World Kindness Day: Why humans evolved to instinctively want to help others – Philip Lymbery
On World Kindness Day, Philip Lymbery finds joy in the rescue of a baby elephant, a crocheted letterbox topper and cups of tea for stranded bin men
Five fishermen saw an elephant calf being swept downriver in India’s West Bengal. They could have stood by and watched, but instead they braved the torrents to help. The calf, barely a few days old and facing almost certain death, was hauled onto their fishing boat.
The beleaguered animal was later handed over to officials, who provided veterinary care and began efforts to locate its herd. Eventually, following a coordinated effort by the fishermen, forest personnel and local people, the calf was reunited with their mother.
That to me is a deeply moving story of ordinary people showing compassion for a defenceless creature. Not simply because an elephant calf was saved, wonderful though that was, but because of what those fishermen did. Faced with another living being in trouble, their instinct was to help.
And perhaps that tells us something rather hopeful about ourselves. At a time when it can often seem like there is an endless stream of bad news, these selfless acts help to remind us that kindness remains at the heart of our society, and that it hasn’t disappeared. Far from it.
A helping hand
It doesn’t need to be extraordinary. Everyday acts of kindness are all that are needed to lift people’s spirits and make the world feel a better place.
Acts as simple as offering a helping hand with heavy bags or a steady arm to someone less able in crossing the road. Cups of tea from my wife, Helen, brought smiles to the faces of local bin men recently as they presided over their refuse truck stuck in the mud.
Perhaps the challenge isn't to rediscover kindness at all. It is to recognise how much of it already exists, and encourage ourselves to act on it more often.
One of the little things I love about our village is the crocheted topper that appears on our local post box. It changes frequently, transforming an ordinary red letterbox into a little stage of colourful characters marking the seasons, a festival or the approach of Christmas.
Thankfully, we’re far from alone – there are now over 370,000 members of the UK-based Facebook group, Random Acts of Crochet Kindness. These amazing individuals share their crochet creations in the hope they might brighten someone’s day.
One crochet fish, named ‘Silva the Salmon’ by the person who found it, was left with a note that read, “I’m not lost, I’m just alone. If you found me and I make you smile, please take me home”.
Kindness is commonplace
A global study found humans help each other every two minutes and answer calls for help far more often than they reject them. A study of kindness by the University of Sussex found that 43 per cent of people said someone had been kind to them within the last day – a heart-warming reminder that such acts are commonplace, which is reassuring because our inherent capacity for empathy and altruism is fundamental to our success as a species.
Known as ‘natural kindness’, our instinctive behaviour to help others is thought to have enhanced our own chances of survival and well-being, creating a mutually beneficial environment. In short, we are born to be good to each other.
At its most basic, kindness means thinking about how others feel and how we can help bring happiness. An awareness of the suffering of others and a desire to do something about it – a reminder of the origins of the word, compassion, meaning ‘to suffer with’, a feeling of concern and a desire to make things better.
World Kindness Day on November 13 is an encouragement to all of us to practise kindness in our daily lives. That needn't involve wading into a swollen river to rescue an elephant. It might be helping an injured bird, checking on a neighbour, carrying someone's shopping, or buying free range eggs.
Something rather lovely
Sometimes kindness begins with something as simple as noticing. A bird stunned after flying into a window; a hedgehog stranded beside a road; an animal suddenly vulnerable in a world built largely around us. Someone stops. A cardboard box is found, a wildlife rescue centre called, a little time given that could easily have been spent elsewhere.
There may be no photograph, no social media post and certainly no headline. The animal may never know who helped them. Yet there is something rather lovely about that. Kindness doesn't require recognition or reward. Its value lies in the moment when we decide that another life matters enough for us to interrupt our own.
And these small decisions can have a ripple effect. Seeing someone else care gives us permission, perhaps even encouragement, to care too. One generous act makes the next one seem more natural. Kindness becomes something we pass on, often without ever knowing where the ripples will end.
None of these things will make the headlines. Yet perhaps that is the point. Kindness doesn’t have to be remarkable, audacious, or brave. So often, it’s just a very human way of showing warmth and kinship to one another. Showing that we care.
Those five fishermen in West Bengal probably didn't imagine themselves making a grand statement about compassion. They simply saw another living being in trouble and chose to help.
Kindness hasn't disappeared. It is there within us, waiting for its moment. The more often we notice those moments and act on them, the more kindness becomes not simply something we do, but part of who we are.
Philip Lymbery is chief executive of Compassion in World Farming, president of EuroGroup for Animals and a UN Food Systems Advisory Board member. His latest book is Sixty Harvests Left: How to Reach a Nature-Friendly Future. He is on X/Twitter @philip_ciwf
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