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Scientists Find 'Altruistic' Center of the Brain
davidwr writes "A team of researchers at Duke University published a paper linking the brain's posterior superior temporal cortex to altruistic behavior. The BBC also picked up the story. If confirmed this has applications in neurology, psychology, child-rearing, and a host of other domains. From the BBC piece: 'Using brain scans, the US investigators found this region related to a person's real-life unselfish behaviour. The Duke University Medical Center study on 45 volunteers is published in Nature Neuroscience. The participants were asked to disclose how often they engaged in different helping behaviours, such as doing charity work, and were also asked to play a computer game designed to measure altruism.'"
This behavior is still selfish.
It's just collectively selfish instead of individually selfish (at least statistically).
Stop worrying about the risks of nuclear power and start worrying about the risks of not using nuclear power.
I haven't read Ayn Rand, but the quotes you've presented don't seem to show what you think they do.
It looks like she's preaching that altruism must be practiced in moderation; that noone respects someone who sacrifices values, friends, beliefs, etc; that one should critically examine who you're benefiting; and that you are at least as important as others and shouldn't place their needs above your own.