Most of the comments are actually pretty intelligent or at least reasonable.
Jen M.
This is really good! How did I miss this? I bookmarked almost everything.
An interesting article, but the last question made me think...
Isn't every human by definition selfish? I'm always irritated by that question. Even the people who spend their lives selflessly serving others seem to get pleasure from it, or at least some sort of satisfaction from it, as otherwise they wouldn't do it. We all do what makes us happiest, or at least what we think will make us happiest in the longer-term. It's part of our desire to survive.
The article itself was good too
Ziggy -- yes indeed! Every person is absolutely selfish, in that practically everything we do is in the service of the self. It's more obvious in decisions that society hasn't certified as selfless, like choosing not to parent.
But even the decision to parent is selfish -- in the sense of serving what is perceived as one's best interest -- because the parent goes through with the pregnancy because:
1 -- she wants the child (selfish)
2 -- she believes she is not complete as a woman unless she procreates (selfish)
3 -- she is afraid her husband will beat her if she "kills" their kid (selfish)
4 -- she is tired of hearing her mother lecture her about "stepping up and being responsible" (selfish)
5 -- her friends would dump her if she admitted she didn't want kids (selfish)
6 -- she wants to fit in (selfish)
7 -- he wants someone with the same name as him (selfish)
8 -- he wants to fit in (selfish)
9 -- he doesn't want to be "the last of the Smiths" (selfish)
10 -- he wants to prove that his sperm works (selfish)
11 -- his culture equates knocking up women with manliness (selfish)
12 -- his religion tells him, the more kids he has, the larger "kingdom" he will have in heaven (selfish)
13 -- he is afraid of legal repercussions, should he abandon her, or kill the kid, or kill them both (selfish)
14 -- they are afraid of not going to heaven because their religion says abortion is bad (selfish)
15 -- they want to prove that they can do it better than their own parents did (selfish)
Interestingly, I read an article in WSJ about economists, how they are less likely than almost any other demographic group to give money charitably. It's because economists understand, more than anyone else, that everything we do is about what brings us the most utility with the least cost. Giving isn't even about helping other people, so much as it is about us getting that warm-fuzzy feeling (or wanting to go to heaven, or wanting to be perceived as a giving person, or wanting a tax break, etc -- selfish!). I should go find it and post it.
Kinda goes with the belief that no action or decision is purely alturistic.