"In brief, there is no true altruism, only a greater, collective egoism. Despite what we tell ourselves, any and everything we do is done, first and foremost, to further our own goals and self-rightousness."
The short version is, "All actions are selfish." There was a huge debate about this notion in either my LJ or Erik's LJ... maybe a year ago. Several people had a hard time dealing with the fact that "selfless acts" are selfish. I was surprised at the level of resistance.
Whether or not all actions are selfish doesn't matter because you can't interpret others motives. Because we cannot interpret someone's motives, extreme altruism and egoism are not viable options. Until we can know exactly why a person did something, life must be considered a compromise of the two.
Motive doesn't matter, only the true end to a mean. One can mean well and inadvertently cause the death of millions (i.e. Einstein and the A-bomb). Acting on the facade of doing well for others doesn't make you a saint. The road the Hell is paved with good intentions (just to be cliche). The simple fact that selfish acts are the only acts that exist (whether selfishness is intentional or not) is, arguably, enough to debunk true altruism.
Even animals which seem altruistic in nature are only doing so in order further the spread of their own genetics, an act of selfishness on a very primitive and subconscious level.
The outcome of an act does not determine whether or not a person was acting out of selfishness or selflessness. The only thing that determines why an act was done in the first place is intention.
"Even animals which seem altruistic in nature are only doing so in order further the spread of their own genetics"
By saying they're only doing so in order to further the spread of their own genetics you're interpreting the motives of animals. The fact of the matter is that the spreading of their own genetics is merely a byproduct.
I wrote a paper on this back in high school. It was pretty good... you should read it.
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The short version is, "All actions are selfish." There was a huge debate about this notion in either my LJ or Erik's LJ... maybe a year ago. Several people had a hard time dealing with the fact that "selfless acts" are selfish. I was surprised at the level of resistance.
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Even animals which seem altruistic in nature are only doing so in order further the spread of their own genetics, an act of selfishness on a very primitive and subconscious level.
Reply
"Even animals which seem altruistic in nature are only doing so in order further the spread of their own genetics"
By saying they're only doing so in order to further the spread of their own genetics you're interpreting the motives of animals. The fact of the matter is that the spreading of their own genetics is merely a byproduct.
I wrote a paper on this back in high school. It was pretty good... you should read it.
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