Motivations are something else. Whether altruism really exists, or whether it’s merely a specific form of self-interest (e.g. curiosity, feeling of good will, etc.) is a philosophical — but not empirical — question.

Yet “altruism” has much to do with motivation. It could be that the tested primates were curious (rather than trying to be helpful to the others) and were conducting their own experiments–behavioral and mechanical–while they were supposedly being studied.

In addition, the researchers assumed that the only “reward” for the primates would be tangibles, such as food, etc. But the desire for other rewards–such as obtaining knowledge, or eliminating environmental stressors, or alleviating boredom–may also have been self oriented (ie: non-altruistic) motivators.

The assumptions evident in these experiments, and in the conclusions reached, demonstrate again the need for scientists to engage with people in other fields like philosophy and psychology.

Kambiz