Is giving to others an act of self interest?
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Science Buzz is supported by the National Science Foundation.
well define self interest
Its just giving to be a nice person. nothing wrong with that
When ever we help another, we help ourselves. It is in everyone's best interest to take care of one another.
If you give to others, you will get something yourself that cannot be measured.
I think that giving can be an act of self intrest if somehing is wanted in return without a previous agreement. For instance, your little sister gives you a candy bar expecting a cookie in return, but she never asked for one.
On the other hand, there is selfless giving, and this can be simply letting someone ahead of you in line, or, as I plan to do should I die anytime soon, to donate your organs, because what benifit are they to you once your dead? And they can be a tremendous help to someone else... So in the sense of the question, you could say that its not "giving" unless it is selfless, otherwise its trading
I agree but I think that the benefits of giving are tremendous. For example, if you volunteer you gain skills, meet new people and potentially get better jobs, education or scholarships. Also, giving feels good. How many countless things do we do in an attempt to feel good? If it feels good is it still selfless?
because i like to give back to the environment and mother earth
the complexity of human nature is often divided into simple answers that help us explain the events in our life as well as the actions we perform. unfortunately, we are all victims of complex processes that go on that help us perform actions. in some cases giving to others is a moral and social victory. not only do we feel better about ourselves but we have acheived a social victory because we are recognized for our unselfishness. if we are looking for an economic return then we are motivated but something other than self interest. so if self interest is to be recognized and gain either socially, morally or economically, then it is in our self interest.
It makes me feel really good to give people things.
Can be either -- human behavior can't be divided into good/bad or black/white. we are complex beings with complex motives for our behavior.
I think it is terrible that there is a new vaccine to treat Cervical cancer yet the adverisements on T.V do not tell women that the Human Papoloma virus is contracted through an STD. wouldn't it be better to tell women the whole truth
It does explain it in the commercials. the whole advertisment about being in the know was all about the fact that it was an STD...
why would it make a difference that the human papaloma virus is an STD would it make you feel better about yourself if that was known. also did you know that the HPV virus is the most easily contracted STD out of any other.