• @jballs@sh.itjust.works
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    42 years ago

    I had a teacher in highschool that presented the philosophical argument that no one ever does anything that is truly selfless. The argument was exactly what you mentioned, that if someone is doing something that appears selfless, they’re actually doing it in hopes that someone notices and thinks more highly of them.

    This would have been an interesting rebuttal to the argument. If you return a shopping cart in an empty parking lot, does that make you selfless? Kind of like a modern version of a tree falling in a forest…

    • @pathief@lemmy.world
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      62 years ago

      I’m not doing it for the goodness of my heart or being selfless. I enjoy following the rules.I do it for me, not for the person using the cart next or the store employees. You can argue I’m kind of an asshole for it, actually.