Does selfishness ever bother you?

[John Cole]

My own selfishness bothers me more than it does in others.

"People do not feel in any way ashamed or guilty about spending money on new clothes or a new car instead of giving it to famine relief. (Indeed, the alternative does not occur to them.) This way of looking at the matter cannot be justified. When we buy new clothes not to keep ourselves warm but to look 'well-dressed' we are not providing for any important need."

--Peter Singer, who donates 25% of his salary to Oxfam and Unicef

[katyseagull]

lucksack -

Yes. Selfishness bothers me. I've seen a lot of it and so I sort of get where you're coming from. In the past few years I've been lucky to meet some great people who have renewed my faith. Prior to this, however, I was pretty down on people in general. I have known a lot of selfish and mean individuals - parents who abandon their kids, boyfriends who cheat because they aren't happy, coworkers who back stab you to get ahead. Anyway, I try to look at the positive side of things now instead of dwelling on how crappy people can be.


Not sure I agree with you about parents who push their kids to pursue a specific profession. That's kind of complex isn't it? They want their kid to be successful and not have to struggle so that they don't have to worry. A lot of parents are concerned that their kids will make a mistake and choose a stupid major in college. They want to make sure the kid studies something that will pay off in the end. Well ok, in a way that is selfish, but in another way it's understandable.

[mondo]

From merriamwebster.com :

selfish
One entry found for selfish.
Main Entry: self·ish
Pronunciation: 'sel-fish
Function: adjective
1 : concerned excessively or exclusively with oneself : seeking or concentrating on one's own advantage, pleasure, or well-being without regard for others
2 : arising from concern with one's own welfare or advantage in disregard of others <a selfish act>

Thought this might clear up some of the misconceptions in this thread, specifically that "feeling good" about doing nice things for others is "selfish" .... it's not !!!

I am w/ Blarg on this, and w/ specific reference to X-Mas, it is always more rewarding for me to have given and to see the joy in the receiver, than anything I might receive. I suppose it just depends on what's important to you.

peace, mondo

[lucksack]

mondo, that's just semantics.

[Blarg]

Calling a dictionary definition semantics is going a bit far.

You seem to brook no allowance for degree in a discussion in which degree matters and can't be buried.

[lucksack]

Well, if you do nice things because you think it could make you feel good, it is selfish. Actually I think the definition fits what I mean.

[Blarg]

You are just repeating your original sentiment over and over without reference to logic.

[tarheeljks]

[ QUOTE ]
Well, if you do nice things because you think it could make you feel good, it is selfish. Actually I think the definition fits what I mean.

[/ QUOTE ]

this seems trivially true, what are you getting at? unselfish people "do it" b/c it is a generous thing to do/the right thing to do and accept any benefits as a byproduct of the act.

[Myrtle]

[ QUOTE ]
mondo, that's just semantics.

[/ QUOTE ]

luck.....please reflect upon your above statement.

Before we have anything that resembles a reasonable conversation about the subject you have broached (which,IMO, is well worth discussing here), we need a 'baseline' definition of the word so that we may have clarity in any subsequent discussion.

Without it, we will quickly devolve into babble.

[Selfish Gene]

Dear OP:

No.