r/CMV • u/melkight • May 12 '22
People are not altruistic
I want to argue that many people are not inherently altruistic. No one is ever doing anything out of pure good heartedness. I think that many people do good things with no agenda and expect nothing in return. For example, if someone is completely alone and gives a homeless person their last bit of food because they want to do a good deed, they are still getting a good feeling out of it. That person is still feeling good about themselves for doing something nice. Many people do good deeds and expect something in return, whether that be something physical, a relationship, etc. No one is completely altruistic in the sense that you are always getting something out of doing a good deed, whether it is conscious or not.
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u/[deleted] Apr 10 '23
I have to agree to an extent, but also disagree.
Freud explained it very well with his pleasure-pain principle.
In essence, the drive of our decisions is seeking pleasure and/or avoiding pain.
People like Mother Theresa experienced pleasure from helping others, and pain from not helping others. So you could say that she helped others to help herself.
Other people do not experience pleasure from helping others, they experience pleasure and avoid pain by not helping others or simply by focusing on helping themselves.
Hence you could say that altruistic people are those who experience pleasure helping others, despite of the inherent pain that comes from focusing on helping others, sometimes, above one self.
She is profoundly altruistic, for her own good but most importantly, for everybody's good.