You Learn Something New Every Day

Are human beings self-centered?

My answer? Yes, we are very self-centered. Humans can’t be any other way (and neither can anything else I know of).

All people, no matter how altruistic or evil we are, aim for some kind of happiness. Even people who destroy themselves do so because they think that somehow they will feel better and happier.

No matter what we do, one thing always stays constant: everything we do on purpose we believe will make us happy—whatever we perceive as being in our interests.

Do you share everything you have with others around you, even when you need it more than they do? Somewhere down there, you believe you are getting something out of this arrangement (and if you continue to hold the belief, you likely are getting something out of it). That doesn’t make you any less altruistic—it’s just the truth.

Are you selfish and inconsiderate? Anyone you know? There must be some sort of perceived advantage to being that way. Some experience(s) that demonstrated how selfishness was beneficial to you. Something learned. (or, as is the case with some folks, the selfishness prevents you from seeing the disadvantages.)

I am not claiming here that humans are inherently doomed to turn against one another and fight each other. On the contrary—unlike some animals, we can’t live totally alone. We must cooperate and socialize in order to survive. The fact that we’ve come this far technologically is a testament to that.

The great battle now is to win people over to better perspectives—outlooks that harmonize their self-interest with that of the rest of the world.

Why is it important to write about this? Because we need to be truthful about who we are. Instead of feeling guilty, we just need to accept it.

There should be no shame in accepting that you, me, and everyone else decides to do one thing or another based on how we believe it will turn out for us.

Take the heart-warming example of Consuella Mackey, whose story I heard about through the ABC program Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. She struggled for 20 years raising many children, including foster children, while at the same time running a program to help the disabled called Operation Confidence. She did all this from a cluttered, run-down home, and often would let people in need come and sleep in her own bed while she slept on chairs.

Consuella eventually got what she deserved. The program built her a new, spacious, handicap-accessible home and paid for a professional office for her, and her efforts have gained national attention in the U.S. So what motivated her to be so selfless?

Of course I am not God and cannot crawl into her beautiful mind to find out, but I have thought up a little thought cloud below of how she might reason why she does what she does. If this looks a little weird, try reading each sentence and meditating on it a bit:

Sometimes the thinking starts at the top, and sometimes it starts at the sentence in large letters at the bottom. But happiness and life satisfaction are always present in your reasoning, even if you don’t realize it. Don’t be ashamed of that—develop a productive passion from it like Consuella Mackey did!

Need inspiration to do that? Read this article from one of my favorite blog authors.

June 16th, 2007 Posted by Michaell at 05:22pm | Concepts and the Future | 2 comments

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