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mr_kite said:
The rest of nature on planet earth seems to exist purely for self-serving purposes. It's all about destruction and survival. The fact that we are capable of behaviour which goes squarely against this is my favourite thing about our race and the best thing about the universe. I'm talking about the random kindness of strangers, kindness to people we have no reason to care about. Giving someone who needs it any kind of help, money or whatever, not to feel good or any sort of ego-boosting crap, but because you can and you want to, that makes no sense on one level. It is saying Fuck You to the reality of a universe and an existance where nothing matters.

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Icelander said:


Everything, everything, everything, we do is self serving.

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i agree but which self?

if your doing something to serve your self as an individual human being then
its egotistic, even religious preachers 'helping' can be doing it out of pure ego

if your helping others as forms of yourself
because you see th oneness of being
then theres no ego in that

your still doing it to help yourself
but because you see other beings as yourself
not 'me' helping 'you'
being helping being

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mrspirit2 said:
Blah blah blah death anxiety blah blah blah

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mrspirit2 said:
Blah blah blah death anxiety blah blah blah

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Icelander did not mention anything about the results of this self serving kindness, just that it was self serving...

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mrspirit2 said:
Empathy

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The rest of nature on planet earth seems to exist purely for self-serving purposes. It's all about destruction and survival. The fact that we are capable of behaviour which goes squarely against this is my favourite thing about our race and the best thing about the universe.

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I'm talking about the random kindness of strangers, kindness to people we have no reason to care about. Giving someone who needs it any kind of help, money or whatever, not to feel good or any sort of ego-boosting crap, but because you can and you want to, that makes no sense on one level. It is saying Fuck You to the reality of a universe and an existance where nothing matters.

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mrspirit2 said:
Even if you are serving yourself in doing things for others, you are still helping others. It doesn't negate the fact that you might impact someone or something. It feels good, even great.

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Bernackums said:
That is certainly not just an act of selfishness on my dogs part.

Seriously? You don't pet your dog when he comes up and is all cute and comforting? He doesn't get any gratification in return?

And what if this were a human who tried to comfort you when you were down, would they not have motives for doing it? Just because it's a dog does not mean it doesn't have motives. Frankly, a dog is a perfect example of something that only looks out for itself, and that's why I love them.

Remember, most selfless deeds are done out of fear.

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Im sorry but I believe myself to be capable of behaviour that is not purely self-serving. Like I said, I sometimes help people I actively dislike,  and there's nothing about our relationship that gives me pleasure. Im not sure that what I said is talking about death anxiety. I would be very interested to be proved wrong though.

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I agree...I think you can have pure compassion and caring for others. Not everything needs to be self serving. That's kind of a negative perception. I think you should help others and every living and non-living thing for that matter. So to you MR.