Are all human's inherintly selfish...

Question

and are all human relationships actualy driven by selfishness?

Answer 1

No, maybe this is a trait that you have. Its a sick world out there & you have to learn to "see". There are people out there that need and deserve some help. Then you have some user's & con-people that need to learn to do things for themselves.

Answer 2

No I don't think so. I think that some are born to that dispossion but on the whole women are more prone to give. It is the men who are more prone to selfishness but only as a survival instinct.

A majority of men and women are born with a more wise vision of themselves and others and they grow into adulthood nurturing this unselfish aspect of our race. Otherwise we would not have survived as a race without the ability to give unselfeshly

Answer 3

According to Wikipedia: Selfishness denotes the precedence given in thought or deed to the self, i.e., self interest or self concern. It is the act of placing one's own needs or desires above the needs or desires of others. Selfishness is the opposite of altruism (Selflessness).

If this is the definition, I would have to say NO. One might have a value that demands from him to sacrifice his needs/wants to a "higher goal." Values differ from a person to a person. A person might see his state\country as the highest value, hence sacrificing everything, including his life, for it. Another might be willing to go through extreme measures for love. I agree with Popper on this, values DEMAND from you and not give you. Maybe if you have a brother/sister/mother/father, for which you would give everything for, then that is another example.

Some individuals may be very selfish, but many of us are not. I'm sure many times in your life you didn't have to do something but you still did it in order to help someone else. Kindness is everywhere.

I believe that a true relationship is the opposite of selfishness.  

Answer 4

Of course. To suggest otherwise is false. Everyone except you knows this.

Answer 5

  probably, dont we believe in survival of the fittest, people are driven by greed and pride and even close family can be betrayed, we cant generalise too much, but i dont trust anyone, i have seen too much and agree with your statement.

Answer 6

Let's see: Doing something for ourselves is selfish.

Doing something for others makes us feel good; which is also selfish?

Answer 7

instinctually humans have the need to care about themselves its survival, and its not surprising that humans do things for their own gain, a relationship is for your enjoyment , a job is for yu to get things you enjoy. What im saying here is if ou break it down everything we do is for something we want which is well selfish but its the way things are.

Answer 8

Human

Survival, hunger, thirst, comfort, s*x drive, power, glory, greed

We were created just above the animal. We cannot be greater the what we are with out something to make us better.

Love, compassion, kindness, goodness, hope, humility, faith,

Davine

Answer 9

YES!!!!  

Answer 10

I think so.  I think selflessness, in it's purest form, is kind of a myth.  We do things because we WANT to do them .  But I do think sometimes we genuinely want to help others.  And then other times we want to fill our own needs.  It's a mixture.  And I do think satisfying, fulfilling relationships can be formed with other selfish human beings.  So, don't despair.

Answer 11

a lot of people are not selfish

Answer 12

Of course not. I can't remember who came up with this thought experiment (might have been Rawls), but it is a good one. Imagine that you were given two options:

#1 The person you care the most about will live a fantastic life, with everything working out for them and them finding true happiness. You, however, will not ever see them again, and you will believe that they live in utter misery and squalor.

#2 The person you care the most about will live an utterly wretched life. Constantly unhappy and depressed, and beset by numerous disasters. You, however, will not ever see them again and will believe that they live a great, happy, successful life.

Now, which option do people choose? Most people, when presented with that case, would choose the first option. By doing so, they show that it is really the person they care about, not the happiness they might get from thinking their loved one is doing well (or whatever things psychological egoists come up with.) Since they will forget about the choose immediately after it has been made and will from then on believe that their loved one is miserable, it is not any subjective state of their own which motivates the decision, ruling out selfishness as the motive.

Of course there are many other argument against psychological egoism, but this thought experiment is simple and quick.

Answer 13

yes...sadly that's all there is...yet it is also one of humanity's most charming aspects for although we are driven to do things because they make us feel good, that is when love comes into play, and we will do all sorts of things that don't make us feel good just for that one moment with someone who can make us feel better than anyone else can, and though all we want is to feel that feeling, when we realize that a single person is capable of giving someone else that feeling we are wiling to sacrifice ourselves so that the good feeling will stay alive, and we won't have to live without it...so it's selfish, but it drives us to do incredibly selfless things, based simply on a feeling they can instill in us...that ego, that sense of self and that wish to make ourselves happy--even if that means we would rather be dead than miserable--is what makes us human, and yes, it is very selfish.

Answer 14

I don't know if "selfishness" is the right word.  I think we are motivated by what's in our self interest. There's a distinction, albeit a fine one. I like the example given in the site below: I brush my teeth because it's in my self interest; not because it's selfish to do so. To deprive someone else of all the toothpaste when I have enough is selfish.  [The last example is my own.]

Answer 15

First part: Almost all humans are selfish even if what they're trying to gain is something as little as staying home on a day off and not do anything.

Selfishness exist so that we can feel good.  We have to look out for ourselves right?  We should all put ourselves first as I think we all do.  That's selfishness at work.

The difference is who we hurt/harm in the process of self-gain, and that's a totally different level on its own.  Some selfishness are  harmless and may be deemed okay.  Hurting someone because of selfishness is where we should all draw the line.  

Second question:  No , not all human relationships are driven by selfishness;  some by selflessness...

Answer 16

Every individual is driven by selfish instincts and desires; but some are more thoughtful, kind and considerate than others!

Sadly, not every human is humane.

Choose your partner carefully!