Wednesday, February 02, 2011

Misguided Effort? 7

So here is my theory.  Helping someone as a close second to some other primary purpose (take your pick of self-focused primary purposes) is the highest form of human good on the good-evil continuum. Do you agree? 

Secular psychological and evolutionary views of altruism seem to agree.  To them, Santa got it wrong.  We can't be good for goodness sake.  We can be good, but just for some other primary reason, usually related to our self. 

So, when we see people trying to do good, we should rejoice and celebrate it, even when the motive is apparent on their sleeve.  No judging needed.  Often our pathology cannot be hidden.  Sometimes motives are apparent but implicit, but often they are said out loud.  So what, rejoice.  Better that a selfish person try and help someone than getting those desires fulfilled with a sex slave.  It also beats what the selfish dude who is complacent does.  

Ordinary human goodness is doable and it's the best we have to offer.   We should give a prize when we see it.  These are the ones to hang out with.  They are showing us the best.  Some of them have interesting things to say about why they choose to help the other.  We could swap stories.    

This is step 1.  Do it and you will learn something about the other and yourself.  Do it enough and you will start to wonder.

1 comment:

Mark Edwards said...

I am waiting for my Methodist friend's comments on this line of thinking.