Post by thepretender on Nov 10, 2006 1:08:34 GMT -5
Bigboy asked "Maybe I'm too cynical??
I don't think so either.
It's just that we have probably seen those who do good deeds when they think people are looking and then when they think people are not looking, they could not care less.
Provi said " I believe that everything we do is definitely selfish"
I really never thought about that before I read The Fall by Camus and I am really not recommending that book because it left me feeling so dark about myself. I love how you wrote "If I feed a homeless family for the self-satifaction it creates, because of some primordial itch, does that make them any less full?"
That is so true but then your other statement was even more pointed...
"But I do think we'll be making progress when we can offer a more honest assessment of the things that drive actions we consider philanthropic ..."
It reminds me that good deeds are sometimes a way to manipulate others.
Again, what is the motive and that is what separates the good deeds from the others? It's okay when the people being manipulated know that they are being manipulated or 'used' for another purpose and only if they are not so vulnerable to know that they do have a choice. What hungry person would not be vulnerable?
For example: some guy goes and gets his photo taken doing something really altruistic...who brought the camera anyway?
:-)
Kane wrote
"mistakes may turn out to be blessings later, smart moves may turn to disaster."
Isn't that the truth?...I think it may come back to the motivation
I don't see anything wrong with good deeds that are meant to be just that...those ones that are fabricated because someone has an alterior motive that isn't good makes that good deed less than good.
People may have full bellies when the politician comes to help feed them before an election but if that politician doesn't show up after they have been elected...that is bad.
I don't think so either.
It's just that we have probably seen those who do good deeds when they think people are looking and then when they think people are not looking, they could not care less.
Provi said " I believe that everything we do is definitely selfish"
I really never thought about that before I read The Fall by Camus and I am really not recommending that book because it left me feeling so dark about myself. I love how you wrote "If I feed a homeless family for the self-satifaction it creates, because of some primordial itch, does that make them any less full?"
That is so true but then your other statement was even more pointed...
"But I do think we'll be making progress when we can offer a more honest assessment of the things that drive actions we consider philanthropic ..."
It reminds me that good deeds are sometimes a way to manipulate others.
Again, what is the motive and that is what separates the good deeds from the others? It's okay when the people being manipulated know that they are being manipulated or 'used' for another purpose and only if they are not so vulnerable to know that they do have a choice. What hungry person would not be vulnerable?
For example: some guy goes and gets his photo taken doing something really altruistic...who brought the camera anyway?
:-)
Kane wrote
"mistakes may turn out to be blessings later, smart moves may turn to disaster."
Isn't that the truth?...I think it may come back to the motivation
I don't see anything wrong with good deeds that are meant to be just that...those ones that are fabricated because someone has an alterior motive that isn't good makes that good deed less than good.
People may have full bellies when the politician comes to help feed them before an election but if that politician doesn't show up after they have been elected...that is bad.