Why are people selfish?

Question

I'm not looking for answers like they want money and are greedy, i mean beyond that, does it come from previous survival reasons ? Where does it come from why are we never satisfied?

Answer 1

It's human nature.  We all have to pretty much think of ourselves first even if we don't tell another soul.  If no one else will take care of you, then u better be prepared for it and this is where our selfishness comes in very handy.

When we make decisions involving others, we usually always think about how it's going to affect "us", right?  Being selfish to an extent can be positive and actually help us function better.

It's only bad when we end up hurting another in order for us to gain something; ie, a job promotion, lying to get our way only to get busted later, hiding stuff from friends or family such as pretending u don't have any money and just try to mooch off them, etc. etc..

And to the last question:  Not ever being satisfied is really just a state of mind.  The more u want, the more ur never satisfied because u always expect more than what u previously got. Ur expectations are higher, and if after achieving something, u raise that expectation up a notch or two, u will never be satisfied.

Stop being so "selfish-materialistically" and them maybe, we can finally be satisfied.  We know we can't have everything, so, just be satisfied w/what u have.

Answer 2

You cannot think about that which has no uniformity with you. So, you need 'self' as reference to evaluate the rest of the universe.

Answer 3

People always seem to want what they don't have.  Then after they get it, they want something else.

Here's a quote by Richard Whately: "A man is called selfish, not for pursuing his own good, but for neglecting his neighbor's."  

Answer 4

We look at people and lament their selfishness, without realizing that we are just the same. We lament their hating this and wanting that, without realizing that we are just the same. Therefore, compassion and love arise from this awareness, as it pulls us all together as human beings. We are all selfish and hate this and want that; this is our nature. Knowing this gives us a great basis for forgiveness, love and compassion for just about anyone. Any ‘wrong’ people do is based upon desire or hate, and thus knowing that we all share these passions, make it easier to accept and forgive such ‘wrongs’. They can be distinguished only in their degree of wrongness, but they all share the same basis; thus, no one is more deserving of forgiveness, than anyone else. No ‘sin’ is worse than any other is: they all derive from the same desire and hate.

To know that we are all based in desire and hatred is to know humanity in all its strengths and weaknesses. It is true to say that you do not know someone very well until you know what they really like, what they most earnestly desire or hate. Moreover, it is true. For the most part, people are simple beings, driven mostly by these two forces. We want this and we don’t want that. That is how we move through life drifting towards one desire after another and away from one hatred to another. In this way, our life evolves [or stands still] and then we die. We experience pleasure and pain continuously in varying degrees and in varying forms, some coarse and some subtle, but that is the pattern of our lives, of everyone’s life. It is observably so and how things actually are.  

Answer 5

read the book "selfish gene" by richard dawkins and you get your answer,

we are selfish and thats primarily the motive for everything we do in our lives!

thats why we humans have survived and are still here

Answer 6

...the power to have total control...