Have you ever a committed a truly altruistic act?

 

Isnt altuiristic just doing something unselfish for others ?

Do you mean this as in hero stuff or just as in with virtue.

In the case of hero stuff... NO

In the case of acting unselfishly towards other, then YES

 

Call me back when iv got less time


(its sunny out there,go and enjoy)

 

No.

 

I think I agreed with one of your posts once - does that count?

d

 

No, that's charity

 

A few months ago I was in the queue buying petrol, the girl in front of had trouble paying, her card was refused, she was obviously in some distress and in tears as she tried to call her parents

I was beckoned forward to pay – I paid for my petrol and told the cashier I would pay for hers as well

I did not offer her the chance to pay me back etc,


I suppose I just wish she wasn’t driving a Range Rover

 

That old chestnut.... ;-)

 

yes that did cross my mind

but i don't think so, after all life gets pretty **** if you think everyone is on the take

my lifes pretty good, so maybe what comes around!!

 

No.

I have done a few things for others for no apparent gain, but doing those things fetched me happiness, and made me feel like a better person. Some of my non-official compassionate acts didn't fetch me any happiness but sheer heartache. However, I ultimately gained happiness for absorbing that heartache. Considering expectation to be the root cause of all the misery in this world, I didn't expect anything back in return for some of my unselfish deeds. But I expected and gained peace and happiness in return. So, there has always been a transaction. The day my expectations in return go down to absolute zero, I will call myself a natural.

 

Probably Wyanne ill come round , asking why your chatting up his bird

 

The opportunity seems to appear regularly enough.

Yes I have and found satisfaction from doing it too.

Les

 

I haven't. I doubt I ever will.

 

It could turn into a complex philosophical debate this one.

Some argue that self-interest is at the bottom of anything anyone does. I would probably agree... everything can be reduced to self-interest.

 

If you ever met Mrs Leslie, you would realise just how wrong you can be.

Les

 

In what way, Les? Does Mrs Leslie commit selfless acts?

 

Why else would I have said it JT?

If you are interested in altruism, look no further

Les

 

Many, many times, JT. It takes far more effort not to if you're made a certain way!

 

Any examples, Les?

 

Hello, Spoon. I really want to believe this. Take hodgy's example, I can't help feeling and thinking (and only hodgy will know this (or not if it's subconcious)) that there was some kind of reward mechanism in play, as TH and GK describe above. My mum does brilliant work with St. Luke's hospice (terminally-ill cancer patients) - she visits, holds their hand, makes them laugh, cleans, cooks and crys with them and then they die. Mum receives no financial reward, only a few of her circle of friends and family know of her work and she suffers every time one her clients (to whom she gets, in my view, to close) passes away. Altruistic? I really want to belive it is and I'm incredibly proud of her sacrifice but, I know that she needs to care for people. It isn't a truly selfless act.

 

JT, I can't answer for your Mother, though what she does is simply top shelf and it isn't something she needs to keep telling people at every available opportunity making it more worthy in my book. My Mother did the same then moved onto another avenue equally daunting, all costing her financially too. Now she looks after several oldies in a non formal capacity, because she can. Does she 'need' to care? Possibly. However, it isn't necessary to her existence. I believe it is normal, she taught me so. The kind of 'normal' children today and even their parents never experienced or recognised, hence the mess this country is in.

Some people are born to put others first and certainly if their circumstances allow, it is made easier, it is natural. I can honestly say I've helped others to my cost on many occasions but then I never entered into helping to gain and a loss in someway is just that, a loss, no biggie.

Regardless of an individuals take on a truly altruistic act, you'll always have others being suspicious and if you like, pedantic where the word truly is concerned.

 

I let someone in an X5 out of a junction once.

I definitely got nothing out of that. Does this count?

 

Yes, I think it comes down to how far one wants to reduce the notion of 'truly' down. Biologists have attributed ultimate acts of altruism to 'survival of the nicest', but I guess this leads to nihilism. Fair play to your mother.

 

Changed a womans wheel today, she said thanks, I drove off.

 

People never do what they 'truly' don't want to do. In the case of charity work, it might at first seem like selflessness, but surely it must please them more to do it than not. In day to day life it's probably not worth thinking about like that, but it's worth examining where people take the moral high ground. I certainly wouldn't criticise those doing charity work. I've thought about it myself, and I think there would be a bit of ego involved for me personally, unfortunately.

People naturally want to help each other though. Whether that's self interest or not doesn't really matter I don't think.

 

I do that too. Feels good, doesn't it?

 

But for all the "good" we feel we do there's far, far more bad/naughty we're just not consistent about anything..

 

I had time on my hands, and she seemed as though she didnt know what she was doing. To be fair, the Citroen jack is a very complicated item to work so I used mine.

 

In animals, altruistic behaviour is often proportional to the genetic closeness of the giver to the receiver. Children first, brothers and sisters next, etc.

"Nice" behaviour often occurs in populations, but usually because it is part of a stable mixture of behaviours. Mutualistic behaviour is often the most beneficial behaviour for all parties concerned, but there are great rewards to be reaped by any individual who bucks the trend by receiving favours without reciprocating. If that (genetically determined) behaviour becomes too prevalent, however, the whole population may suffer and mutualistic behaviour regains the upper hand.

 

Or, if reciprocity fails to return, the genes become extinct.