Altruism

From RationalWiki

"We're born alone, we live alone, we die alone.
Only through our love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that we're not alone." - Orson Welles

Altruism is a nebulous concept that involves "doing something for someone (or thing) else that brings no gain to oneself". As such, it is a self-contradictory term.

The very act of "selflessly giving" is prima facie selfish in the sense that it makes one feel like a really awesome Christ-like helping healing person. Outside of deeply-felt Christian charity, altruism is usually genetically beneficent anyway.

Altruism evolved over thousands of years as a social strategy when "every man for himself" didn't pan out so good.

[edit] See also

• Objectivism, for a philosophy which gives this concept the finger and celebrates selfishness instead.
• The Ant and the Peacock