Earthquake Altruism Part of Human Nature
I found Paul Dean’s report on the outbreak of altruism in Los Angeles after the earthquake to be of great interest (“For Now, At Least, L.A. is the Epicenter of Good Deeds,” Feb. 1).
Actually, “random acts of senseless kindness” are basic to the very existence of society and always have been in humans and many other species. Such conduct is visible in chimpanzees and other primates, as described by Frans De Waals in his 1989 book, “Peacemaking Among the Primates.”
When a community such as Los Angeles becomes fragmented into separate sub-communities, it can still be held together by arrangements between the power brokers for the various factions. When these leaders cannot maintain such accommodation, law and order will break down and widespread rioting and looting results, as we have seen.
Post-earthquake Los Angeles is behaving as a community because there was no disruption of the ongoing process of accommodation between the leaderships of our urban coalition.
LARRY SELK
Los Angeles
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