5 ms·

While I largely agree, I was thinking about selfishness and selflessness in a different way. In game theory, games have global optima and Nash equilibria, and

• MrMcCall 2y ago
  Here's a true relation that you can factor into your model, if you'd like, for, though I am a long-time programmer, I don't go in for the study of game theory. I am, however, familiar with some of the precepts. Here goes: When a person causes negativity/unhappiness, the person(s) on the receiving end gets an equal positive amount of karma. Karma is what determines our long-term happiness or lack thereof. When a person does something intended to cause positivity/happiness, there is no negative effect on the receiver, even if they refuse the gesture. In other words, acts of selfish negativity incur a zero-sum negative karmic effect, every time, without fail, though often without being observed at the time (or even, ever). OTOH, acts of selfless positivity only incur positive internal karmic effect for the doer; nothing is lost by the receiver. In yet more other words, we can only receive negative karma from our own actions; others' actions can only result in positive karma for ourselves (if we are on the receiving end of selfishly negativity). For example, a poor person loses no karma from accepting charity, though the giver definitely gains. As such, karma is skewed asymmetrically towards easier positive creation; i.e. it's only a zero-sum game when the first choice is negative/selfish. Why, then, have the world's populations not yet created a "Heaven on Earth"? Because we human beings are also free to ignore all notions of karma and the associated question of why we are happy/unhappy. If a person chooses to believe that they are just amoral animals competing for scarce resources, then they are fully authorized to live their lives that way. We are also free to believe that the Earth is flat. The universe is the sole arbiter of the truth, however, and we all reap what we sow. Every time, without fail, with perfect justice, however difficult it is for us to comprehend at any given time, given our state of moral undevelopment.
  • MichaelZuo 2y ago
    When was the first amount of ‘karma’ created? Clearly no one had any ‘karma’ 3 billion years ago, since living organisms did not exist.
    • MrMcCall 2y ago
      Karma is a human-only dimension of the universe we inhabit. We alone have free will, a conscience, and a mind capable of discerning right and wrong, thus we alone lose and/or gain karma.
      • MichaelZuo 2y ago
        When was it first created then?
        • MrMcCall 2y ago
          I would say that when there was only one human being, there was only positive karma, so I would say that there was no negative karma until there was a second person to do something wrong to the first person, thus facilitating the transfer that results from a negative deed. From another perspective, I'd say that the first human being could sin against God, but that doesn't align with my understanding of how human beings were created. My understanding is that Adam was created in a state of grace, as a Prophet, free of negativity, but that as the population grew, our negative tendencies (to vice) established itself and the karma began to flow. [I have some understanding of how the universe works, but I in no way claim to be authoritative. That said, I don't see any obvious errors in my reasoning.]
          • MichaelZuo 2y ago
            ‘The first human being’? Who or when was this ‘first human being?
            • MrMcCall 2y ago