(This was largely inspired by PHIL. I. STINE over at My Left Wing, in a comment he made on my previous essay. I wanted to expand on the answer I gave him, since it's a topic that comes up a lot)
Also at enigmaengine, The WIld WIld Left, and My Left Wing.
One of the constant debates across multiple disciplines at my university is the question of altruism. Does it exist, and if it does, is it better to be altruistically selfless, or selfish (or at least self-interested).
Now by altruism, I mean acting for the benefit of others with no personal motive for yourself. No 'good-feelings' reward, no dependency on karma, nothing. Just pure kindness.
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