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comment by bioemerl
bioemerl  ·  3079 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: On Being — Successful Givers, Toxic Takers, and the Life We Spend at Work

Selfish, but empathetic.

We only seek to make ourselves feel better, we only seek self gratification, to make ourselves feel good things. All our actions are motivated by satisfying what we want.

But you can't have a successful species that sits around doing nothing but eating sweet food and looking after their own interests.

So we have a whole suite of things that drive and force us to do things. We get bored quickly, we feel the emotions we see in others, we feel hollow or pointless when we aren't working for some form of goal. We are made, set up from birth, to feel happy helping others, so we selfishly seek others goodwill.

It's why a psychopath is so dangerous, why criminals have to be punished. It's why we can't expect people to do things that make them feel bad, without seeing the reward those actions create.

Libertarians see the selfish aspect of humanity, communists see the empathetic parts. Both fail to understand that the other is essential to human activities, and to see that society collapses without a balance between them.

I experienced that effect myself, working in a Mcdonalds, as I have no real dependent-family or "need for money" that I was working towards. Working a tough job, the best thing you can do is think about the amazing food you are serving to people, the convenience you give to others, the direct and gratifying reward.