🧐利他主义指为他人利益行动，自私则是为自己利益行动，这两个定义符合常见用法且尽可能简单清晰，但它们依赖于‘利益’的定义。

🤔自私和利他主义相对应于价值的定义，即对个人的好或坏，而‘利益’可以有多种定义，如生物层面以繁殖为价值衡量，心理层面以欲望为衡量，能量层面以能量为衡量。

🙄行动的利他或自私取决于所使用的‘利益’定义，例如从能量角度看是利他的育儿行为，从生物角度看可能是自私的。

Published on August 9, 2024 6:15 AM GMT

This is how I define “altruism” and “selfishness”:

Altruism: Acting for the benefit of others.Selfishness: Acting for your own benefit.

These definitions match the common usage of the words. They are as simple and clear as possible.

Of course, like all definitions, they depend on the meanings of other words. So, now we need to dig a bit deeper.

They both depend on the definition of “benefit”. Selfishness and altruism are relative to a definition of value: what is good or bad for an individual. There are different types of altruism and selfishness, depending on how we define “benefit”.

Here are some ways that “benefit” could be defined:

Biological: Reproduction is the measure of value.Psychological: Desire is the measure of value.Energetic: Energy is the measure of value.

Whether an action is altruistic or selfish depends on which definition is used. An action that is altruistic when viewed energetically could be selfish when viewed biologically. For example, parenting is energetically altruistic but biologically selfish.

(see the rest of the post in the link)