People are generally very selfish and yet pose as though they care a lot for others. Why such hypocrisy?

Question

Those who are in total disagreement of this clearly generalized view may please ignore this question... thanks.

My question is not why people are selfish..... it is rather that why they want to pose as though they care a lot for others.... my question is to find out the reason for the hypocrisy.

Answer 1

They do it because they ARE selfish--to stroke their own egos, to look a certain way in the eyes of others...or for some other selfish, greedy or manipulative reason. Simple as that. I find this true even in stupid gestures like: "how are you?". Most people don't *really* want to know. It's flippant, pretentious, fake, and as you say, selfish.....but, thankfully usually also very transparent.

Answer 2

You think. I know there's less and less time and energy as things go on. Many people are trying to be nice or at least not crochety. No on likes that. We have to pose more and more as we have less and less. Everyone's so 'logical' with less feeling. Look at the stress and violence going on. It's time for a real shift in thinking. When it get's bad enough we'll have to laugh and come down off it as it's gotten ridiculous. Stop judging and everyone will feel better about you and you might even become the model for others. It's a time when the techniques in neuro-linguistic, noetic science, self confidence and psychology know how to de-program and flip personalities off the dark side. May the force be with you. Search the web on all these topics and be surprised. We tend to see what we see and not all there is to see.

Answer 3

Hello Small,

People tend to say they care for others or pose this way because they wait for something in return, I don`t agree with it anyway but I can`t do much to change them cause they are many. We can`t refer to them as only a bunch of people - 5-6 - they are much more all over the world. But usually the person that is seeing them he/she knows that they are only posing.

I do care; I know I hate people that say: I care for this country because it is a lie, none cares what happens to his country and it`s annoying but it happened for a long time that If I become an president after I publish my books none will care cause I say: I care.. who would believe me?

Hypocrisy has it`s levels - at high level: Government. - at low level: people around us.

I do care for people, I help even the ones that hurt me... It is true, I`m kind of the guy that turns the cheek sometimes, sometimes I just leave... but why such hypocrisy? cause they have no values...

Hope this helps,
bye.

Answer 4

First, I am stymied by your question as I think people often contradict themselves and this is the only natural way to be. For example, there is a lot of dissonance that occurs throughout the day in any given day (usually higher in the thinker). One may assume a pose (or strike a pose) to play the part in society, but may not feel genuinely moved due to the cynical nature and distaste for life the person holds in general of the world and its dealings. It isn't odd to feel compassion for others and want to help others genuinely, but then in the midst of the gore, feel disgust at life and its wreckage, feel disgust for people's bad choices that led them here, and disgust for random events that rattle one's soul and compassion. Then, they may for moments unaccounted for, feel inward and distraught, selfish and self-protective, introverted and hateful. We are complex creatures and it isn't easy to be pure. Purely angelic doesn't exist. Purely good motives that turn into purely good acts and purely good consequences of those acts does not exist in this life and the way life streams.

They may actually care a lot for people, but care a lot more for themselves. After all, self-preservation must precede helping others. What good is life if selfishness doesn't direct one's acts? Selfishness in moderation provides some compass for our actions. It is selflessness that leads one to help others at the expense of tending to the self.

Answer 5

Yes people are generally selfish. It's human.

We are generally selfish because as humans we care primarily about ourselves and our needs.We only care about others on a secondary level.

I think that is the only way we can be able to care about others, if we have satified our needs first.

you cannot feed people while you are hungry. You can't cure the sick while you are sick yourself. You need that satisfied sense of being to be able to be more helful and caring towards others.

Answer 6

I really DO care a lot about others...

I just can't give 'em any money to prove it...

(But I always give whatever change I have in my pocket to polite homeless people...even if that's the last of my money 'til pay-day...gives me a warm fuzzy feeling all over...and helps that poor sod get a 40-ouncer to quiet the voices inside his poor malfunctioning brain...)

Just because I don't tie myself to Whaling ships in the freezing Artic waters, doesn't mean that I don't care about saving the Whales...!!!

Answer 7

They have an inner moral law that they are trying to convince that they aren't violating and they have the correct assumption that everyone else has it too. To suddenly come out with it; the fact that they completely violate it would be too much to withstand

Answer 8

People play social roles and pretend to be what they're expected to be, according to society's norms.
For instance, If a society values honesty (like the US) people will brag that they don't lie. But of course they do.

Answer 9

because in life i think everyone is out for them self's but its hard to reach your goals all on your own so pretending you care for other es gets other es on your side thanks god for this hypocrisy the world would be a very sad place without it
its just nice to think people care some relay do but i think most dint

Answer 10

The question answers itself-they present a facade to have others admire them, yet when it comes to real life are unwilling to sacrifice to uphold the image they present.