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Art thou not selfish?
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by bermudanwarrior
on 2008-02-02 10:33:56 (edited 2008-02-02 10:34:11)
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"Every man for himself" And I second this idiom, because it's been how life works ever since the dawn of time. Everything we do, every choice we make consciously is the result of complex biochemical calculation processes to figure out the best solution where you would gain the most benefits. Yes, in a way you could say human civilization has forever been run by opportunism. Do not always perceive it as immoral, however, because we all have our own needs, our own desires after all. The funny thing is that in most cases, we do not even realize our selfishness, and sometimes it's just too inconspicuous and hard to notice. But it's always there, serving as the only logical explanation, the naked truth behind our every action and the reason mankind keeps existing. For instance, when you read about some benevolent philanthropist on the newspapers, you must've at least once wondered why that dude can't keep it a secret but instead has to tell everyone about it? Because he wants to become more well-known while showing the world how loaded and kind-hearted he is. The same also applies to those companies' fund-raising campaigns, charity concerts etc... Still, aren't there people who are willing to do "good" things without asking to be acknowledged? Well, most of them just do it in constant fear of the Law of Karma; in the belief that they'll eventually be rewarded in life/heaven; to atone for their past sins, or just simply in search of some pleasure and peace of mind. -What about those living saints such as mother Teressa?-No, there's gonna be some serious offence here so can we put that aside Up to now, the only thing capable of defying this logic would be: motherly love. But in reality , the joy of observing your own creation, strictly speaking, can still be considered some sort of a benefit, right? XD So we're all selfish then. Cheers! |
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Re: Art thou not selfish?
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by
on 2008-02-02 11:12:50 |
I second your opinion, twisted. We are unconsciously selfish everyday. We really do things for our own benefit and if we didn't, that wouldn't help us at all, would it? I think that even if we say we're doing things for others, most of the time, the action doesn't even benefit yourself. The reason we do things is to benefit ourselves. And because it's practically a natural instinct to be selfish (we learn this when we are babies) it's not something to necessarily feel bad about. Yeah, you could hurt others feelings, but, as the saying goes, "Every man for himself", you would probably say that if your decisions benefit you and that they're what you want, regardless of what others think. It's true, we're selfish. But a little self benefit never really hurt anyone, right?  |
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Re: Art thou not selfish?
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by
on 2008-02-02 12:08:52 (edited 2008-02-02 12:13:09)
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Evidence that people are not always selfish would be, for example, this website. Years of hard work on my part, plus user donations, uploads, moderators, and other contributions have all been given selflessly. So, we're NOT all selfish then. Cheers! 
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Re: Art thou not selfish?
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by
 
on 2008-02-02 12:54:44 (edited 2008-02-02 12:56:27)
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@Gendou- well said, admin! ^_^ Selfishness is where you definitely don't want to give anything to anyone, thus keeping yours to yourself. What, you consider what you buy for your own wants and needs is considered a thing of selfishness??? So you would prefer to be gullible at one trickster's lies who claims he/she has no money and food etc.. I am not saying that being kind and generous is wrong, it can be dangerous too. Selfishness is the difficult part to be noticed by anyone! Who are the selfish folk??? You tell me!!! Can you say your parents are selfish just cuz they won't buy what you want? Think about it. |
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Re: Art thou not selfish?
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by
on 2008-02-02 19:03:27 |
While it's true we look out for ourselves. We also look out for our freinds and family. So we are denfinitly not ALWAYS selfish. Some are more selfish then others in other portions in our lifes. And they are probally more happy then other people like myslef who some would describe as doormats.  
"It's better to be used, then to be useless." |
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Re: Art thou not selfish?
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by bermudanwarrior
on 2008-02-02 19:05:49 (edited 2008-02-02 19:21:42)
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@gendou: Whatever you say, boss ^^ @farboct: Oh, lots and lots of folks. Logically speaking, when someone spends their own money, they have to check whether they're spending it wisely, what they're gonna get in return. In this case, it'd be our love, our respect and a strengthened family bond. But if your demand is too unreasonable, or your intentions are wicked, they will hesitate, for fear that you're gonna take advantage of this and start asking for more, which will ultimately lead to your own corruption. If you were just another total stranger, they would probably not give a damn, but you're their own child, you're part of their family, you're gonna ruin their reputation, fritter away their hard-earned property and probably leave forever scars in their hearts. Would anyone in their right mind want that to happen? So yeah, our own folks are real calculated, wouldn't you say? ^^ |
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Re: Art thou not selfish?
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by
on 2008-02-03 05:29:29 |
| @twisted- (firstly, pls call me w00t0s -_-") That's just too extreme! Have you ever seen some child of a well-known family do that?! You only said 'lots and lots of folks'--- but who are they??? Give at least an example! No one wants to be that extreme anymore, and it's up to any person to give what they want to give to those they think in need. |
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Re: Art thou not selfish?
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by
on 2008-02-03 05:49:09 |
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@twisted art thou not selfish? yes we are selfish are you always selfish? no even once in your life when you help someone without thinking, that's not selfish, and i doubt that you do only once. not only to man (human) but to other living and non-living things the thought or your act or your behavior towards it, is consider whether it selfish or not. so the statement is true, human tend to be selfish. but on every aspect of life then the answer is no btw all that you said is thought on negative way, which is one side, there are always the other side there's no coin with one side would they. think about positive thought and you get another answer. because all this state of mind that you talked about can easily be broken by another state of mind. 
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Re: Art thou not selfish?
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by
on 2008-02-04 03:38:27 |
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I love being selfish, if I weren't selfish, I would never be strong. I take on other peoples problems and challenges in order make me stronger for it. The result of that selfishness is that they themselves do not grow stronger. Survival is survival, it's a base instinct and fundamentally selfish. But that doesn't mean that I'm without compassion, loyalty and every other virtue that man strives towards. It's just I accept where my selfishness needs to lie and I use it for what I consider a greater good.  |
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Re: Art thou not selfish?
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by
on 2008-02-04 03:40:32 |
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@renshi_sho well said, well said, completely agree
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Re: Art thou not selfish?
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One becomes selfish when one thinks it is advantageous to do so. One doesn't just pop out of his mama's tummy and say to himself, "Hmm, I want a hospital just like this one." We have our reasons, Thomas Hobbes says. One becomes selfish when he THINKS it is of good use. For example, a man had his home burning. Almost instantaneously, he grabbed HIS laptop, DVD player and cellular phone, not thinking if he should save his roomie's things. Will it be an example of selfishness? Per se, yes. Selfishness is thinking of what may benefit you or doing things you want just because you want it for you. Get it? |
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Re: Art thou not selfish?
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by
on 2008-02-04 04:08:54 |
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"People would never care about your promise,but they care about their own promises" If you said people are selfish,they are.. if you said they are not,they aren't... you care your promises for having something,or caring someone..the way you sacrifise yourself to others just because it's a promise for yourself as if it's your responsibility for you to take care of the 'someone' or something you think you wanted to do... you would not care about other people's promises...as if you think you are a busybody for everyone... if you are really selfless..it's not that you said you won't put yourself into 1st and made other the first priority... that has been considered as 'selfish' act.. so human should look on 'moderation'.. not too selfish..and not too selfless.. being selfish or selfless would only cause trouble.. thou i wanted to become a selfess person for only benefit people without myself..but that would consider as selfish because it's my big head for wanting to benefit other people whether people would accept it or not... |
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Re: Art thou not selfish?
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by bermudanwarrior
on 2008-02-04 21:45:11 (edited 2008-02-04 22:12:37)
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@key : Well, I still think when you help someone without thinking~> ur "in search of some pleasure and peace of mind." (probably subconsciously), because if there's something we do that cannot be explained via conventional logic, we must be suffering from some kind of mental illness. And the world is not a coin, it's spherical 8D (I hope u get what I mean) @renshi: Dungeon&DragoneED speaking, this is a Good-aligned world you're living in ^_^. It's taught you to be a good man, cuz' supervillains don't fare so well here, unless you're a crazy Osama-Emora. We feel much easier hanging around with nice people, don't we? I guess you could call it symbiotic, or maybe carefree. @ @Adeline: Ah, sacrifice (not the kind of sacrifice ur talking about though). For someone to give up their life without a real purpose, I'd regard them as stupid. Nobody in their right mind would want to die a wasteful death, especially the ambitious ones. And about those honourable *cough* deaths you see every day on anime, I myself have never come across such people. But I'd say it's mainly due to their code of values, and external influence. Ever wondered how those kamikaze pilots and Islamaniac suicide bombers could commit such unthinkable acts? Well, I've seen a few documentaries on that one, quite an eye-opener.^^ Oh, and I never knew that Wikipedia also had some articles on this. Been relying on it too much lately XD. |
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Re: Art thou not selfish?
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by
on 2008-02-05 02:58:28 |
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Heh, I never thought of it like D&D before, then again, I've never won a fight with a set of dice haha ^_^ I don't know what an Osama-Emora is, but lotsa people call me crazy for having an opinion that goes against the general current. But I like carefree, it sounds more whimsical. From carefree winds come raging storms. |
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Re: Art thou not selfish?
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by bermudanwarrior
on 2008-02-05 03:33:24 (edited 2008-02-05 03:34:44)
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Osama = ...Well, what could I say about this guy Emora = Emoranger Just sth I came up with out of the blue =P |
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Re: Art thou not selfish?
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by
on 2008-02-05 03:55:06 |
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Oh you talking about that terrorist dood? Coward imo. Likes to send people to blow themselves up, reaps the benefits, yet you don't see him doing it, even though it's supposed to be the highest honour... And supervillains always fail because they have folks like me ready to smack em in the head. |
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Re: Art thou not selfish?
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by bermudanwarrior
on 2008-02-05 04:53:32 (edited 2008-02-05 04:54:58)
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Sounds like you have a lot of confidence in yourself, that sorta reminds me of someone I used to know (he's not a martial artist) In D&D you'd be classified as a Monk, or maybe a Paladin ^_^, nice to see a Lawful Good dude's still around. Back to the topic, ye the fussy logic sounds all weird, but as long as this world remains stable *cough*, folk will try to stay Good and help each other out. Neat eh? |
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Re: Art thou not selfish?
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by
on 2008-02-05 06:35:22 |
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That confidence comes from leadership abilities I have. I have to have confidence in myself and be sure of my actions otherwise my friends and those around me could be endangered by my insecurities. Which actually neatly pulls me up to another thing to think about in this topic. Leadership. I've been told on countless occasions I have natural leadreship ability; I can command people well, inspire, motivate and generally pull a group of people round me and make it all work for something. However, it takes a hell of a lot of self sacrifice to lead (try doing 3 peoples stag because they were too exhausted from the days training and you get my drift). So if you have to lose out in order to lead, why do people do it. For myself, even I don't know the answer. The only one I keep coming back to is 'because it just felt like I should do it' What you reckon guys n gals? |
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Re: Art thou not selfish?
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by
on 2008-02-06 07:05:24 |
| @twisted- You just went too far. Nuff said. |
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Re: Art thou not selfish?
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by bermudanwarrior
on 2008-02-06 10:26:42
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@w00t0s: Nuff for you maybe. Assuming you understand English and what I've been saying, I don't think there's anything "extreme" or "too far" about it, which was not meant to shake anyone's faith in human nature, but to give them a nice little reminder that's all. Or maybe "that freaky feeling is your mammalian mind rejecting a new idea. Fight it." - Gendou-sama @renshi: DAMN ^_^, why does your description just fit the Natural Leader feat perfectly? Well, it could be that you like to command people, take on challenges and you think you've got the talent for it as well. In times of hardship when somebody has to take up the leading role, guys like you will step up readily and proudly. Being a bitch, I'd say they seek fulfillment and satisfaction. But they help push civilization forward honestly. I'd personally give them credit instead of being skeptical about their true motivation, which is usually non-evil by the way. Unless they ABUSE their power of course...  |
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