psychological egoism anecdote?

Question

anyone got a good anecdote for psychological egoism? that everyone is selfish?

Answer 1

"Selfish" and "selfless," as absolutes, are mostly meaningless terms; we are all a little bit of both. Some of us are much more of one than the other, but most of us are just about balanced (or slightly on the selfish side).

We all act in our own self-interest to some degree. We have to, to keep from going crazy. For instance, this computer you're reading this on, how much did you pay for it? You could've given the money to charity to clothe the poor or feed the hungry instead. Heck, you could give every last cent you earn to charity that you don't need for your own survival. But what kind of life would that be? And what kind of dependence would that foster if everyone did that, relying on others for their needs?

Also, selfishness need not be a bad thing, but can be good. Commerce (aka capitalism) relies on it. Consider the following exchange. You have some of these things called "dollars." Some guy down the street in a store has something called "loaves of bread." You would like to trade a couple of your dollars for a loaf of bread, because you value the bread more than your $2. Similarly, the baker values your $2 more than his loaf of bread. So you buy the loaf, he gets his $2, you get your bread, and you're both better off than before, because you've both traded something you had for something you valued more. You both acted in your own self-interest, and yet you both benefitted from the exchange. That's the definition of free commerce.

Answer 2

Do you really need an anecdote to note the above?

Some may say it's pretty evident..

:-)

Answer 3

Yes, "I".