Are we selfish about everything?

Page 1 of 1 [ 11 posts ] 

Tias
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 9 Dec 2008
Age: 36
Gender: Male
Posts: 723
Location: Denmark

19 Jan 2009, 6:49 am

Now don’t run and jump into conclusions right away and hear me out.
This is something I’ve had in mind, a very long time ago, but just didn't bother with it as i didn't have anyone I could actually talk this with.
Maybe it's just a Point of view, as everything as a point of view (example: terrorists, they claim to do it for the religion and their people, and from others point of view, its meaningless killing)

But the thing is, when we do thinks, it's always centered on ourselves.
"I love you", "I love you, please don’t leave me"
Do we think about them? Do we think about the other? And if we do, is it again for ourselves?
"I like to help people because it makes me happy"
It makes the person who does it happy, if it wouldn't make the helper happy, they wouldn't help, so that person would be doing everything out of their own interest, no?

I don’t know if this is just me thinking and analyzing too much, being to negativ/sceptic, or if it's just a strange point of view. But isn't there some sort of truth to it?
Atleast logically I guess there is <.<

Would like to hear you guys opinions and know if it's really just me, or if, others have thought abit long these lines to



Arcanyn
Toucan
Toucan

User avatar

Joined: 15 Jan 2009
Age: 41
Gender: Male
Posts: 250
Location: Adelaide, South Australia

19 Jan 2009, 7:08 am

You're certainly not the first person to think that! The view you're proposing is known in philosophical circles as "psychological egoism"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_egoism

And I think there is some degree of merit to it. Our every action is motivated by the desire to make the world more to our liking. For instance, if I were to try to eliminate poverty in Africa, it would be because I would like it if there was less poverty in Africa; a world without poverty in Africa would be much more pleasing to me. It might be argued that while I might take pleasure in eliminating poverty in Africa, that it is not necessarily the reason why I do it. However, if that is the case, and satisfaction is superfluous, then I should be just as motivated even if I got no satisfaction from it. But then, if a world without poverty in Africa was not to my liking, then how would I ever be motivated to try and eliminate poverty there? If I liked poverty, then I'd hardly be motivated to eliminate it. The only way would be as a means to some other end, but if you're doing something purely as a means to an end, then your motivation for doing it clearly cannot be altruistic, because you're only motivated by that other end. And that other end, of course, will inevitably entail making the world more to your liking.



ZakFiend
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 12 Sep 2007
Age: 46
Gender: Male
Posts: 547

19 Jan 2009, 7:15 am

If the word selfish never existed in language of our culture we wouldn't refer to it.

The whole concept of selfishness is vague and ever shifting, one doesn't have a choice in many matters. The way a concept is conceptualized in a language and imputed with different tones. One needs food, one can't avoid needing it. The idea that we are all selfish is foolish because co-operation is required for society to function at all, if we were truly selfish we would have no laws and it would be king of the hill. i.e. if you could kill your employer or others and take their money you can!

The selfishness people speak of is often tied to their particular positive or negative view of themselves and the world itself. The word has different meanings to different people based on their rather limited life experiences. In america socialism is a dirty word, but there was a time when it wasn't a dirty word because of the culture itself.

There is levels of disregard (what we really meany by selfishness) for example - Why should a country give aid to other foreign countries? Why give to charity? Why help someone else out for free, etc, etc?

I think what most people mean by selfish is disregard and poor social relations among people, since selfishness (disregard for others) can increase or decrease depending on the time and age in which one lives and what kinds of culture, bonds and relationships exist between people.



tomamil
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 13 May 2007
Age: 46
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,015
Location: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

19 Jan 2009, 7:46 am

Tias wrote:
"I like to help people because it makes me happy"

this is perfect, because every one is happy :D

I help people because I wish to be a good person. I am not happy or sad about things, I just accept everyone and everything for who and what, respectively, they are. But yes, I guess from that point of view people might seem selfish, although there is nothing wrong about it, is it?


_________________
Timeo hominem unius libri, I fear the man of one book, St. Thomas Aquinas.


0_equals_true
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 5 Apr 2007
Age: 44
Gender: Male
Posts: 11,038
Location: London

19 Jan 2009, 7:51 am

We are not selfless that is for sure.

It is beyond conscious thought. Certain things stimulate different parts of the brain in a particular person. Studies showed that that same part of the brain lit up on scans of charity givers, gambling addicts and people who are amorous or sexually aroused. Pleasure centres of the brain. Different things turn people on.

Conscious thought merely justifies what we are doing, even if there is a contradiction with what is actually happening.

I wouldn't worry about it though because if people do nice things that is because the get something out of it.

Reciprocation is when two people get something out of being in each other’s company.



protest_the_hero
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 14 Nov 2008
Age: 187
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,011

19 Jan 2009, 10:16 am

I agree, we are. Even me.



Tim_Tex
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 2 Jul 2004
Age: 46
Gender: Male
Posts: 46,694
Location: Houston, Texas

19 Jan 2009, 11:12 am

It's not ideal, but that's just how it is.



ToadOfSteel
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 23 Sep 2007
Age: 38
Gender: Male
Posts: 6,157
Location: New Jersey

19 Jan 2009, 11:46 am

I find that I'm the only person I can talk about because I know exactly what I'm thinking, but I can't tell anything about what someone else is thinking, so I can't talk about them...

I



Diamond_Head
Raven
Raven

User avatar

Joined: 30 Jun 2008
Age: 42
Gender: Male
Posts: 117
Location: Kauai, Hawaii

19 Jan 2009, 3:44 pm

Love often means being selfish and sacrificing at the same time. lol.



garyww
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 28 Nov 2008
Age: 78
Gender: Male
Posts: 2,395
Location: Napa, California

19 Jan 2009, 4:05 pm

You bet we are. The entire world revolves around anybody who is on the spectrum because we are the only solid base that we can feel comfortable with. But it is not the type of egotism or selfishness that regular people talk about. It is very different and hard to explain.


_________________
I am one of those people who your mother used to warn you about.


MissConstrue
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 4 Feb 2008
Gender: Female
Posts: 17,052
Location: MO

20 Jan 2009, 3:41 pm

Everyone is capable of being selfish even "good" people. I also think that there is such a thing as good selfishness as well as bad. It's the survival of the fittest in Darwin theory and sometimes selfish acts compensate for other areas of weakness.

Bad selfishness varies from person to person. Some people do things behind others backs while some people do it in front of eachother. Just like humility, you're not always going to see humility in the same way another person would.


_________________
I live as I choose or I will not live at all.
~Delores O’Riordan