Monday, February 11, 2008

Selfish vs selfless ??

Since childhood we are taught that selfless activities - like helping people in need, are better than selfish activities - buying tons of candy for yourself !

But are these so called selfless activities really selfless ?

Some of them are obviously selfish ones - like when rich people give to charity and get extensive coverage for it and some of them are not so obviously selfish - like say in the case of anonymous donors who do not feel comfortable being recognized ....
But they remain selfish as long as they derive something out of it - recognition, fame or even a quiet warm feeling deep in your own heart.
Is a truly selfless act possible at all ?
What about the person whose concept of is self is so all-encompassing that he treats the whole universe as him-self. But wait a minute in that case it becomes a truly selfish act !

So I guess there is nothing that is truly selfless ....

9 comments:

punchagan said...

ya.. i was also thinking on those lines..

S said...

what about minute acts of kindness? If I donate a penny to a homeless guy, I wouldnt have that warm feeling. But if a hundred guys do that, the homeless guy will have a dollar!
ok I think thats stupid.

S said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anagha Mudigonda said...

it's either a selfish act or a nonchalant one ... like you don't care ...
But think .. what could be selfless ??

punchagan said...

when nothing can be self-less, we can be better off doing stuff that's most beneficial to others along with ourselves.

Avadooth said...

nothing can be selfless

Blogger said...

Anything done instinctively is selfless. If you try to help an accident vicitim on the road the moment you see him without even thinking that you are helping him.

Raja Ivaturi said...

Any help with Banners and photographs in mind are worse than doing nothing. On great philosopher said that We can do a lot when we dont take any credit.

Rajitha said...

When you watched Harry Potter movies and pretended to drop a broom stick on the floor and shouted "Up Up" in front of all the boys, was it a selfless act? What were you trying to turn "Up" exactly? Broom sticks are for witches dear. They don't help such causes. Try writing posts on spiders during your naked baths next time. Maybe post a picture as well. Then enough boys will be interested. Or you could steal someone else's wife? But you will have to kill the wife first right? hmm...