On this episode of The Really Big Questions, radio host Dean Olsher explores how humans may have been shaped by evolution to naturally share, donate and cooperate. On this episode of The Really Big Questions, host Dean Olsher explores how humans may have been shaped by evolution to naturally share, donate and cooperate.

Are humans basically selfish, or basically giving? That's the question up for debate in this second episode of the six-part series The Really Big Questions. Host Dean Olsher explores how and why humans gravitate towards doing good deeds. He'll also get answers on why some people believe we have been shaped by evolution to care about each other, to share, and to cooperate.

It's not the popular way of thinking in modern times, but Olsher's guests think we don't give ourselves enough credit. During the special, he will speak with a variety of experts:

         Elders of the Maasai tribe in Kenya explain their system of sharing

         Evolutionary biologist Athena Aktipis talks about cooperation among humans and among cancer cells

         Primatologist Frans de Waal, who studies generosity and altruism in other primates, argues that humans are driven by biology, not culture, to be altruistic

Listen in to hear why sharing is possibly a part of our genetic make-up, and get a sense of the work being done to prove this theory.