Conceptually possible set of action that does not occur in real life has no bearing on possible cause of actions which does actually occur.
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Current time: November 29, 2024, 12:12 am
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"Are all actions in life based on interest only"?
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RE: "Are all actions in life based on interest only"?
April 10, 2023 at 1:43 pm
(This post was last modified: April 10, 2023 at 1:43 pm by The Grand Nudger.)
That may be the case. That while it's certainly possible for people to make decisions that are not return seeking..for whatever reason or no reason at all...we never do.
I suspect that would require a completely ludicrous explanation.
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!
 (April 10, 2023 at 1:43 pm)The Grand Nudger Wrote: That may be the case. That while it's certainly possible for people to make decisions that are not return seeking..for whatever reason or no reason at all...we never do. The question was about actions, not decisions. Boru
‘I can’t be having with this.’ - Esmeralda Weatherwax
Maybe I'm missing the nuance here, but what about acting out of empathy to reduce another's suffering? It seems to me that that is neither transactional nor about feeling good about yourself, but rather just reducing or preventing something negative.
I don’t think empathy is about abstractly reducing the negative. It is fundamentally about establishing or sustaining a norm of behavior that would increase the chance that others would help reduce the negative when the negative happens to oneself.
RE: "Are all actions in life based on interest only"?
April 10, 2023 at 2:57 pm
(This post was last modified: April 10, 2023 at 2:58 pm by BrianSoddingBoru4.)
^There are sure cases where, even though personal benefit arises from an action, the action was not done to reap that benefit.
The essence of the OP was that we perform ALL actions out of self-interest, or an expectation of return. This is so clearly not the case that it almost seems pointless to belabour it. Suppose you find a wallet with a fair amount of cash in it. It’s perfect plausible that you wish to return the wallet for the sole purpose of returning it, without expecting or even thinking of a reward. You may receive a monetary thank you from the owner, but that’s beside the point. Boru
‘I can’t be having with this.’ - Esmeralda Weatherwax
RE: "Are all actions in life based on interest only"?
April 10, 2023 at 3:15 pm
(This post was last modified: April 10, 2023 at 3:16 pm by emjay.)
(April 10, 2023 at 2:52 pm)Anomalocaris Wrote: I don’t think empathy is about abstractly reducing the negative. It is fundamentally about establishing or sustaining a norm of behavior that would increase the chance that others would help reduce the negative when the negative happens to oneself. I was not meaning it in an abstract sense, but just generalising by using the word negative. Nor was I thinking about the global/social meaning of empathy but just the fact that for an individual, empathy allows you to understand or envisage another's suffering, and the mere thought of that is often unpleasant enough to drive action to reduce or prevent the imagined thing continuing/occurring. (April 10, 2023 at 3:15 pm)emjay Wrote:(April 10, 2023 at 2:52 pm)Anomalocaris Wrote: I don’t think empathy is about abstractly reducing the negative. It is fundamentally about establishing or sustaining a norm of behavior that would increase the chance that others would help reduce the negative when the negative happens to oneself. But why should we feel empathy, or feel uncomfortable with th suffering of another? The answer is probably the presence of the propensity for empathy serves the individual in a community by enhancing the chance that collective effort will be devoted by the community to reducing the individual’s suffering. Therefore the propensity has selfish value for the individual. (April 10, 2023 at 3:28 pm)Anomalocaris Wrote:(April 10, 2023 at 3:15 pm)emjay Wrote: I was not meaning it in an abstract sense, but just generalising by using the word negative. Nor was I thinking about the global/social meaning of empathy but just the fact that for an individual, empathy allows you to understand or envisage another's suffering, and the mere thought of that is often unpleasant enough to drive action to reduce or prevent the imagined thing continuing/occurring. Okay fair enough, that seems a reasonable theory, but just in terms of actual, conscious motives for action, it seems it is not transactional and/or related to self-worth even if it can be considered selfish at that more indirect/social propensity level as per your theory.  RE: "Are all actions in life based on interest only"?
April 10, 2023 at 6:01 pm
(This post was last modified: April 10, 2023 at 6:55 pm by John 6IX Breezy.)
In evolutionary biology there are four common types of social behavior that get studied: Altruism, selfishness, mutual benefit, and spite.
Spite occurs when an animal harms itself in order to harm others. |
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