Being kind to others is good for your health • Hacker News Board

Re: Being kind to others is good for your health

#11

Post by mewpmewp2 » Sat, Dec 19, 2020, 6:15 PM UTC

tomlue wrote: post #5

koeng wrote: post #2

Is being kind good for your health, or is having good health make you more kind?

From the article, “There is research suggesting that people who are in better health are more likely to volunteer, but because scientists are very well aware of that, in our studies we statistically control for that,” says Sara Konrath

I wonder how it is possible to control for that? They mentioned only controlling for health, but what about thousands of other things?

Few as an example:

1. Individuals who do high risk activities might be less likely to do volunteer work.

2. Individuals who simply have bad habits in life might be less likely to volunteer.

3. People who die earlier won't even make it far enough to be in position to donate.

4. Poor people are less likely to be able to donate and can get less care for medicine, have worse conditions generally.

I see thousands of such examples, I don't think it's possible to control for all of that, is it? You would have to

1) List all of those things that should be controlled. I imagine already this to be an amazing feat.

2) Somehow gather all this data from people.

Re: Being kind to others is good for your health

#12

Post by sghiassy » Sat, Dec 19, 2020, 6:18 PM UTC

... Trump should be dead then if this is true

Re: Being kind to others is good for your health

#13

Post by bserge » Sat, Dec 19, 2020, 6:18 PM UTC

CharlesW wrote: post #6

bserge wrote: post #3

Well, yeah, being alone puts you at higher risk of schizophrenia and dementia, experiencing and expressing negative emotions makes you stressed and tired, we're social animals. Kind of interesting how as a society we seem to be rejecting it - a lot of technology enables us to be alone or at least not in direct contact with others. I wonder what the ramifications of that will be in the future.

> …a lot of technology enables us to be alone or at least not in direct contact with others. What I've seen during the pandemic is that technology enables my family to be in direct contact (if not physically) with others for most of our waking time. Certainly, my kids spend more time with their friends virtually than I did with mine physically as a child. Does the physical part matter? The article references a study…

I believe it matters. I mean, sure, short term you can stay apart. But can you imagine not getting even a hug for 5, 10 years?

Helping others any way I can does make me feel good (so does receiving help, for that matter), I guess that's the case for the majority.

Re: Being kind to others is good for your health

#14

Post by mewpmewp2 » Sat, Dec 19, 2020, 6:19 PM UTC

They mention only controlling for health reasons. How do they control for that? Is it even realistic to control all the health reasons? And what about thousands of other things, such as

1) People who like to take high risks, might be less keen on communal activities, like volunteering.

2) People who have bad habits might also be less likely to volunteer.

3) Depressed, stressed out, cynical people may be less likely to volunteer.

4) Poor people are less likely to donate and also have lower life expectancy.

5) People who died earlier didn't make it into that point in life where they would be able to donate. This one is easier to control though.

And probably countless of other things? I'd need to go deep into the actual study to understand how they controlled for all of that, but right now it makes me very skeptical.

Re: Being kind to others is good for your health

#15

Post by bserge » Sat, Dec 19, 2020, 6:20 PM UTC

goldenkey wrote: post #8

CharlesW wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> …a lot of technology enables us to be alone or at least not in direct contact with others. What I've seen during the pandemic is that technology enables my family to be in direct contact (if not physically) with others for most of our waking time. Certainly, my kids spend more time with their friends virtually than I did with mine physically as a child. Does the physical part matter? The article references a study…

Reality is constructed of information states if we really want to be honest with ourselves. There is never really a _true_ information state. Charles Sanders Peirce called the world we build a 'phaneron,' the information state as presented by the senses. Everyone's eyes are a blurry figment of what the true photonic field is. Same with touch when it comes to surfaces and well, all the senses. And those senses degrade…

I understand the idea, but sadly we're tied to these primitive bodies that have their own needs and urges.

Perhaps in the future we will learn to shut off the primal instincts, but for now, it seems to do more bad than good if we ignore them.

Re: Being kind to others is good for your health

#16

Post by treeman79 » Sat, Dec 19, 2020, 6:22 PM UTC

tomlue wrote: post #5

koeng wrote: post #2

Is being kind good for your health, or is having good health make you more kind?

From the article, “There is research suggesting that people who are in better health are more likely to volunteer, but because scientists are very well aware of that, in our studies we statistically control for that,” says Sara Konrath

I love volunteering. Best feeling I the world.

My health is in shambles. So these days I have to take pride in just making sure kids have food.

Horrible feeling when people ask for help, and I know I’ll just be a burden.

Re: Being kind to others is good for your health

#17

Post by agumonkey » Sat, Dec 19, 2020, 6:31 PM UTC

atum47 wrote: post #10

in theory this looks good. reality is a bit different. I constantly have problems with my left and right neighbor (middle of pandemic and this a hole is doing a barbecue with loud music since yesterday) about their lack of consideration (this in my parents house, where I am right now). In my apartment is no different... loud music, stumping on the floor... that kind of problem you have on a building. my father have a…

Yeah being kind is more a weird tug of war. We really need lessons in how to ensure our own well being in a social context.

Now some would summarize it as: be as kind to you as you're to others. I, like your father, has a weird tendency to do everything for free.. but it's unhealthy and I suffer. But I can't really blame others for that.

Being strong and balanced.. a healthy dose of selfishness (kinda like a kid)

Re: Being kind to others is good for your health

#18

Post by tyu2 » Sat, Dec 19, 2020, 6:35 PM UTC

tomlue wrote: post #5

koeng wrote: post #2

Is being kind good for your health, or is having good health make you more kind?

From the article, “There is research suggesting that people who are in better health are more likely to volunteer, but because scientists are very well aware of that, in our studies we statistically control for that,” says Sara Konrath

How on earth can they control for that in short term studies? Is it even possible to get any statistical significance on that? Smells like bullshit, there is no way there is causation on health from volunteering.

Think about it, if you are volunteering you are likely to not just have good health, but afford good health care, have plenty of free time for various activities, less stress in life, enjoy and seek social activities, outdoor activities, etc. All those things could impact health, but not volunteering itself.

Re: Being kind to others is good for your health

#19

Post by bumby » Sat, Dec 19, 2020, 6:36 PM UTC

atum47 wrote: post #10

in theory this looks good. reality is a bit different. I constantly have problems with my left and right neighbor (middle of pandemic and this a hole is doing a barbecue with loud music since yesterday) about their lack of consideration (this in my parents house, where I am right now). In my apartment is no different... loud music, stumping on the floor... that kind of problem you have on a building. my father have a…

I would take a slightly different perspective. I think much of the benefit of volunteering etc. as spoke about in the article is from the feeling of "connectedness". It's not that being generous is in-and-of-itself beneficial, but that it helps connect to other humans. From the article:

"Humans are extremely social, we have better health when we are interconnected, and part of being interconnected is giving"

Being generous and resenting it or moving away from people would probably be antithetical to being connected. Being taken advantage of makes one feel less connected, which might be what you're experiencing.

For a good, short read related to this I'd suggest Sebastian Junger's book Tribe

Re: Being kind to others is good for your health

#20

Post by ohhhhhh » Sat, Dec 19, 2020, 6:36 PM UTC

atum47 wrote: post #10

in theory this looks good. reality is a bit different. I constantly have problems with my left and right neighbor (middle of pandemic and this a hole is doing a barbecue with loud music since yesterday) about their lack of consideration (this in my parents house, where I am right now). In my apartment is no different... loud music, stumping on the floor... that kind of problem you have on a building. my father have a…

do you see how the negative attitude you carry is eating you alive? be more like your dad