soilguy wrote:
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You quoted me out of context, changing the meaning of my post. I said I help kids without conscious thought, but when I do think about it, it can make rational sense.
It's rare when I help someone because I expect dividends in return.
In one way I can recognize "selfishness" in my acts of helping others: it makes me feel good to do it, and I sometimes feel bad if I pass up a good opportunity to help someone. I don't think that's the classic definition of selfishness, though.[QUOTE]
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My point is that we have evolved to have attachments, and that these attachments drive our lives. The fact that you feel ?good? and ?bad? about your actions, only goes to highlight how deep rooted these attachments are.
We live in a species that, for the most part, considers acts of selfishness unpalatable. We like to think that people would want to do the right thing by each other because ?we are all human?, or because ?doing the right thing by others is just the fair thing to do?. Of course, most people may feel this way, but they surely do not act it. Every day, in all walks of life, people are trying to make their mark on the world by: winning that job contract, getting that parking space, putting prices up to make an extra dollar, getting that girl of your dreams to go out on a date with you, winning that soccer match, and on and on and on. To achieve these things, one has to be selfish - because if you did stop and consider the needs of the other competing contractor, the other driver, the consumer, the other guy who also wants to date the same girl, the other team ? you may indeed decide that their needs and wants were greater than yours, and stop yourself from striving to win these things.
Of course, most people never consider the consequences of their actions and just blunder on through making ?the best of life?. For the most part, people just turn a blind eye to acts of selfishness which doesn?t affect them too directly, or too harshly. Every now and then they may kick up a storm about the issue, but they quickly fall back into the comfort of their own selfish lives ? just like the rest of their family, their neighbours, their community?
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Sue
