In her article written for the “Wall Street Journal,” Elizabeth Scoboda explains how new technology proves that we were created to be givers. New tools like the fMRI have allowed scientists to identify the precise circuits with in our brains that control nurturing social impulses. What they discovered was that when people make a decision to donate to a worthy cause they are employing the midbrain, the same region that controls cravings for food and sex. So, altruism is inherently rewarding as the brain churns out a pleasurable response when we engage in it.
In other words, we have been created by God to be generous, it is built into the psyche. As evidence Scoboda offers statistics from “Giving USA” that show that in 2012 in the United States $229 billion was donated, and 64.3 million Americans volunteered 8 billion hours through an organization.
Pastor Mark A. Anderson
Assistant to the Bishop
