Public Service Announcement: Most People Aren’t Selfish
This one is for you economists out there.
[M]ost people do not do the simple things that would be conducive to their happiness, even when they know what they are. Most people fall into one or more of the following traps. They spend a lot of time with people they do not much like. They do jobs they are not enthusiastic about. They use up most of their “free time” (incidentally an anti-hedonistic concept) on activities they do not greatly enjoy. The reverse is also true. They do not spend most time with the people they like most; they do not pursue the career they would most like; and they do not use most of their free time on the activities they enjoy most. [Richard Koch – The 80/20 Principle]
Selfishness is a choice. We are not utility maximizers!
2 Comments to “Public Service Announcement: Most People Aren’t Selfish”
I know from my own experiences just how hard it is to be selfish. I have to try really hard, every day, just to make myself do what is in my self-interest - And 9 times out of 10 I’ll just end up not being selfish; I’ll do selfless/self-destructive things for short-term gain, long term pain.
So when I hear people self-righteously tell me “You shouldn’t be selfish!” - It makes me SO angry. I’m surrounded by people saying exactly the same thing, almost every day.
I really admire the Man who can act selfishly, at will; I admire the self-discipline and willpower required to achieve that state of mind - Where are those Men today?
@roughie: I totally agree m8 , after grasping the principles of objectivism I began to see where my own personal problems were originating from . I lost so much motivation and pride around the time I hit 21 and became a big time drifter with a pessimistic view of existence . Trying to regain that level I had has been hard work, I didn’t relise how much I’d let myself go. The selfish thing? I bet all objectivists get frustrated in it’s popular use and the other one being sacrifice . Id say the people I’ve known across the years to be self destructive and “whim worshippers” and it deff rubbed off on me aswell . Having a good time (outside of work) was our popular focus and having a job made u slave. Being bad was good and criminals were our heroes and this is the attitude of a lot of youth growing up today and the truth is ,the selfish tag gets pinned on this mind set and yet I can tell u that during those years I felt very frustrated ,like I should be doing more,not because others say I should but because I KNOW I should . . . .for my best self interest !
Trying to switch selfish into a positive use of the word will be and is , the biggest challenge .