so I went from day to day though my life was in a rut

[enthusiastick]

Its time once again for Heinlein Friday here at the blog of pooka_madness. Don't remember this feature? That's probably because I've only ever done it once before.

For this week's quote I have selected:

If tempted by something that feels "altruistic," examine your motives and root out that self-deception. Then, if you still want to do it, wallow in it!

This is once again a selection from the Notebooks of Lazarus Long (which are themselves a component of Time Enough For Love), and as with many of the best quotes its a bit of a sticky wicket. It builds upon a notion introduced and discussed elsewhere in Heinlein's work that altruism doesn't exist, at least not the way people think it does. I find I am inclined to agree, although of course that's sort of the point of this little feature. Having read Heinlein at a formative age I agree innately with a good four fifths of all the nonsense he spews, even after a bit of rigorous self-reflection.

I think that most theoretically altruistic acts, that is to say acts of charity, compassion, forgiveness, generosity, helpfulness, service and/or trust are usually committed at least in part for the benefit of the person supposedly being altruistic. That benefit may certainly be an intangible, such as feeling good about themselves, and may not seem to be remotely commensurate to the amount of sacrifice required to commit the act. Still I basically buy into the notion that human behavior is motivated by enlightened self interest, and that our greatest virtue and most reprehensible vice can be boiled down to the same basic drives. Which I guess makes me a bit of a cynic, from a certain point of view.

Still, I'm curious to know what you lot think. Discussion in comments is encouraged.

Comments

My thoughts in a nutshell

[a-leprechaun.livejournal.com]

Yes, good things can be done for selfish reasons. Does this change at all the fact that good is being done?

[pooka-madness.livejournal.com]

Not at all. I'm just a firm believer that people should understand and acknowledge the actual motivations behind their actions.

[spreadnparanoia.livejournal.com]

Read The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins. It's a book I read freshman year that I really like and I think you would too with your interest in memes. But it agrees that anything done altruistically is actually done for the good of the species as a whole, hence why your more likely to help a family member than someone unrelated because many of your genes will survive if they do and at a genetic level all animals want to perpetuate their lines.

Also it's better than Heinlein, who I've decided I hate a lot. I know you love him but this will be a fundamental disagreement between us.

[pooka-madness.livejournal.com]

I have read the Selfish Gene already, but thank you for the suggestion. It integrated perfectly nicely into this particular view of the world which I already held and basically reinforced it, although obviously I don't agree with Dawkins 100% on everything.

Also I am coming to accept that you hate nearly everything I love because our tastes are wildly different. Its cool. We're still friends anyway, right?

[spreadnparanoia.livejournal.com]

We can still agree on Neil Gaiman and goat cheese. And yes, we're still friends.