Party Vibe

I think altruism is alot rarer than most people think; most seemingly selfless acts of kindness, I think, have motivation based upon personal wants.

Many people will give to charities, because it makes them feel good. Now this is quite a concious act, but even below that in the sub-concious, I think people enjoy these things, because of they way they feel, as opposed to the good they are actually doing.

This being said, I do believe in a small element of altruism. After all, as a social species, we have succeed as being a collective group, and helping and sharing to secure our own personal evolutionary goals: survive and pro-create.

Sometimes people are looked down upon because their motivation is perceived to be selfish, but it’s something we will all do at some point. Maybe it should be negligible, if infact there is only good coming of it.

Now, in terms of directly responding to the question… I have always said to myself, never try to rationalise religion, because there is no continuity within the teachings. Don’t even try to imagine it with a sense of logic, because it’s unknowable like that.

@Dom_sufc 433393 wrote:

I think altruism is alot rarer than most people think; most seemingly selfless acts of kindness, I think, have motivation based upon personal wants.

We had a thread about this a while back ‘is there such a thing as a selfless act’. I still maintain that ‘that warm fuzzy feeling inside’ when you help someone is a side effect of being good, and not the main motivating factor, you cannot consider an act selfish because of this side effect.

It’s not black and white, selfish or alruistic. It makes more sense to say that a good act is (for example) 95% for the other person and 5% for you, as the other person ultimately benefits far more than you. Arguably less people would give to charity if there was no satisfaction associated with I don’t think any charitable act can be ultimately 100% selfish, you can’t separate the fact you are helping someone from the fact you are enjoying it

@p0ly 433402 wrote:

I remember earlier i was looking at an Ant thinking when I was younger i’d play with it and probably kill it, how times have changed!

Its almost like we were completely different people when we were kids..

or different operating systems at least. p0ly ’98 home edition 😛

Hi All ,
I just do good cos i hate to see people struggle or upset , so i help out . There is no gain for me , i just put myself in their shoes and think how i’d like help if i was them . I have learnt though that some people will take advantage of this good nature and use you if you like , which is why now if i get in this situation i stop being helpful to them .

Also when you help people its nice to get a thanks ….its only manners but i find that some people out there can’t even do that . I’ll give you an example .

I was at my (then) girlfriends house and we had ordered a pizza to spend a night in all cosy like . Anyway the pizza delivery lad arrived and then left , we was about to tuck into the pizza and watch a dvd when there is a knock at the door . Its the pizza delivery boy he had reversed up the drive ( more like dirt track ) and turned to early and had put the front right wheel down a brick storm drain !!!!! .

The car was bottomed out so he couldn’t drive it out , so we let him use the phone while my girlfriend and i went and had a look . Well between us both we had an idea to get this car out and also a local lad had stopped who had an even better idea . So we got to work and after maybe 20 minutes we got the car out with no damage .

Now what pissed us off was his boss and i assume dad had turned up …..didn’t help or say much of anything to any of us . And when we got the car out the delivery lad did say thank you many times but his Dad/ Boss just told him to get in the car and they buggered off . My girlfriend and i thanked the lad that stopped as he was a great help and that was that . Went back and ate cold pizza 🙁 .

My point is we would have done what we done cos the delivery lad was in a panic and needed help , but his Dad/Boss who we by getting the car out undamaged had helped him could have at least thanked us but no . RUDE !!!!! .

However the rest of the evening was good 🙂

regards
Mungo

on those who do good in the hope of being looked upon faverably by god, jesus said something like; for those of you who act kindly and go church to be upstanding in your village and in the hope of reward from the father, i tell you this you have already been given your reward.

From my point of view helping people is the one thing that however much it is being done, seems to be constantly qwashed by greed/individualism/arrogance and power. See politicians. They have the most enviable position to actually make things change, but they are surrounded by so much greed and corruption that they end accepting that’s how this society should be.
From my point of view being a salesman for the biggest TV corporation in the UK, my aim is always to help, give the best option and tips. And thats whether customers appreciate it or not.

I need to start being helpful again, i’ve become quiet mean spirited for over a year now, even by my standerds. But once you spot why your becoming more and more miserable, like when you have no reason to get up early, your tired and why should i, but once you do and go for walk to the park/shops anything, your glad you did it gives you energy and lifts your spirit. Same with helping others, you might be ill and tired but when you decide to get up and do it, it gives you energy so that its not the burdon it felt like before you decided to get up and do it. It’s like going to the gym dos’nt mean you vain