While there is a contradiction between self-awareness and altruism, Human beings are capable of both

The greatest difference between Human beings and other animals is the individualistic self-awareness Human have. Even the most developed animals feel like an integral part of Nature’s system, instinctively, automatically, altruistically fulfilling their “cogwheel” role within their species and within Nature’s circle of life. This cogwheel role completely overrides their individual survival reflex.

In Human beings, the individual self-awareness, serving, sustaining the self overrides everything else.

This is neither good nor bad, this is how evolution created us and we are like that for a very specific evolutionary reason. On the other hand, without conscious adjustment, correction this Human trait — succeeding, surviving at the expense of others — leads us to self-destruction as it becomes very sharp and clear each day in our times.

The uniqueness of Humanity is — according to a special, empirical natural science that has been studying Human nature in contrast to Nature’s system — is that we are capable of an unparalleled duality, combining the inherent, egocentric self-awareness with true, selfless altruism that is prevalent in Nature.

It is not completely unprecedented as we could consider the evolutionary jump from single-cell organisms to multi-cellular ones as if “cancer” cells that care only about themselves “agreed”, took on themselves to start behaving in a selfless, altruistic way between them in order to survive, to gain a clear evolutionary advantage.

Of course the above unfolded by itself, unconsciously, but we can achieve the same evolutionary jump consciously, complementing, neutralizing our inherently egoistic, self-serving, self-justifying nature with the opposite, “Nature-like”, selfless, altruistic attitude towards each other and nature.

This way we retain our original engine, driving force, and certain individual independence inside, while on the “outside” we develop the ability to build the crucially important selfless, altruistic interconnections, integration our survival, progress, prosperity depends on in Nature’s totally integrated and interdependent system we also exist in.

This gives us the greatest evolutionary advantage as beyond safeguarded collective survival the duality also gives us an unprecedented insight, attainment of Nature’s system its cause and effect processes, and evolution’s plan.