosity was of highly important value.  Here is my favorite story from my mother's childhood in Mashhad.  They were six kids living in a small house.  My mother got up one night and saw that her mom was sitting at the sewing machine and making clothes.  She asked her why she is staying up and working so late.  Her answer was:  We are not rich enough to give money to the poor.  What I can do for them is make clothes for their children.
This is the way I was brought up:  Being generous toward the more unfortunate people.  It is a basic value of our common humanity.
My education and research career has taught me that all humans (all living things in fact) are made of the same basic molecules, same genetic material.  We survive using the same biochemical pathways.  Research continuously shows us the complex processes in fine balance in our bodies.  In the past decade great advances have been made in brain research, mapping areas of the brain active in various activities.  These brain studies together with psychological experiments slowly begin to reveal the reasons for our behavior.

One study had this conclusion: “Greed, Not Generosity, More Likely to Be ‘Paid Forward’”

Look up: http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2012/12/greed-generosity.aspx

Here is a description of one experiment:

In one experiment, researchers recruited 100 people from subway stations and tourist areas in Cambridge, Mass., to play an economic game. They told participants that someone had split $6 with them and then gave them an envelope that contained the entire $6 for a generous split, $3 for an equal split, or nothing for a greedy split. The participants then received an additional $6 that they could split in another envelope with a future recipient, essentially paying it forward.

Receiving a generous split didn’t prompt any greater generosity than receiving equal treatment, but people who received nothing in the first envelope were more likely to put little or nothing in the second envelope, depriving future recipients because of the greed they had experienced. The average amount paid forward by participants who received a greedy split was $1.32, well below an equal split of $3.

The results confirmed the researchers’ hypothesis that greed would prevail because negative stimuli have more powerful effects on thoughts and actions than positive stimuli. Focusing on the negative may cause unhappiness, but it makes sense as an evolutionary survival skill. “If there is a tiger nearby, you really have to take notice or you’ll get eaten,” he said. “If there is a beautiful sunset or delicious food, it’s not a life-or-death situation.”

A simple story I heard from a kinder garden teacher describing 3-4 years old kids.  They are given some toys or some food.  The kids instinctive reaction is to check how exactly the toys were distributed; they have to make sure no one got any more than they did.  They would bitterly complain if someone got one millimeter extra! 

As much as we think that we have modern advanced societies, the basic values of compassion and humanity still need to be taught.  Humans are still being born with strong “Fight or Flight” instincts.  The hope is that with continuous education we will reform future generations to the point where the gene pool will progress away from these survival instincts.  This is the process of achieving the fine balance.

The regions in the brain that light up when we are curious: 

Balance of Abundance and Scarcity

I'd like to point out that in our modern world there is potential for abundance in almost every imaginable resource.  Clear examples that come to mind are the abundance of energy from the sun and the abundance of water in our planet.
Most of all there is abundance of new ideas coming up every day with the help of our collective intelligence and imagination.
The idea of scarcity came about from our history of hunting and gathering, the time where we did not have the tools and the technology we have today.  There was no agriculture or print or highly developed industries.  Our survival instincts caused us to believe the scarcity is detrimental.
It is often and common that we hear about water shortages or an energy crisis.  We easily get into a conflict mode and debate as to how to resolve these shortages.
The current drought in California is considered the worst in over a hundred years.  Studies of tree rings show this drought is worst in over 1200 years.
Please check my March 29 post on Israel and water.  This is what Booky Oren pointed out:  There is all the snow on the mountains.  There are floods.  There is the ocean water that can be desalinated.  It is possible for humans to use their ingenuity and imagination to create a water delivery system that is efficient and equitable for all.
In the past century we have been utilizing coal mines, fossil fuel and atomic power plants to create energy.  Each of these methods caused multiple problems in our planet.  The time is here when we are ready to utilize the abundant energy from our sun.  Solar panels are getting improved every day and there is the vision and technology to harness this energy in batteries.
The concern about scarcity follows us throughout our lives.  If some people are very rich we feel that they take all there is and leave nothing for us.  But the idea of abundance is the idea that there is always plenty for all and as people have more opportunities they also create more abundance. 
Watch this video on Tesla Energy by Elon Musk:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvCIhn7_FXI&feature=youtu.be

Wind Farm in Germany:

Tesla battery for the home:

Balance of Power and Ideas

We always hear about the power balance between the two super powers US and Russia.  In the future China maybe one of the superpowers. Each superpower needs to keep as many allies and areas of influence as it can.  Who is first at the arms race?  Who is best at space exploration?  It is a fine balance.
These superpowers have their blocks of supporters in the United Nations.  Many of our world's conflicts are fought over in this organization.  One of the conflicts we hear about most is the Israeli Arab conflict.
To try and understand this conflict I have started with the Jewish history highlights.  (one of my earlier posts.)  The Jews call this country their home as they have no other home.
Let's check the balance here:  There are 20 million Jews in the world.  The number of Muslims is close to a billion.  That is a thousand million!  The number of Muslims keep growing.  Out of these 400 million are Arabs.
This map shows the areas where Arabs and Jews live:




The Jews represent the idea of one god but they also have the story of exile and persecution.  This idea of one god was further evolved by Christianity and Islam.  There were many cases where Jews were converted to Christians or to Muslims.
Jews like those in my family who migrated to Mashhad refused to convert.  For them being Jewish in unchangeable.
The balance of these two ideas is that the Muslim world is unable to accept an independent Jewish state.  The conflict is going on for 67 years and there are still refugees from the 1948 war.
There are certainly Israeli Jews that are extremely radical.  They settle in the west bank and the government supports them despite Israelis public opinion.  But have a look if these Jewish radicals are in any balance with Muslim radicals around the world.  There are certainly friendly Arab nations and enlightened Muslims.  But all I hear is constant bashing of Israel.  Demonizing Israel to the point of sanctions and boycott of Israeli academic institutions.
And there is Iran with its own history of glory and defeat.  Iran is the country where my family came from.  These people who are considerate and polite, people who speak Farsi and love it.  Iran joins this Israel bashing full force.  "Death to Israel" is declared in every speech and written on signs in every mosque.  One US senator came up with the point that Iran should recognize Israel as a Jewish state in order to end the sanctions against it.  This simple point is considered a "poison pill."  My question is why?  Why is it so impossible for them to accept a small state representing such a small part of the earth's population?
When are we going to reach a balance here?