Is there such thing as a truly selfless act?

[FlipMode]

[quote="KingKivuli"]he gave his life to save a friend without even thinking. in moments like that. you dont think 'oh yeah ill do this and be crowned a hero' it just happens[/quote]

But is that really true though? He gave his life to save another (or so I am to assume), bare in mind that armies generally want to keep death as few as possible. Also like you said, you do things for other people and "at the time" you do not think you are doing it for any reason other than that it is the right thing to do. The debate here then would be, is that actually fact or is our sub concious telling us to do things like that because we will gain respect and trust from it?

Okay lets use another example, you tell a friend a personal secret about your life and they spread it around to someone else. That is bad right, and you will be unable to trust them for it. Now they do the right thing and keep it to themselves, from that they gain trust which is a thing we as human beings desire (majority anyway).

[quote="Azdgari"]Sure. For example, I love my brother unconditionally. I care more about his happiness than my own, truly. I act selflessly for him because of that.[/quote]

Now you see that is family, which is a matter of pride, respect and love. When it comes to family you act selflessly because they are family which makes it questionable on whether or not it really is selfless. Its more of a forced, natural kind of thing.

[quote="Azdgari"]
I would argue if you say no, you should think about the people you love and whom love you. I know the people in my life don't do it for fame or to make people like them or to make themselves feel good.[/quote]

With all due respect, Az. Doing nice things for other people because it makes you feel better is one of the most common reasons for doing so (again not counting family). I thought about the people I love and who love me when I made this thread and still could not come to a final thought on the matter.

I mean if you love someone and act selflessly on their behalf, you receive their love in return. And while its not something you would probably consider generally, it could be that our minds are doing this because they know that they gain from it even if we do not recognise that.

[FlipMode]

[quote="DGFone"]Absolutely.

Keep in mind that the fame comes after the event, and almost always is created by another person. So if you do something selfless, chances are, you are not thinking about yourself, nor are you thinking about the future. All you see is a problem, and a way to solve it.

Whatever may come later, that is of no concern.[/quote]

All you see is a problem and a way to solve it, because your mind knows the positive of solving it. Therefore you commit the act for a purpose. My sister donated a ton of clothes to charities the other day, was it selfless? Hell no it wasn't, she ran out of space in her wardrobe and need to clear some stuff. But I respected her decision at least, and that is why selfless acts are committed IMO. Think about the last time you made someone else happy, they respect you that little bit more for it right? So was it you acting selflessly or did something in your subconscious tell your mind "This is a chance to capitalise and gain respect from this person / people"?

[Misiziri]

I've never really put much thought into this, whenever I tried I'd just be in conflict with myself XD So I'm sure there's some entirely unselfish acts but I'd say the majority is half-and-half. Some girl wants to become a doctor because she loves seeing people regain health, but she also loves that big paycheck.

My opinion is subject to change about this though xD

[Azdgari]

You don't commit acts of love because you want love back. You commit them because you care more about the person you love than you do yourself. ...That's what love is, isn't it? Can you believe in love if you don't believe in selflessness?

[Miharuka]

Yes. I can say that without any doubt.
There are people who care about each other and help other people out even if you don't know them.
Not because you expect to gain anything with it. Sure, there are people who would like that, but you also have people who couldn't care about that at all. They just help people because they know they need help.

[Carl]

[quote="Azdgari"]You don't commit acts of love because you want love back. You commit them because you care more about the person you love than you do yourself. ...That's what love is, isn't it? Can you believe in love if you don't believe in selflessness?[/quote]

Loving someone is a very selfish thing to do- whether you realize it or not. Yes, you love that person more than you do yourself, and because of that, you want them to love you more than anyone else too. And that's why you do nice things for them- to show them that you love them, and to make them love you in return.

Thusly- no selfless act. A selfless act would be like, you give up your loved one to save your country, even though you know that no one will recognize you as the savior of your people, or even know that you did it in the first place. But there's not too much of that happening, now is there?

[Miharuka]

[quote="Juliette"]
Loving someone is a very selfish thing to do- whether you realize it or not. Yes, you love that person more than you do yourself, and because of that, you want them to love you more than anyone else too. And that's why you do nice things for them- to show them that you love them, and to make them love you in return.[/quote]

Ummm..
I care about my friends, but I honestly don't need them to love me more than anyone else. Even not my best one. And I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks about it that way.

Besides..
Then you can say giving your loved one up to save your country is a selfish act as well.
You give someone up to save YOUR country.
Sounds pretty selfish to me.

[KopsTheTerminator]

To be honest, I think it only happens subconsiously. I mean c'mon, what kind of person would think "Let's help this person so I can feel good about myself"? When I, at least, do something that's considered generous, I don't really think about the benefits. I just do it.

[FlipMode]

I understand and respect that, but the point is that even though we don't think about the domino effect of doing something nice for another, it is there. And on a psychological level, that may impact our concious choice to do something right.
I mean how many people when they develop a crush on someone, then try to do / say nice things in order to make them notice and / or like them?

If you say you do something nice for other people simply because you love them or you think you are naturally a good person who is to say that your subconsciousness has not planned you to be this way, knowing deep down that you will be seen as a nice person? It is quite a societal thing too actually.
Just going back onto the example earlier of the guy who jumped on that grenade, we now think of him as a hero of sorts right? Its all to do with the human natural disiyer (sp) to be loved and respected. The fact that acts are committed by ourselves makes them selfish by fault anyway.

Remember there is a difference between good and bad, right and wrong etc... But this is looking at it from a selfless and selfish point of view.

[KopsTheTerminator]

That's what I meant by "I just do it", that it automatically happens because of the way my brain works so I don't have to think about the benefits, sorry for not analyzing. XD I dunno, perhaps we simply needed this way of thinking to co-exist peacefully as a society.