Individualism, individuality, altruism and modern society

I don't know about you, but I keep hearing people say "individualistic" and mean "selfish" all the time. Of course, a word has the meaning that is given to it. But you might find it interesting to know that for the scientists who study culture and society, the above equation is by no means a sure thing.

In fact - sorry I can't remember the original article - it's been found that members of individualistic cultures are actually more helpful to others when they're not part of their in-group (family, friends, etc).

One might say that for an individualist, there is me and there is the rest of mankind, "me" and "them". For a collectivist, the "me" is not so important, it's a part of "us". But that "us" is really a small group of people that belong together with the person, and the rest of the world is once again "them".

Now, this was the kind of thinking that kept you alive in the Stone Age, and even today the vast majority of cultures are still collectivist. One could say that's the default state of things for human beings, social animals as we are. You can only survive as part of a group and therefore the well-being of that group is important. The worst that could happen to you is being left out, so no matter what demands or limitations the group might set for you, it is better to comply than do your own thing and risk rejection. You serve the greater whole of the group and that in its turn provides for you. There's a very clear line between the people that are part of your tribe and people who are not, and a stranger is not to be trusted.

Perhaps not quite such a life-and-death matter since we moved out of caves and into skyscrapers, that tendency still quite obviously persists. Everywhere, including the cultures we call individualistic. I suppose that's why so many people criticise contemporary society as one that induces conformity, isn't sufficiently meritocratic, etc. Well, guess what, the very fact that there are people out there who openly express such opinion shows that we've come a long way since the days when conformity was not just the best, but the only choice for pretty much everybody. We now live in a world that allows people to go out and do their thing, even if it does make following the path of one's heart quite difficult at times. You won't be stoned to death for disobeying your parents, and if you're not happy with your marriage you can go and find a more suitable partner. Disregarding at the moment the potential arguments over whether this is a good or a bad thing for a society, I think it's safe to say that we're more free to make our own decisions about out lives than we've ever been before.

And I think that perhaps this is the next step in our cultural evolution, made possible by the progress of science and technology. Perhaps it's the first time we can afford people acting as individuals and not just parts of a larger group.

As for me, I'm just curious to see where this is all going.