（akasode）
When I was in Japan, I once picked up a book when I was in a bank number. This book is a picture book for children. A little bear was carrying a basket of acorns, and he was tired of walking, and happened to see a chair with dozo written on the back of the chair, so he sat down on the chair to rest for a while, and fell asleep unconsciously. Then a little rabbit came, and the little rabbit was very hungry, and when he saw the acorn and the dozo, he began to eat. After eating, it thought, "Ah, I ate this acorn, what should I do with the next one?"So he went and picked a lot of grapes, put them in the basket, and went away happily. Then a puppy came, and the puppy ate the grapes, and when he had eaten them, he went to pick mushrooms and put them in the basket. Children's stories, this kind of cycle is a bit too much, and the last one seems to be a baby elephant, which picks chestnuts and puts them in a basket. Then the bear woke up, and he was surprised: Huh?My acorns have turned into chestnuts!Then happily walked away.
I think it's remarkable that the Japanese have planted the concept of "thinking about the next person" in children's education. It is a kind of kindness for the sake of others, and the result of doing good is that the good will eventually come back to you, even if it is a long time later. This notion is actually egoistic as well.
When I first came to Japan, I was puzzled by the words on the walls of the toilets that read "Please keep it clean for the next user." In this regard, I still retain the consciousness of a small farmer: what can I do for someone who knows the villagers well, but who knows who will use the toilet next, why should I do anything for him?
Later I figured out that when I went to the toilet, I was the next person from the previous person, and she kept it clean for me and I was comfortable when I used it. So, this "for the next" will benefit me in the end.
What makes me feel very rare is that all the public toilets I have seen in Japan are clean, which means that all the people have such a sense of awareness. This should have a lot to do with childhood education. If children are planted with a vicious sense that "the whole world owes me" at an early age, it will be difficult to build such a harmonious society.
I remembered this because I just watched a cognitive science experiment. The experiment begins with the cooperation of orangutans: the orangutan is kept in a cage with a plate with two bananas in it. But the plate is a bit far away, and the orangutans can't eat bananas. The two ends of the plate are connected to the rope, and only one end of the rope will fall off, and because of the limitation of the cage, an orangutan can only pull one end of the rope, so it puts a partner in and cooperates in pulling the rope. In this way, the plate is pulled closer and the bananas can be served. But the rule in the orangutan world is that two bananas go to the stronger orangutan and the other collaborator has no share. So the next time, the collaborator quit.
Human beings, on the other hand, tend to think of dividing bananas equally: first, since it is the fruit of cooperation, of course, it must be shared rather than monopolized;Second, we can cooperate next time.
Another experiment was that two cups were buckled, one with a banana underneath and the other without. The researchers pointed to the cup with the banana on it, and the orangutan had no idea that humans would be so selfless in helping it and providing it with information.
The conclusion of the two experiments is that orangutans know how to help each other and cooperate, but they do not have the spirit of altruism, nor can they understand the altruistic spirit of humans, so they cannot accept altruistic help from humans, so they cannot eat bananas, and the result is not good for themselves. The experiment report also said that this difference between humans and orangutans is only a small difference in DNA, and it is this small difference that makes the essence of humans and animals different.
In fact, I have always had a question, since self-interest is the nature of human beings, why do human beings always preach selflessness and altruism, and compete with themselves?Why do you create such a concept as high morality to torture yourself?Why can't you follow the law of the jungle as straightforwardly as animals?Isn't this more in line with nature and law?
After reading this experiment, I realized that altruism, and thus long-term self-interest, is the essence of human beings.
So, if the public toilets we often go to are still filthy, we should probably reflect on the experiments.