Quote:So what happens if you pray for someone else to feel good, and by default it makes you feel good?
You're not supposed to ask that. ybservation that human beings are motivated by self interest more than anyother motive.
Some questions to a believer and what I see as some likely answers:
Q "Do you pray?"
A "Yes"
Q "When you pray, do you feel fearful or distressed by the experience?"
A "No"
Q "Do you feel nothing?"
A "No"
Q "Do you feel any or all of these things?
Close to God
Safe
Happy
Satisfied
any other positive feeling?"
IF you answer; "Yes" to any of those things,it can be argued you pray from self interest.
Altruism is about doing good for its own sake. The believer who does good because of a sense of duty, to avoid guilt, satisfaction,or who obeys his god from fear of punishment or for the hope of rewards is acting from self interest.
The above is an observation,not a moral judgment. My position in that we humans are only just another species of animal, nor more important than any other.In terms of the health of the environment, probably far less important than most.
Thought for today: Are living things only DNA's way of making more DNA?
