There's a book that breaks people down and it's called "The Selfish Gene."
The book says that we are all just genetic machines, driven by genes, all for the sake of reproduction.
All altruistic actions can be interpreted as selfish.
For example, parents raising children is an altruistic behavior, but its essence is still for the replication of genes, which is selfish.
If parents do not raise their children, the children cannot reach adulthood, and the genes will become extinct.
So it's the genes that drive parents to raise their children.
Even if parents sacrifice their lives to save their children in danger, this behavior is still considered selfish.
Because the parents have completed the replication of the genes and have handed over the baton, in order to reproduce better, the children should be allowed to live.
If parents do not protect their children in danger, children cannot survive and genes cannot be continued.
Although the parents can continue to reproduce after they survive, he does not care about the life or death of the child, and even if he continues to reproduce, the offspring will not be able to reach adulthood, and the genes will still be extinct.
So genes drive parents to protect their children.
All love, affection, sacrifice, and dedication are just the drive of genes, for the sake of reproduction.
Making the world so cold is actually not the author's intention.
He said genes have always helped us stay alive.
It is the environment that selects genes.
We assume that if there is a charity, all children can be raised unconditionally to adulthood.
Then the genes that are unwilling to take care of the child will multiply like crazy.
Because they don't take care of their children, they will have more energy to reproduce, and their children will also carry, and if they don't take care of their children's genes, they can reproduce more and thus occupy the world.
In such a world, people without parents will be in the majority, and there may not be the word "affection".
Therefore, a gene can only be replicated if it is beneficial for an individual to live and reproduce.
It is true that each of us is driven by genes, but these genes can be inherited because they helped our ancestors to live.
The book is also known as "The Immortal Gene".
Perhaps genes use us as carriers for replication and reproduction, but it is precisely because of this that we can live.
Because we are alive, we have civilization.
Anything can be as immortal as genes, and that is civilization.