I was wondering if many people here believe that there is such a thing as an altruistic act.
Personally I don’t. That’s not to say that there is no such thing as a selfless gesture or a kind person, I just think that no matter how small and insignificant, humans nature means we always have to have a justification for our actions. I.e. you give all your money to charity: You feel sorry for these people/guilty perhaps. It makes you feel better to do something to help. Of course it’s still an extremely kind and generous act, but the human condition means there’s a part of you which has a self-serving reason for doing it, no matter how comparatively small and unimportant this reason is in relation to the act itself.
People say this is a depressing view, I don’t think it is, it’s just realistic. I still believe in the kindness of people, it’s just I think the kindness can to an extent be explained.
Now you’re all going to think I’m a miserable ass :), so please feel free to change my mind.

so people only do these things because it makes them feel good afterwards? i don't think that diminishes the act of giving. the satisfaction of knowing you are doing the right thing can hardly be the only motive. that's a bit of a arse-about-face way of looking at it

Giving your life to save someone else. I can't think of a self serving reason to do this.

I know exactly what Vines is saying , i've thought about this a few times over the past year.There's definitely truth in what she's saying.

Hugo, its not just about satisfaction afterwards,it's about reasons for doing something that are in your interests.

I just think the key is,is to ignore this and make "your interests" good ones.

*xen* spouted:
Giving your life to save someone else. I can't think of a self serving reason to do this.

martordom - some of these people are by far the worst as in some repscts this can be one of the most selfish acts

Its a sad fact that the world is purely driven by self interest. This in itself isnt too tragic, but when you consider that more and more people are willingly to mindlessly listen to what they are fed by mass media, then it becomes a tragedy indeed.
This is especially true for newspapers, who rely on extreme headlines to sell. An example of this was the coupon campaign to keep the bulger killers locked up. I'm not making any judgements on whether they deserved to be or not, but when you consider that all most people knew about the affair was these shocking headlines, that were hyped up purely to boost sales.
In the end many people took it at face value, and neglected to look into the background of the killings, a judgement only professionals were qualified to make.

Hypothetically, the decisions could very well have been that the two had done their time, but were unable to be released because the goverment were scared about opinion polls, purely because a media mogul in a penthouse somewhere decided to cash in and make another million

I know ive gone very off topic here, but look on it as an example of the human condition and the world being driven by greedy self interest

In my eyes a kind act is still just that...a kind act.

Of course you will feel better about yourself and good...thats just human nature.

Yeah Royster no arguments there.

In this case though i think what Vines is talking about is selfless acts.Kindness and selflessness are slightly diferent but related things.

fireboy spouted:


martordom - some of these people are by far the worst as in some repscts this can be one of the most selfish acts

The definition of a martyr is one who makes great sacrifices or suffers much in order to further a belief, cause, or principle. I agree this sort of fanatacism is not selfless.

But to give your life to save another individual person must surely be an act compassion and selflessness?

*xen* spouted:
Giving your life to save someone else. I can't think of a self serving reason to do this.

There are some people who'd die rather than live with the guilt of not helping someone when they could.

Weirdos.

stupid face spouted:
Yeah Royster no arguments there.

In this case though i think what Vines is talking about is selfless acts.Kindness and selflessness are slightly diferent but related things.

Yeah but even an act of selflessness is still a kind act but on a much grander scale.

Still, 90% of people i think who perform selflessness acts still have a small motivational reason...even if it is to feel better about yourself or whatever.

Anyway the best selfless act is always the one that you dont tell anyone.