Genuine Altruism vs Medical Disorder

Last night I was catching up on my missed episodes of House, and the latest one I viewed really resonated with what we've been discussing in class this semester. A very wealthy man was giving his money away to anyone who showed himself as deserving. House, the protagonist of the show, a very cynical person, believed the man's altruism was part of a disorder versus his true character. Long story short, the entire episode centered around the argument that altruism isn't true to human nature. One line, which I am simply paraphrasing, that stood out to me is when the man at question said that he didn't care if he lost his family as long as his boys at least had a roof over their heads and enough money to survive at the bare minimum. He asked why should he treat his family more special than any other people, when there are people everywhere starving and living in poor conditions and we're all apart of human kind. As extreme as it is, this made me think. We as humans value our families because we know that there is a blood relationship and therefore do things for them without a second thought, however when it comes to others that are not family, we pick and choose who and how we'll help, whether it be bare minimum or million dollar donations. This episode really stood out to me, but I'd like to know how you all feel about this.

Do you ever second guess your actions when it comes to helping family versus a stranger? Do you agree with House's cynical nature, or do you believe that altruism really does exist?