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That people are primarily selfish is an insight? So what? Who doesn't know that?


I don't know, Zeke... I think that this board shows that altruism has its moments, too (unless we consider satisfaction derived from a neat hack or FAQ used by a nice bunch of users also selfish, a notion that perhaps could be defended...)

Well, that'd be my argument from a psyche-101 type standpoint No, I'm not really that jaded...but there is a kernel of truth to that, if one expands the definition of 'benfit' wide enough to include one's own feelings of self worth. But I'm not one to argue such things; to misquote Bones: "Dammit Jim, I'm an engineer not a psychologist!"

Of course one could also make the argument that my 'wish away' wish was really just a selfish desire not to get into ridiculous life-altering wishes, if one had the desire to push the issue...

In the end though I really do believe that almost everyone's hard wired for self interest as a matter of genetic survival. That said, we and the other social mammals have developed this lovely layer on top of that which involves direct and indirect reciprocity which we house-apes call civilization, which I quite enjoy.

-Zeke