Do you agree that every human action is selfish?

Question

Isn't every human action selfish? You give food to the poor. Why? Cause it makes you feel good about yourself to give. Selfish.

You go to a baby shower for someone you barely know even though you don't want to go. Why? Because you'll feel bad if the the guest of honor or party host gets upset that your not there. Selfish.

Do you think everybody is...naturally...selfish?

Answer 1

No.  There are still selfless people in the world who are willing to help others, even at the cost of their own lives.  Take for example the 1982 Washington plane crash into the Potomac.  Arland D. Williams Jr. gave his life in that icy river so that others may live.  I doubt he had any rewards in his mind.  Lenny Skutnik jumped into the river to save the last passenger.  What these people did was completely selfless.  They are barely remembered for what they did.  Least of all Mr. Williams, who gave all he had for the life of the other passengers.  Do you think there is anything selfish about these actions?

Answer 2

Yes,100%!!! It's a human nature....just take a look at how people think they can judge other countries, their way of living or their customs and attack them and kill people when it's to their advantage...for whatever excuse they can come up with!!! Look what we're doing to the animals and their habitat! It's a sick and selfish world human have created for themselves!

Answer 3

Yes every human action is selfish. That is not a 'bad' thing. It just is. I recommend you read Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. If you take that action you will understand that you are asking the right questions.  

Answer 4

A person may live for themselves, but the ver act of being alive isn't selfish.  When a person breathes, that carbon dioxide is air for trees.  When a person takes a t**d, that is fertilizer for plant life; so, simply living, breathing, and eating, means that everyone will eventually contribute SOMETHING to this planet, even if its in the form of a long, fat t**d (better eat your fiber!).  

A person may live for themselves, but the universe is engineered so that even though you do, ultimately you are forced to contribute something just from the very nature of having to exist.  To not contribute anything would mean not existing, and even at the moment of death, the body becomes worm food, and in time fertilizer yet again.  If a person is cremated the ions in the carbon can be used as, yet, more fertilizer.  

Nobody is naturally selfish, at least, not the body.  How selfish a person is depends largely on self importance.  The greater, the more, the less, the less.  Of course, extremes of self esteem, too high or too low, can also lead to selfish behavior; if its too high you just don't care about anything or anyone, and are a worthless pathetic creature incapable of love, understanding or compassion.  If its too low, you have too low an opinion of yourself to much give a c**p about anybody, and since the world sucks you may as well have your way; that mentality is part of the reason black people destroy neighborhoods and in africa, entire countries.  Black people are the opposite end of the spectrum of white people; whereas whites fancy themselves gods, many black folks themselves view themselves as little more than animals, and treat one another accordingly.

The Philosopher Lao Tze argued, that every person on this planet is insane.  According to him, we are all psychotic; there are few cynics and intellectuals who would quarrel with him on the point, but let me explain why he said that.  Self importance, he argued, is the quintescential human delusion, considering the size of the universe.  The space just between me and you, wherever you live (not gonna ask...), is proof enough of human insignificance and yet, people still see themselves as important.  Our dependency on everything in and on this earth, should be proof enough of our weakness, and yet, some people fancy themselves gods.  Therein lies the reason, why the Chinese philosopher (and China is winning more gold medals than the U.S.!) argued, self importance is the quintesential human delusion, and why we are all psychotic.  The idea of attaining the Dao, the idea of achieving Nirvana, is reclaiming one's sanity, and one's humanity.  Unless that is achieved you're right, ultimately everything we do, according to what Lao Tze argued, is inherently selfish.

sorry.

P.S.

Of course some people are worse and do more harm than others, some deliberately.

Answer 5

I think giving is the only practice that will help us become less selfish.

Because once every man and woman is born, he/she demands factors in life...more more and more until becomes so selfish to the part that he isn't able to care and feel for anybody else. So, giving is the way to heal this problem.

You did not want to go to a baby shower, however, you showed up. That's something else...called "fitting into the world" process not selfish.

Answer 6

Well if every action is selfish, then does selfishness really exist?  Everyone is selfish, but selfishness to a degree should not be considered selfish, unless no one gets anything in return except for that person.

Answer 7

...it is for me...thanks for asking...can't speak for the others...

Answer 8

If you want to define selfishness so broadly, then yes.  Every act is selfish.  We choose to do what we do, and we made that choice because it seemed like a good idea to us at the time.  We thought we were getting something good out of it.  Defined this way, however, the term becomes meaningless:  it's like saying that everything you do is something you do.

But most people DON'T mean nothing by that term.  They are distinguishing between a class of activities that obviously and directly benefits pretty much only you, and a class of activities that obviously and directly benefits anyone but you.  You can spend an hour watching a TV show or you can spend an hour donating blood.  It may be that your mom is happy knowing your safe at home watching TV or that you get a cookie when you donate blood, but those are peripheral benefits at best.  The person who benefits most from you donating is the person who gets the blood... a cookie or a warm fuzzy feeling just doesn't compare to what may be the difference between life and death.

But to put another spin on the question, I think it IS instinctive for humans to see personal benefit in a socially beneficial activity.  If you think about it, there's really no need for this to be so, but it is so pervasive in human experience that those who don't feel this way are outcasts and loners, if not considered completely mentally ill.  And there are biological reasons for this.  Our species benefits from group-identification.  It's one of the things that makes us strong... stronger than even a bunch of selfish individualists.

My take, for what it's worth.  Peace.

Answer 9

well thinking in this way as you are describing is

but hopefully everything isn't so,

doing something for someone else isn't selfish unless you boast that you did it because within boasting you are seeking a reward and seeking a reward for a good action is selfish

Answer 10

I think selfish people would like you to believe that to appease their own guilt about being selfish :)

a person who can find fault in someone giving to someone else, helping someone with no return accept the satisfaction of being kind...

that is not a person i would want to spend any time with!

Answer 11

This is true for the most part. It's easy to give a dollar to a homeless person if you keep a 20 for yourself.

So it's mostly for show I think. It';s not so much selfish and it is a boost for someones ego. I have this natural antipathy toward people with egos.

As for your other statement I can easily agree that most people do things for others only because they feel bad for them. Some do it because they know it would make them look good.

So I would say that MOST people do these things only for selfish reasons and a very small percentage actually do it for the sheer pleasure of helping another person and that's all.

Answer 12

Yes.

Kindness is just a nicer-sounding word for doing something that benefits you in some way, shape or form.

Even if its for something seemingly random, an act of kindness would still give us an intrinsic sense of pride, which makes us feel good.  

Hence, selfish.