Why be good?

[robvalue]

You're absolutely spot on. I am my own harshest critic. All we can be sure about is everyone has this one life, so I make it my job to improve it where I can for whoever I can. Of course I could "do more", that is always the case for everyone. But it is a big factor in how I live my life and what decisions I make.

It is a little bit of a chicken and egg I guess. Helping people makes me feel good. Very good in fact. But it seems to me this is a side effect and a bonus, rather than my actual motivation. I would still help people even if it made me feel bad to do so, because I've come to a rational decision to do that action. I won't repeat my sob story, but you guys know by now about my life and how this is very much the case. So even the evolution argument doesn't work when choices get to this stage.

And really, assuming we do have free will (not trying go get into that discussion here!) we can choose to ignore this action/reward system anyway, or bypass it. We can decide not to help people, and even harm them, even if it makes us feel bad. Eventually, we adjust to our actions I think and it becomes easier and easier to maintain.