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In the short term, people get divorces and bail all the time do they not? In the long term, I made a commitment to myself by procreating, that I would take car

by TGJ 16y ago

In the short term, people get divorces and bail all the time do they not? In the long term, I made a commitment to myself by procreating, that I would take care of the resulting child. My own honor, which feels good to uphold, keeps me with the child.

Psyonic 16y ago
As for the short term, yes, people do this. No, it's not something I would encourage. Bailing on your spouse is one thing, but bailing on your children is worse. As far as the long term goes, I understand where you're coming from. It's a bit of a semantic game, as it's not too hard to argue that altruism is impossible and everything is ultimately done for yourself. That said, I think we differ here. I don't find the argument that everyone is equally selfish (only with different wants) compelling. It gets complicated from here, though. You have to ask where these wants come from. Why does one person want the warmth of the needle, versus another wanting to change her child's diaper. Perhaps the ultimate selfless act is subjugating your wants in the first place, though I imagine you could argue this is also a selfish act. It could probably go on like this forever, but at some point you realize some people's circle of concern is bigger than themselves, and there must be something to this.
- TGJ 16y ago
  I think you are right that it does go on like that forever but I think the reason for that is in the end, everything is selfish. But. It's not bad to be selfish. The reason it loops is because you accept that being selfish is ok, you struggle with the idea and come up with more examples. Once it's accepted, you can simply move on and do more. For instance, I can be selfish all I want but eventually, I cannot do everything myself. I will need other people to help me out in life. It's not selfish in the sense of what you learn in pre-school, it's self preservation.
  - Psyonic 16y ago
    What about self-sacrifice? Giving your life to save others?
    - TGJ 16y ago
      It's still the same. You think it's the right thing to do to see everyone else better off and that's great. I'm glad for ya. I think the better question would be, what about the person that does not want to give their life for others? How will you judge them? As far as I see it, it does no good to give my life for others if I'm not going to be around to enjoy it. There's only one life to live right?

by TGJ 16y ago

Psyonic 16y ago

As for the short term, yes, people do this. No, it's not something I would encourage. Bailing on your spouse is one thing, but bailing on your children is worse. As far as the long term goes, I understand where you're coming from. It's a bit of a semantic game, as it's not too hard to argue that altruism is impossible and everything is ultimately done for yourself. That said, I think we differ here. I don't find the argument that everyone is equally selfish (only with different wants) compelling. It gets complicated from here, though. You have to ask where these wants come from. Why does one person want the warmth of the needle, versus another wanting to change her child's diaper. Perhaps the ultimate selfless act is subjugating your wants in the first place, though I imagine you could argue this is also a selfish act. It could probably go on like this forever, but at some point you realize some people's circle of concern is bigger than themselves, and there must be something to this.

TGJ 16y ago
I think you are right that it does go on like that forever but I think the reason for that is in the end, everything is selfish. But. It's not bad to be selfish. The reason it loops is because you accept that being selfish is ok, you struggle with the idea and come up with more examples. Once it's accepted, you can simply move on and do more. For instance, I can be selfish all I want but eventually, I cannot do everything myself. I will need other people to help me out in life. It's not selfish in the sense of what you learn in pre-school, it's self preservation.
- Psyonic 16y ago
  What about self-sacrifice? Giving your life to save others?
  - TGJ 16y ago
    It's still the same. You think it's the right thing to do to see everyone else better off and that's great. I'm glad for ya. I think the better question would be, what about the person that does not want to give their life for others? How will you judge them? As far as I see it, it does no good to give my life for others if I'm not going to be around to enjoy it. There's only one life to live right?