[Ansteorra] New Question 11/20

[IagoAH at aol.com]

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In a message dated 11/20/02 10:01:02 PM Central Standard Time,
gilli at hot.rr.com writes:

> > There are those that argue there are NO selfless acts...even those things
> > you do for others are motivated by the good feeling you get when you do
> > them, and therefore self-serving.
> > gwyneth
>

I would argue that those who argue this point are mistaken.

The soldier who dove onto the grenade to save the others in his foxhole, the
teacher who used his body as a shield for his students when a gunman entered
his school, and the firefighters who ran up the stairs of the second world
trade center tower after seeing the first tower collapse all acted in
selflessness.  There wasn't time to weigh the odds and see what was in it for
them, it simply needed doing.

These actions are either trained or instinctual responses that happen far too
quickly for thought to occur.  This is pure selflessness. For the above
mentioned, there was no warm feeling of a job well done.

Iago