Is It Good Or Bad?

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

Selfishness is being concerned for oneself or one’s advantage and welfare regardless of others. Selfness is demonstrated when a person leaves and does not tell anyone where they are going. In Into the Wild Jon Krakauer tells the story of Chris McCandless’s selfish quest for “ultimate Freedom”. Chris is selfish because he takes his privileged life for granted. Then, Chris decides to leave and he totally ignores and blocks out his family. Finally Chris builds relationships with people, then leaves when they are no longer needed. Chris taking his life for granted, his ignorance and the fact that he is an absentee is why Chris McCandless’s quest for “ultimate freedom” is selfish.

Selfishness is a disease of the soul that every person experiences several times throughout their life. To say that selfishness has never been experienced would be hypocrisy. To say that selfishness is a beneficial trait would be erroneous. Although as humans we lie to ourselves, there is no question that selfishness can make any person a fool. Being selfish consumes us and changes us into someone we are not. Whether it leads to getting people killed, losing love, or abolishing families, selfishness always leads to destruction.

Stephen Kendrick once said, “Almost every sinful action ever committed can be traced back to a selfish motive. It is the trait we hate in other people but justify in ourselves.” The nature of human selfishness comes in various forms, distinctly different in the eyes of an individual but with similar mindsets. To put differently, there are many definitions defining selfishness, but under the surface, everyone has similar, selfless intentions.

We are all selfish no matter how hard we try to deny it. I learned this by listening to the speech “This is Water”, by David Foster Wallace. In the speech, Wallace discusses that if we actually think about what we think about, then we can make our lives better. He also talks about how the exact same experience means two different things to two different people based on their beliefs. Another thing he talks about is that we are all self-centered and tend to interpret life just thinking about ourselves. I completely agree with Wallace’s ideas of people being self-centered and also that people give different meanings to the exact same thing, because they make sense and also because that is how we all think, but no one wants to accept it.

Selfishness has to do with putting yourself in front of other people you care about. For Example, Jerry from President Cleveland where are you only thinks about his own well being instead of others around him. In the story The white umbrella, the narrate also shows a bit of selfish ness. She is embarrassed that her mother works all day and wishes that her teacher is her mother. Her mother works to give her daughter shelter and food, which she doesn’t

A key factor in human nature is for people to be selfish and it is

Is human nature inherently selfless or selfish? Although a seemingly simple concept, the aforementioned question has long been a profoundly controversial topic. While many claim that humans are intrinsically compassionate and inclined to help those in need, others argue that people instinctively prioritize their own individual security over other people’s welfares. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s literary works, “Young Goodman Brown” and The Scarlett Letter, as well as F. Scott Fitzgerald’s renowned novel, The Great Gatsby, all reference the idea that people impulsively pursue perfection, as determined by their community’s values. While different communities establish different standards for perfection, society as whole romanticizes the idea of

The first virtue, honesty, is essential to a life free of selfish morality. Having an honest motivation for one’s actions is what defines the morality of the action itself. To do the right thing for the sake of doing the right thing is what makes it right. If an action is performed by virtue of the fact that it is what is perceived as moral rather than what is personally moral to the individual it becomes a false morality or selfish altruism. Bertrand Russell gives a perfect example of this in his literary work, “The Happy Life” when he expounds that saving a drowning child for the sake of a direct impulse to help versus a calculated desire to be seen as virtuous denotes two contrasting moral values (Source 1).The person who saves a

Think of selfishness like quicksand the deeper you get into it the harder it is to get out.In

Ayn Rand mentions that selfishness “is a task of ethics to answer such questions.” The meaning behind this can be depending on the situation a person can be considered selfish on bad terms or on good terms; as we need to observe the actions of the individual. In a situation where a disaster may strike, we tend to secure the things that matters the most to us. Our human instincts would be to survive and collect as many resources as we can. In the process of gathering supplies, we could encounter moments where trampling over people would occur. For those who are gathering more than enough for one person would be seen as greedy. Depending on the situation, the individual can be selfish to help others or the individual can be selfish to secure their own self-fulfillment. The person being selfish in order to protect their loved ones can be seen as morally helpful, as he or she is not being selfish for their own good but for someone else. On contrary, the person being selfish to help themselves would be considered to be a synonym of evil. Furthermore, when we secure things we tend to prioritize what we think is important first and don’t consider anyone else but ourselves. I can relate to this as I contemplated on an event whether my actions were unacceptable. When I was in middle school I used to babysit two little girls near my neighborhood. At that time, I was playing a sport and had homework I had to catch up on. Although their mother asked if I could babysit them as there was an emergency with her boyfriend; I refused to do so because I thought I was too behind in school with a test coming up. After I’ve finished my homework with time to spare, I noticed that I may have been selfish

People are born selfish. “Mr. VanDaan he goes to the food safe and again lights a match. Then cautiously opens the safe taking out a half-loaf of bread” (Goodrich and Hackett 341). People want things perfect for themselves. People will push others out of the way to get things they need. Mr. VanDaan saw that Peter’s stomach was growling at night yet still Mr. VanDaan took the bread. Selfishness is a reason why people are not good at heart.

I didn’t truly understand it at the time, but as I grow older and mature I am beginning to understand more and more. Also, in that same conversation, my father told me about some of the people he works with and works for, and how they give back but often only in the spotlight. They will donate money when the attention is on them, or they will do charity events when the media is involved. Looking back at it, this is a very selfish idea. When do we hit that point in our life where we are so selfish that we can not help others; is it a conscious decision or are we just not aware of our actions? I have seen this same of idea of selfishness in my own experiences. I went to a very wealthy private school, with many students coming very wealthy families. Often these families would donate money to the school, but in return they expected a plaque or they expected something to be named after them, some kind of recognition. Some people will say this is not selfish because they are giving back; however, others will say this is a selfish action because they are only giving looking for a return.

"We are all here on earth to help others. What I can't figure out is what the others are here for." --W. H. Auden (1)

Most of us assume that some selfishness is healthy, but "too much" selfishness will lead to loneliness and despair. This idea rests on an incorrect definition of selfishness. Selfishness means acting in one's rational self-interest. By " rational" I mean that one can logically prove that an action is in one's self-interest—in the long run as well as the short run.