Selfishness Essay

The question of why shouldn't I be selfish, can be argued because the meaning of selfish is when someone does what he/she wants. For example a charity worker and a businessman. Both of them can be viewed a selfish because the business man works hard to gain money and that's makes hi greedy selfish. The charity worker helps the poor, people may see that this is what he wants to do therefore it would be considered selfish. If everyone is selfish, then someone cannot be criticized for being too selfish. Religion and math are two areas of knowing

In a way being selfish is what got humans where they are today.The evolution of humans required competition,and aggressive selfishness. We were forced to be selfish and watch our own back, to always put ourselves first in bad situations. This reaction to put ourselves first is natural, it’s in our blood. However, is the very thing that made us so successful as a species the one thing that so easily tears us apart? As humans we have an incredible capacity to dehumanize others to protect our own self interest.

Selfishness is the inability to be caring, show consideration for others, as well as be decent towards others. People who are selfish think very little of others, and focus more on themselves and their own needs. In Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild, he shows how Chris McCandless is a selfish person, who only cares about himself. Chris demonstrates his selfishness by the way he treats his parents, such as when they try to reach out to him, but chooses to ignore them. He also thinks of only himself by the way he treats and ignores authority and the government. Chris acts selfishly in the way he treats poorly anybody who has ever showed him compassion towards him, such as him asking for the mail to be returned to the sender, showing no interest in

Selfish people place their own wants, needs, and happiness before anything or anyone else. Furthermore, they do not feel obligated to help others with what they need. Because selfish people do not value others, they

2b. To be selfish is to do anything to benefit themselves in any way. To be greedy is to do anything in order to accumulate more wealth.

According to Google Dictionary, selfishness is the quality or condition of being selfish. Selfishness is not always a bad thing but in the case of The Scarlet Ibis the main character Brother’s selfishness is clearly has a negative effect on himself and those he loves.Throughout the story, Brother allows his selfishness to overpower his decisions as he begins to intentionally hurt his younger brother emotionally as well as mentally and he soon stops caring about his feelings all together. In the story, The Scarlet Ibis by James Hurst, the theme one's own selfishness can end up pushing away and hurting those close to them is revealed through symbolism.

The founding fathers of America wrote that humans have a right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” So would it be selfish to survive, when others may die? No, survival is not selfish because it's a human instinct, a way to help others survive in the long run, and a way to prevent emotional and mental pain in those who love and care about you.

The definition of the word selfish is, “One lacking consideration for others; concerned chiefly with one’s own personal profit or pleasure.” In the story The Scarlet Ibis by James Hurt, the narrator is extremely selfish. The narrator has a brother, Doodle, who is disabled. At birth, Doodle is very frail and he is unable to walk or do normal activities. This causes the narrator to become selfish, which creates pain in his and his brothers future.

In the opinion of Katharine Brush, Selfishness can hurt other people, as her short story “Birthday Party” is about a man hurt his wife because of his selfishness. In the story, the man’s wife prepares a birthday party for him at a dinner. The man shows his selfishness after the orchestra played “Happy Birthday to You” and the birthday cake arrived, “the man was hotly embarrassed, and indignant at his wife for embarrassing him.” Hotly embarrassed means that is mad at his wife while being embarrassed, the “hotly” implying wrath and rage. The definition of indignant is showing anger because of unfair treatment, so the husband thinks it’s unfair to himself for not getting what he wanted, and not considering of what his wife as done to make this

My Genocide class senior year introduced me to the idea that everything a person does is selfish. The idea of being construed as selfish creates a defensive feeling in many people, as the class demonstrated with the introduction of the idea. After this class introduced me to the idea, it became a strong belief of mine, but is it a fact that nothing we do as a species is completely selfless? Or did it just appeal to me as a fact as a result of my friend presenting the idea? Or was it just an obvious explanation for some people’s actions? Or was I, as Mooney would say, “rationalizing [my] prior emotional commitments” (Made-Up Minds, Mooney)? Bacon created a method to explore the truth of a claim like this, for, he believed that “Man, being the

I agree with Tzu, that people who have not learned the value of caring for others first without receiving any prize in return for their good actions could not feel any remorse in being selfish since that is all that they know. Like Neanderthals, it takes many years to evolve and many more years for learning to happen so that man may be able to act civilized. However, once one has learned to do good it depends on every man to continue to practice the teachings he has acquired and also to keep learning more than necessary to grow.

Selfish genes are beneficial to an extent; by looking out for yourself, you are reducing the amount of resources and energy wasted on the venture of pleasing others. It is theoretically more beneficial to act selfishly in any group situation, regardless of whether the society is cooperative or not. If you are a selfish individual in a highly cooperative group, you benefit from generous individuals without actually having to contribute yourself. If you are selfish in a selfish group, you are not detrimentally affected by exhibiting altruistic behaviors that are not reciprocated. However, in the real world and when social species are involved, there are heavy disadvantages to being selfish. Boehm (1997) and Fehr & Gachter (2002) describe the disadvantage to being a selfish individual in a social atmosphere via descriptions of altruistically based punishments. That is, if you are a selfish freeloader in a society, the cooperative members of a society will penalize you for this behavior. This punishment can come in a variety of forms: sexual deprivation, resource denial, exile, social dismissal, and social pressure. (Boehm 1997) The fitness of a selfish individual is going to be lowered by these punishments more than it would be lowered by acting in a cooperative manner.

Selfishness is defined as the stinginess resulting from a concern of your own welfare and the disregard of others. Selfishness, once passing a certain level, is seen as a character flaw by many people. Where does selfishness come from? Is it a trait in which as humans we pick up over time, or is it an animalistic trait in which we are born with and have no control over? Author Mark Sundeen tells us the story of Daniel Suelo, in the book The Man Who Quit Money. Daniel Suelo was a mid-aged man, who decided to drop everything and live on his own without the use of money; he would no longer live the typical American lifestyle and survive strictly on the kindness of others and the leftovers he could find in dumpsters.

It isn’t wrong to be selfish because of your spiritual beliefs; everyone believes in something and should not be punished for it. Sophocles also examined the idea of selfishness through Creon. Creon’s selfishness wasn’t always justified though. His selfishness rooted from the rage inside him.

Is there anything wrong with being selfish? Most people would answer yes to that question. However, what if your selfishness is only to allow you to benefit others. For the most part we are raised not to be selfish and to share with friends and family members. Most parents have given a great sacrifice to rear their children usually lasting 18 plus years. That isn't being selfish. And it isn't selfish being Grandparents either. But there comes a time when one has to think outside the box. Looking into the future when questions arise. The what if scenario. More and more you ask yourself what if this, or what if that happens. It comes out of the blue. Something triggers your mind to start considering the older generation and the younger ones