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Everyone is selfish
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Everyone is selfish. Everyone does things only for himself, to please himself, entertain, and others. Even the ones who help others, they are selfish as well. How come? Because everything you do is for you alone. You help others because you find yourself happy helping others. You help others because you want to feel happy and satisfied, and you find it in helping others. Get the point? This applies to all. Even if I used sexism in my post (himself), it still applies to all. Men, women, children, all of you. Anyway, this is just one philosophical point of view, so please pour out all of your opinions. I'm not trying to start a war, though. By the way, I got the idea from Harry Browne. |
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Re: Everyone is selfish
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by Jad [Alt] Kaizer
on 2006-03-11 00:40:28 (edited 2006-03-11 00:40:50)
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From whoever you got that idea from, that fellow must've mixed up 'selfishness' and 'charity'. Selfishness is the good for one self, while charity is for the good for all. If someone does something that only benefits her/himself, and has to harm others to achieve her/his goal, then THAT is selfishness. But if someone helps another for a good reason, that's because that person realizes that happiness can be obtained when everyone can SHARE it. This is one point where Mr. Browne had not thought of.
Behold the possibilities ! The end is merely the start of a new history !
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Re: Everyone is selfish
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No, you don't get the point. I mean, you help others because giving hapiness to others gives you hapiness as well. So, you help others because you feel happy. Do you think you will help others if you find no hapiness but annoyance when you do it? |
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Re: Everyone is selfish
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Most of the time yes, but certain situations are completely unselfish. For example you and your friend are in love with the same person. Yet, you back off for your friend and it breaks your heart when you see them together.  Jomunga eats your avatars. |
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Re: Everyone is selfish
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by Jad [Alt] Kaizer
on 2006-03-11 04:16:45
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@Jomunga: Ah yeah, nice example ^___^ @Ran-chan: ...... isn't your point, 'Everyone is selfish' ?
Behold the possibilities ! The end is merely the start of a new history !
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Re: Everyone is selfish
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by
on 2006-03-11 04:44:33 |
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This isn't true most of the time, because happiness isn't only obtained by sharing or not sharing, it's how you get it. Then again...
What if I jump out
of this speeding jeepney? Fly without wings Reach for the grey-painted heaven And out into the sea of infinity?  |
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Re: Everyone is selfish
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by
on 2006-03-11 10:44:39 |
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This is an interesting philosophical argument which is often taught in school. Myself, I understand the problem of true altruism as a poorly defined problem. If we are to speak of true altruism, we must define what we mean. Altruism is giving without receiving, in the short term or long term. If we give a hungry person bread, we feel good. We receive the gift of "good conscience" in exchange for bread. This is not true altruism. Take any case of giving or kindness, and you will find that the gift of self-satisfaction is present in one form or another. Therefore, I conclude that "true altruism" does not exist in nature. However, "everyday altruism" DOES exist in nature, and our everyday lives! Everyday altruism is giving while receiving only self-satisfaction. This is not true altruism, but still worth naming and talking about, because it is an important part of our economic and spiritual society. For example, when you donate to gendou.com, you are giving back to the community. This is encouraged by level-ups and the self-satisfying number in the upper right hand corner. Try it! :P 
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Re: Everyone is selfish
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by S-a-c-h-i-e-l
on 2006-03-11 10:46:19
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Bwahahaha.... I must've been unselfish last night, because I stayed up extra late trying to make someone's life better (and I still need to finish some school pretty soon... *is procrastinating again T.T* So unless I was being selfish by making me lose some sleep and not being able to finish school when I had planned to, then I think I proved you wrong :P But yes, you are largely right. People do many things for their own gain and not the happiness of others.  |
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Re: Everyone is selfish
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by
on 2006-03-11 13:17:17 |
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We all need to be a little selfish to survive, don't we? I only help someone when it's an emergency, but sometimes help becomes a habit, like pulling out the chair for someone to sit, i did that often and i don't even realise that i am helping someone, it's automatic 
'Que sera, sera, Whatever will be, will be The future's not ours to see,Que sera, sera' |
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Re: Everyone is selfish
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Some people just do good deeds out of habit, getting no good feeling from it. Like when I was walking in the store someone asks me to donate to some charity. I didn't even know what I was donating to nor did I care but I slipped in 5 bucks anyways out of habit. Usually when someone asks me for something I give it without thinking about it. In a sence I am not being selfish at all, just non-caring. Jomunga eats your avatars. |
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Re: Everyone is selfish
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by
 cloud strife
on 2006-03-11 18:06:08 (edited 2006-03-11 18:06:25)
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Everyone is of course selfish to some degree. If we weren't we wouldn't be human. Even saving up money for your future and what not can be said to be selfish. But this is normal and right. The only prob is when ppls become TOO selfish.
- Taiki
Shadows are my best allies
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Re: Everyone is selfish
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Cloud strife is correct, we are self-ish it is human nature. But where do you draw the line of being too selfish? No one can exactly have the perfect definition, because we all see things differently. I think it is vital for us all to feel selfishness. To be selfish and to feel it's consequences. What kind of people would we be without it. Just as we need anger, hate sadness, happiness, pain, love, affection, we need selfishness. With having it, we learn to be the opposite of it. While some relish the thought of being selfish, others, change and find themselves wanting to not be selfish.
woot
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Re: Everyone is selfish
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I think that the whole propostion that there is no true altruism is a bit too rationalist for me. Lets be honest, there is something in us that wants to do good for the sake of doing good. to say that is selfish is somewhat true because we can't get away from ourselves and the mental processes we make. But, that is not entirely true because of the composition of humans. Our highest purpose and faculty is our reason and our intellect. These things, when they are at the service of others, become transcendent of a pure "selfish" motive. Even the natural tendency of self preservation can become one that is obeyed in us and is also utilized to grow less attached to our wants and pleasures when it serves a higher end. They can become the tools we use to serve others. If we just served ourselves, our logical move would be isolation. Humans are by nature social animals that are rational, but not driven by pure, naked self-interest. Well, at least not all of them. There is a difference between pure, naked self-interest and seeking higher goals initially through lower means. Yes, humans seek hapiness. That is true. That is not a bad thing. Not every struggle for happiness is a selfish one. As a matter of fact, most mystical paths to happiness involve a denial of selfishness to attain to a pure and unalloyed happiness. That is almost every path to happiness that seeks beyond pleasure and sensual things (not that those are evils, just not unselfish per se). So, a seeking of happiness can begin as a self-centered search, but if it reaches its highest end, it pursues that which is most in oppostion to pure selfishness. To rise above our natural inclination to seek satiation and self-gratification, we have to go beyond our nature to perfect our highest end, our intellection in contemplation of truth. (that would be what the ancient philosophers would say about such a subject) I had to really work hard to find any argument for that one. I had to resort to a quasi-religious answer. Sorry about that. |
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Re: Everyone is selfish
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by
 SkyAlchemist
on 2006-03-11 22:38:13 |
See, the way I see it, being selfish is just another way of saying making life better for yourself. All the desicions we make are almost always beneficial for ourselves. I think that because we only have one life, we should try our hardest to be happy. At whatever the cost.     |
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Re: Everyone is selfish
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You're right, Everyone is selfish to an extent determined by the individual. Though the definition of selfishness is relative to the beholder on what he/she defines as selfish. I agree with Cloud strife, to some extent we are all selfish in order to pursue what we want and need. The problem lies within an imbalance that someone receives more than what they give or dispense. I think its a dispute between the benefit of the group or the individual. I disagree with the existance of true altruism, for humans at least. We all have our intentions whether its just to look good or for the sake of being kind.
Those who think they know everything annoy those who actually do.
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Re: Everyone is selfish
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by
on 2006-03-11 23:47:46 (edited 2006-04-07 23:07:13)
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An interesting topic everyone of us though experienced this for sure... I had this particular point of topic where people naturally shows their seflishness..even me I don't know if I can stay to the extent that I would risk everything just to be unseflish... If a "unprincipled" human comes to the point that his life is threatened natural evil side of that person starts to emerge...along with that, this person will do everything to make the ease for himself.. for example: In a mall there is an incident of bombing with this event people will surely run away right? for example there is only one safe exit..all of them will struggle as hard as they can to scamper through the only open exit area just to save themselves..and will not care for anybody else.. I experience this on my country when the unpleasant incident of stampede happened in the Philippines..many people died, most of them ,when in the situation doesn't even care of the childrens and even mothers who are pregnant that were stumbled through the road because of the raging pack of peoples...as a result many died The general psychology of human behavior for me is really/readily not easily to be identified, though some may be egocentric but others may be altruistic provided that they are maturely experienced with the things which are right. We may become selfish if the thing we are deciding is not praiseworthy to be given by our respect, and if we know that the benefit behind that would not give reciprocal return but though might even hurt our part then we become one..it is customary to the background of our existence...does this define us to be human..remember we are not perfectly good in the eyes of others especially God.. It's not easy to please everybody        |
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Re: Everyone is selfish
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by white wings
on 2006-03-12 03:50:08 (edited 2006-03-12 03:50:50)
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no kidding, my friends and my sis's always saying i'm selfish and they're not, and anywayz even if i wasn't happy i would've helped the person, so which makes me like "I'M NOT SELFISH" i guess, hahahahahahahaha.....  |