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I found Mayr’s discussion of our behavior toward outsiders to be very interesting. Mayr claims, “The same kinds of altruism that are extended to other members of a social group are rarely offered to outsiders.” Pg.258 Mayr’s discussion of “the other” reminds me of a novel I read called The Painted Bird by Kosinski. The book follows a young orphan who wanders around small towns in eastern Europe during WWII. During his journey, the boy meets a professional bird catcher. This particular man captures birds and paints them various colors. Then he releases the bird and watches how this painted bird interacts with the rest of the flock. Often when a flock of birds saw the painted bird approach them they would kill it. This phenomenon struck me as strikingly similar to Mayr’s analysis of how human beings treat outsiders. Mayr believes that we are not born with feelings of altruism but, rather obtain our feelings about others through social learning. The fact that these tendencies are not inherited certainly gives me hope that we can work to improving social relations with “the other”. Our need to alienate “the other” can be overcome.