why are humans such selfish creatures r9k
Why are humans such selfish creatures r9k
The very nature of humanity is to find material gains for themselves and the ones they love. Even those who devote their life to helping others do so out of a search for validation from others or a higher power
nice ashley
Aren't you selfish? At the end of the day, don't you wish you didn't have to deal with people? Start looking at people for what they make themselves out to be, not just watch their flaws.
We need to care for ourselves somehow, OP.
Because at some point in human history people became insecure over land resources and then the fighting began and just never stopped. Maybe never will.
Who is this? I reverse image searched with no results. Picture is comfy
We were made that way. It's our survivalism instict screaming at us, it is also why as a whole we'll never be happy.
as usual, fpbp
we're all selfish. i'm selfish. but i know that. i try to remove myself from that, but it's not easy. you have to remove yourself from your ego to do so.
The subconscious terror of our own personal inevitable extinction.
It's a necessary component for survival passed down to us from every single of our genetic ancestors. Our animalistic qualities can only be tempered by restraint and self reflection. It's why ethics and morality exist and they are disciplines unique only to humanity as far as we know, unless ayylmaos exist.
Maybe aren't as selfish as you think, I mean for tens of thousands of years we have constructed communities, fought for common causes and identities, created infirmaries and charitable organizations, the Hippocratic Oath is well over 2000 years old.
Sounds like a pretty comfy race to me.
What is the point in being selfless unless by doing so you later down the line gain something from it.
that's not being selfless then
Well no but there's no point in being selfless unless it's just an act and you actually have ulterior motives. It's pointless unless it benefits you somehow.
idk
i'm so tired of the vaginal jew
why won't women just have sex with me when i want them to
i see.
what do you think selfless means user
It'd mean doing something that doesn't benefit you. Which is a waste of effort. The only time it is worthwhile is again if there's another reason you do something selfless as in you benefit somehow either immediately or later down the line/directly or indirectly.
Isn't that like Derrida's (or was it Kierkegaard?) shit about how all acts of faith are by definition illogical?
People aren't always irrational actors either, so they can have compulsions and drives towards acts that may benefit others and have no benefit to the self and therefore be 'selfless'. It happens often, people do 'nice' things everyday our of habit. It's not even about the selfish motivation of avoiding guilty conscious (although maybe that's what instilled the habit or behavior) but rather it's because they have learned, quite irrationally, to behave in certain ways to certain actions.
Like when you pick up a person's dropped newspaper and hand it to them, it's a selfless act. Saying 'thank you' to a cashier.
This thread can be answered by which person view the earth and the human race.
I'd say mostly trash with some good bits
okay but people frequently do things that illogical or a waste of effort or doesn't benefit them, depending on how you look at it and who you are.
so?
>why are humans such selfish creatures r9k
Selfish by what standards? Selfish compared to what? Bee colonies, where the individual is but a cell?
Why wouldn't I be? What does caring for others get me?
>What does caring for others get me?
totally irrational bonds that lead to reciprocal kindness and caring from others.
I guess it may just be me but I don't do things for others if I don't think It'll somehow benefit me in some way later down the line. If it doesn't benefit you somehow in one way or another why would you go out of your way to do stuff for others. It just doesn't make sense to me. If it's a colleague or something it could benefit your business or social wise I guess.
I guess. I just don't stuff for others if there's no gain to it. I assumed it was natural to act "selfless" only if it helps you somehow.
>that lead to reciprocal kindness and caring from others
Never experienced that, even when I was kind for the sake of searching for said bonds.
Well firstly I'm sure you could find that there might be some platitudes or niceties which you do that in fact have no direct or incidental benefit to you - however rare. (Remember the human mind is really fucking good at retroactive justification).
But also the simple fact is a huge part of the early survival and proliferation of the human race on all the inhabited continents was because of our capacity to work as a society, part of that meant doing selfless things that while indirectly you could argue did cause social cohesion and a tendency for reciprocation of past generosities, there was no foresight in doing so. Human beings evolved to strike a balance between selfishness and social cohesion that allowed the collective to thrive (the Stoic philosophers had a really good word for it which I can't remember).
>Never experienced that,
You mean no one has ever smiled back at you? No one has ever changed their attitude about you just because you acted nicely?
Are you sure you're not just focusing on the times where you were unfairly screwed over?
>even when I was kind for the sake of searching for said bonds.
Well that makes those particular attempts transactional, not irrational right?
It's basic survival. You find food, you hoard food, you kill those trying to steal your food, you share food with those who promise the continued survival of your genetic lineage. This is what all creatures do to survive.
The real question is why were we ever given sentience and the desire for more than this. If we were stuck for an eternity only playing the game of natural selection we would never have to ask such questions. But here we are, seeking God and higher purpose despite never receiving evidence of it's existence. Maybe our intellect as creatures is TOO good? Maybe we are just destined to suffer. Who knows.
>I assumed it was natural to act "selfless" only if it helps you somehow.
that's an interesting interpretation user.
The entirety of life on out planet was forged under the principle of survival of the fittest, a degree of selfishness is necccesary for individual survival. Absolute selflessness is not a successful evolutionary trait in a species such as our own. As communal animals who aren't as individualistic as some were actually quite a bit less selfish than many of the creatures we share the world with but while social we aren't eusocial.
True selflessness is rare enough that we tend to make religions out of those people or revere them as saints, heroes, and martyrs.