The hero part comes when we apply that same helping response to atypical situations. We internalize the behavior, and it becomes our day-to-day default. Assisting others at a small cost to yourself can be beneficial in the long run: It establishes “helping” as a cultural norm from which you might benefit down the road-like, say, the next time you drop your hat. Such actions are the cornerstones of most cooperative societies, but they aren’t entirely altruistic, Epstein explains. “And two, you’ve got to go with your gut and not overthink things.” Most people have the desire to help: When someone stumbles, you reach out a helping hand when someone drops his hat, you pick it up.
“One, you’ve got to have the impulse to help,” says Ziv Epstein, a Boulder native and Pomona College student who has published papers on the topic with Yale professor of psychology David Rand. When it comes to acts of what psychologists call “extreme altruism,” two things are usually true. What’s more difficult to understand is why they react to danger differently than most others. We know these people are out there (thank God).
With our rugged terrain (and the dangerous backcountry rescues that come with it), more than 37,000 active military personnel (11th most in the country), and a population dense with independent, risk-tolerant free spirits, there’s no lack of such folks in Colorado. Obviously, there are people accomplishing superhuman feats every day in the Centennial State-teachers, social workers, volunteers-but when we say hero, we’re zeroing in on those who willingly put themselves in harm’s way for someone else.
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