In general, are people selfish or selfless?

Question

If you say selfish then people are doing trade, not service. If you say people are selfless previous track record/history says otherwise. What gives?

Answer 1

Selfish= thinking of yourself first.
Selfless= thinking of others first.

Answer 2

In general, people are people. Selfishness and selflessness are subjective concepts.

Also, people can be acting in the best interest of the group they identify with (extended family, tribe, community). So actions that appear selfless to anyone within the group, may appear selfish to outsiders, and vice versa...

Answer 3

In general people are selfish and even if talks and laughs with his freinds he derives "enjoyment",If he helps someone needy he derives "mental satisfaction",..... So ultimately every action a person performs it is the ultimate result of satisfying some need.To get something.And if perform an act with an expectation that makes you selfish.Life cannot go on without selfishness.If it is not their no action.Be selfish. But keep its degree well under the control otherwise it will have a negative effect.

Answer 4

i believe that ppl are selfish and selfless at the same time. Ppl are selfish to be more successful and to harness as much bounty in this world ie. money & knowledge. BUt then they know that in order to achieve those, they have to be selfless.. ie.. to share their knowledge, service & money.

Ppl has got to be selfless to be selfish and sometimes the other way around.. A teacher has got to be selfless to gain money and power, the same goes to policemen, firemen, politician etc. A businessman has got to be selfless in providing good products and service to gain more money and customers. One can be selfish and not selfless.. but those who are selfish yet successful in life are those who are selfless too. Hence, in general, i believe that ppl are selfish and selfless at the same time

Answer 5

Yes, but you said, "in general." In general people aren't good or evil, they're just selfish. It's basically why our economic and societal systems work, they reward greed and "selfishness". There is altruism, but it's more aspired to than actually done. In the daily race of acquisitiveness, it makes people feel good to think there are those that help and love the downtrodden, as long as it's someone else. Although from time -to-time they may give those less fortunate money, but it's almost always out of their largesse( skimming gifts off the top of their storehouse, or to avoid some taxation,etc.)

Answer 6

People are Selfish to be selfless

Answer 7

Selfish.

Answer 8

That is a very interesting and debatable question. In general mankind is selfish by nature.As it is not returning to the environment that benefits and cherishes it.Man does create chaos and disharmony in the world he lives for his personal goals and interests.That's why we have problems like Global Warming, Ozone Depletion and Terrorism.
One more evidence of that is the presence of religion and devine law that man is suppose to follow for controlling his mean habit of selfishness.

Answer 9

Its a matter of degree. You could argue that I am being selfish by simply existing in an already overpopulated world. My family would feel that I was being selfish if I committed suicide, leaving them to live without me.

In general, I'd have to say that people are selfish. Why else would there be so many of us, squabbling constantly about our worldly goods?

Answer 10

It's human nature to be selfish. It's basic survival instinct. Even those who appear selfless, in some ways are selfish. Perhaps the selflessness is their own selfish way to make themselves feel better.

The beauty of capitalism is that it banks on our basic instinct to be selfish and leverages that for the greater good of society. More times that not, we trade because what we get from the trade is of more value to us than what we gave up. That's also the same from your trading partner's perspective. Otherwise, neither of you would have made the trade (or won't make the trade again in the future if one of you feel you got the short end of the deal). Multiply that by trillions of transactions and you have a lot of value added to society through selfish trades where each party gains.

So, in order for us to make money, we have to do something that others find valuable enough that they are willing to pay above and beyond our costs for providing it. Wealthy people, by and large, have figured out how to do something that others find very valuable. They may also be more driven or selfish than the rest of us schmucks, but, they've generally added value nevertheless.

Bill Gates is extremely wealthy. The government has gone after his company for monopolistic practices in the past. His products have huge margins. Many might think he's too wealthy. But, I have been much better off using Bill's products over the last 20 years than not. In fact, two of his products - Excel and Powerpoint are what I use to put food on the table. Gates is selfish, just like the rest of us, but he created products that we would find useful enough to buy. It just so happens that everybody buys them.

Likewise, Brad Pitt is extremely wealthy. Not quite on par with Gates, but much, much better than most of us. What has he done? He's provided some great entertainment - both on and off the screen, entertainment that we're willing to buy because we feel that we're better off having seen his movies than keeping the $3 - $8 it cost to see his movie. The guy woos all of the ladies (including the hottest one in the world) and all the guys think he's pretty cool too with great performances in Fight Club, Oceans 11 and Snatch (to name a few). Brad may be selfish, but he too creates things that many people are willing to buy.

The rest of us make things that only a few are willing to buy. It's probably enough to put food on the table, but not enough to match Gates and Pitts's wealth. Is it because we aren't as selfish as they are? Doubtful. It's probably because we aren't as talented, aren't as willing to take risks and aren't as able to do things that a great number of people are willing to buy.

Answer 11

The selfish are rich. The selfless are poor. Both have honest &
currupt within their flanks. The world is full of both types,as in the past, now in the present, and in future too.