A concept that a certain student in Academy, I won't mention who, likes to bring up is the theory that everything anyone does is selfish, no matter what it is. This theory makes me so angry. He gave the example that someone joining the military is committing a selfish act and I just couldn't wrap my head around it. How is joining the military selfish? He claims that they only join the military for fame and glory and when I made the point that they want to protect our country, he countered saying that they only want to protect our country so that their family can be safe. Following that, he made the claim that they only want their family to be safe because they want their genes to be successful and be able to extend their lineage. This completely threw me off. How could someone caring for their children be selfish? We care for our parents just as much; how is that selfish?
In some situations, I can see how this theory could possibly be true. For example, if you let someone cheat off you on a test, you could claim that that is selfless because you don't gain anything from letting them cheat off of you. But that would be incorrect. That person, in my opinion, likes you even just a little more because you gave them the answers. Subconsciously, you do this because they are your friend and you don't want them to be mad at you or because you want that person to like you. Another example would be buying something for a random person. People like to do these kinds of things and consider them selfless but again, that'd be wrong. When a person pays for someone else's meal or helps them pay for something they feel good about themselves. That's what they gain from that. They feel like a good person, and that makes them happy.
While writing this blog, I find myself realizing how true the idea that every action is selfish can be. I'm actually kind of mad; I don't want that to be true. I think that one of the reasons I struggle with this concept, especially when its involved with the military, is because a few of my friends want to join the military. I think that it's extremely brave of them to do but it scares me. Because it's so admirable for someone to join the military, I can't stand thinking that it'd be just for themselves. If I look at it from the student's point of view, though, I can see it. My friends that want to join the military all feel like they don't have a purpose in life or lack structure, and looking at their situation with this theory in mind, they may just be joining the army to feel like they're doing something. And that would benefit them, causing their action to be selfish.
I now understand the idea that you discover new things while you're writing. I had the mindset of arguing my point that not everything is selfish, but I've been completely flipped around. Even though I don't want to admit it, maybe that theory is correct. It's just a difficult one for me to accept.
Nikki, I remember this discussion from about a year ago, and I remember it got really heated. I happen to have agreed with the other kid (I won't say who either) but only so far as to say that humans are simply selfish subconsciously. In other words, not everything a person does is done blatantly for themselves. Using the military example, you can make the argument that the volunteer feels fulfilled because they are a part of something bigger, and because they are risking themselves to protect somebody or some idea. Their primary goal is benefiting someone else, not making themselves feel good. However in doing so, they end up feeling fulfilled even though their primary concern wasn't that. So really, they aren't completely selfish.
ReplyDeleteMy sister and I had a discussion about this same topic a while ago, because she is in Academy as well and sure enough, Mr. Morgan pitched the same question to them this year. We deliberated for a while and settled on this: if all actions are selfish, then no actions are selfish. Then they are just actions and you can attach whatever adjective you like to them because they are all the same. Obviously, that's not entirely true; not all actions are like that. It's hard to explain, but maybe the distinction we can try to make here in order to decide what is a truly selfish action is: what is the person's immediate priority? Benefiting someone else, or benefiting themselves? And to what end? Are they willing to hurt and disregard others to benefit themselves? If so, then can we say that those actions are the truly selfish ones?