The Definition of Selfishness 1 of 2

[lnights4]

what's your personal philosophy in life? very interesting points made in the video by the way

[juicearibe]

Turn that shit  vacuum off in the background.

[juicearibe]

objectivists is selfish, and evil.

[blaziermissy]

Rand was a product of her environment and her own conclusions..non science.

[KiddaDevonHiHi7]

LMAO! I couldn't stop laughing!!1 xD

but good points anyway:)

[ubermensch81]

i left a comment earlier in jest , so you know, i enjoyed this vid . very much . 5 stars and subscribe.

[Ruralta]

I disagree with all but the most redundant of these gremlins/invalid concepts... All of this intellectual contortionism is conjured for the end purpose of moralizing (verb - used with object) exploitation of the subjects or people. Belief in this as good leadership is socially reprehensible as it promotes the construction of an economic house of cards.

[Mig440]

So egoism is great, but I intellectually prefer the egoism of Max Stirner and not this "objective selfishness". I don't need objectivity to justify my egoism.

[eddylon1983]

you think too much cock sucker, look at your thumbs down, n none of them was by me, its coz your boring, go shag a brass, go take drugs go live

[ArchitectOfEvil]

@Mig440 Psychological egoism has merit.

"It is the view that humans are always motivated by self-interest, even in what seem to be acts of altruism."

So if that is true, should you not also be Objective? Or just another brainwashed psychologically messed up personality?

Take the case where the soldier in the war jumps on the grenade to protect others. Psychological Egoism states that means he thought it would somehow benefit him in the long term. So he was brainwashed!

Be Objective.

[Mig440]

It seems funny that the so-called objectivists claim that they are selfish, but what they concern themselves for is cause of spreading a message or a way of thinking. That's like aiding not yourself but a spook and a thing that you are not.

[Mig440]

Good that Ayn Rand did not understand Wittgenstein.... haha

[rader55555]

Just like macroeconomics is not a concept: it is a contradiction with it's long-term and short-term. How can you say cut taxes in the short term, and hope for long term solvency?

[VariedInterest]

This guy is fucking classic, hahahaha.

[ubermensch81]

isnt he though , sweeper in the background with his dinner jacket over his janitors outfit. the great epic janitorial philosopher , but hey he tries and his pretty articulate.

[27johnny]

Interesting stuff. By the way did anyone else notice it sounded like someone was powerballing in the background?

[cropperb]

"You can have a long-term, productive altruist goal."

What would an example be? What qualifies as altruistic?

[nine9s]

Say a person spends his life building a huge charity that's efficient, effective, and doesn't create moral hazard, but he really wanted to be a musician and gave it up because it didn't "benefit humanity" enough. I'm sure the world's full of examples like this.

[nine9s]

People don't refer to selfishness the way you think they do. They don't think of a long-term view and productivity as having *anything* to do with selfishness. (You can have a long-term, productive altruist goal.) When they lump Bill Gates (whose business practices they see as "predatory") and a murderer together, they're omitting measurements of "disregard for others." It's a wrong judgment, but that doesn't make it an invalid concept.

[RussellsParadox]

Where's part two, damn it?!

[wolfwolfwolf1979]

The definition of "selfish" that everyone uses is "devoted to or caring only for oneself; concerned primarily with one's own interests, benefits, welfare, etc., regardless of others." That can be applied to any "type" of person, long range or short range, rich or poor, as long as that definition holds to that person they are selfish. There is nothing contradictory in that definition if it is not as specific as you want it to be.

[cropperb]

" ...that everyone uses is "devoted to or caring only for oneself; concerned primarily with one's own interests, benefits, welfare, etc., regardless of others."

Murderrs, rapists, theives and social workers are NOT concerned with themselves in any meaningful way. So a concept of selfishness that subsumes some of these people would be invalid for that reason - it is a direct contradiction.

[nine9s]

Of course they're concerned with themselves--they're just being retards about how to do so. Except of course the social workers; that's early suicide.

[gabrielevery]

"except of course the social workers"... i can to the posts late, and i can't seem to gather what you meant by that, can you clarify for me?...thanks!

[nine9s]

Eh, just an idle comment. Can't quite imagine a worse job to have. :)

[gabrielevery]

'any meaningful way' is not a prerequisite for being being concerned for oneself

[wolfwolfwolf1979]

I don't understand why you think murderers, rapists and thieves are not concerned with themselves...Are you suggesting that they are concerned with others?

[cropperb]

I am suggesting they are empty, selfless and neurotic, driven by a fear of thinking, driven be evasion. That is NOT concern for one's self. That is suicide, emotional albeit.

[nine9s]

Concern for one's well-being and knowing how to attain it are two different things. Just because they fail miserably to attain their self-interest doesn't mean they're not looking for it. You're assuming they have the insight to know that they're being self-destructive, but murderers and rapists don't strike me as being particularly insightful.

[SuperFinGuy]

Whether or not they are aware of their actions is irrelevant. The point is that they don't think or care about themselves, on the contrary being selfish is by definition beneficiating oneself and being self-conscious. I think you're confusing what someone wrongly considers as being selfish with what actually being selfish is.

[nine9s]

We're talking about being *concerned* for oneself, and you can be concerned with yourself without ever succeeding in attaining your genuine self-interest. Again, they *do* think and care about themselves; they're just being retards.

[Heraclitean]

Gremlin is so a valid concept. Haven't you seen the movie!? It refers to those things!

[nine9s]

I agree. A thing doesn't have to exist for the concept of the thing to be a valid one. By that standard, heavier-than-air flying machines were invalid concepts until the airplane was invented.

[cropperb]

Wow. What is your definition of "valid"? I suppose if a valid concept could be: "a mythical creature from children's stories and the movies," then Gremlin is a valid concept.

[nine9s]

Well, maybe I should finish Intro to Objectivist Epistemology before I answer. But my present answer is that as long as a concept doesn't contradict itself it's a valid one, though not necessarily a correct one.

We'll see if I kick myself over that one.

[cropperb]

"...it's a valid one, though not necessarily a correct one. "

I would assert that valid and correct cannot be seperated.

[brainpolice2]

I think the reason why many people have a problem with self-interest is that they are unable to concieve of "mutual self-interest" (I.E. social cooperation between people in conjunction with each of their self-interest). Since they do not understand that human interaction is a function of self-interest, they think that self-interest is the same thing as narcissism or atomism.

[qtronman]

Yes, this stems from the mental image that people associate with selfishness--for example, King Henry VIII. If you file in your mind SELFISH = KING HENRY VIII, you will believe that selfishness is incompatible with social harmony until that idea is changed.

[qtronman]

This is why Rand stressed the importance of examplars. If someone tells me selfishness is wrong, the first thing I ask them: Give me a famous example of someone who you believe to be selfish. If they cite Howard Roark, then we've got problems!