TwIsTeD Reflections

Sorry for the delay; the festive season realli kept me busy.

About a month ago, I had a great conversation with deb about altruism. She believes that there is no such thing as true, pure altruism. I did, or at least i thought i did. Throughout the conversation, I was convinced by her argument.

Firstly, altruism means to perform an act of kindness, without any wish to receive anything in return. In other words, to do something good with no real intention of getting any benefit.

I was thinking: surely there has to be an act of kindness that is burely benevolent. Human beings, by nature, are capable of both great good and great evil. I believe there are acts there are with purely evil intentions, like the intention to cause harm and suffering. So on the flip side, I believe that there has to be an act of pure goodness.

Of course, when thinking rationally, 'has to be' is the phrase that spoils most expectations. The things about good deeds is: there is always something beneficial that is reaped from it. always. And therefore, when one does perform a good deed, one expects some form of returns.

Am i confusing you? Let me try to explain using an example. When a man sacrifices his life for the country, he expects to receive some benefits in return. What sort of benefits would a man going to die expect? That his sacrifice would help his country in some way. That his sacrifice can perhaps bring a certain form of fame or martyrdom to his name. All these are actually selfish thoughts, but they do no neccessarily mean that they are evil thoughts.

Another example, perhaps, is the simple act of donation. So, what do we get in return? We donate in hope to make this world a better place for another. We donate to have that warm, fluffy feeling that comes with each benevolent act. We donate to show others that we are kind. All of these acts are selfish thoughts. Yes, i did type correctly. Hoping for a better situation for another and making an effort to help tt person is a selfish act.

The problem with our thinking is the thought: selfish=evil. We were brought up to believe that when we do something for another, a selfless act, is the right thing to do and the opposite, a selfish act, is not. But what we do not realise, as we depart from naivety, is that selfless acts are performed with the thought of selfish intentions. And selfish intentions does not necessarily mean that it is a bad thing. You wish to help someone. That is something you want, and therefore a selfish thought. You reach out a hand to help that person. That is a selfish act for acting on the selfish thought.

You may start to wonder: why is this so? Because, I answer you, every good deed comes from within us, and it takes a good portion of self to perform that deed. Nothing to be ashamed of, just understand that there is no such thing as true altruist intentions.

Want to understand further of what I am saying? I recommend books written by Ayn Rand, a modern day philosopher. Go read books like Atlas Shrugged or The Fountainhead.