Does true altruism, as defined by selflessness, exist?
Dec 3, 2019 02:00:05 #
Dec 3, 2019 05:25:17 #
rumitoid wrote:
Tune in tomorrow, stayed clued to this station, lol. Report at 11.
Only if one believes that other people are real. Then there is a glimmer of a possibility that some errant strain of altruism has contaminated the general malaise and is poised to spread its seeds of destruction throughout the collective.
Agreed. We must all remain vigilant!
Dec 3, 2019 08:23:20 #
Singularity wrote:
Only if one believes that other people are real. Then there is a glimmer of a possibility that some errant strain of altruism has contaminated the general malaise and is poised to spread its seeds of destruction throughout the collective.
Agreed. We must all remain vigilant!
Agreed. We must all remain vigilant!
There is no such thing as altruism. Even doing something because it "makes you feel good" is an ulterior motive. If it's because "it's the right thing to do;" then you have invested it with a sense of obligation.
Dec 3, 2019 12:03:26 #
Smedley_buzk**l wrote:
There is no such thing as altruism. Even doing something because it "makes you feel good" is an ulterior motive. If it's because "it's the right thing to do;" then you have invested it with a sense of obligation.
Much debate exists as to whether "true" altruism is possible in human psychology. The theory of psychological egoism suggests that no act of sharing, helping or sacrificing can be described as truly altruistic, as the actor may receive an intrinsic reward in the form of personal gratification. But not all acts of love, if that love is true, receive an intrinsic reward in the form of personal gratification, such as torture and death. Sheer terror may not dissuade a person from sacrificing for another. Yet then again we can also question motive: was it a martyr complex, some perverse self-destructive value? If one does not want to believe there is selflessness, a convincing rationale for that belief is always available...but cannot be proved.
Dec 3, 2019 12:19:09 #
rumitoid wrote:
Much debate exists as to whether "true" ... (show quote)
Perhaps an example of an aching absence or failure of empathy could be instructive. One such perversion of empathy is described by Orwell in 1984. Winston is being tortured. By way of his greatest childhood fear. The threat of having his face devoured by hungry rats, to be introduced into a cage locked around his head, excluding his hands or any hope of defense...
There is a delay and as he waits, he intuits he is being given a chance. A choice. Empathically, he understands. And terminally poisons his own soul by saving himself.
By screaming, "Not me! Not me! Do it to HER! DO IT TO JULIA!
Shame and regret are perhaps the most poisonous emotions we possess as they fuel self hatred. When we no longer love ourselves, empathy is moot, an epic fail.
Dec 3, 2019 12:40:01 #
Singularity wrote:
Perhaps an example of an aching absence or failure... (show quote)
That is part of the original theories about empathy, the word invented in 1908. Complex issue. I have tons of notes on both. Fascinating topics.
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