1st September 2005, 11:12 PM
An interesting ideal, but mine is somewhat different.
I constantly get into affairs that are not my business, often even when no one asked me to "help" :D.
You see, the ideal of only helping out those in your immediate family is the same philosophy that, according to the evidence we currently have, doomed the Neanderthal. They too were very close nit tribes that only cared about their immediate concerns. Humanity on the other hand evolved a useful trait in which we care, by our nature, about ALL other humans, even if we have not met them.
Several thousand years later, we are doing very well for ourselves, and the neanderthals... not so much. Many of the things that have lead to our long term survival can be directly linked to the desire to help any and all humans even if we do not know them. For example, well, scientific inquiry. It's hard to say how Galileo would have benefited himself or his own friends by his actions of challenging the church's ideas. "And yet, it moves." However, we can certainly say how well it has suited US, and the majority of people. Most scientific studies are the same way. The average scientist isn't exactly rich. The average pseudoscientist however does VERY well. The difference? The true scientist seeks the truth even at their own expense knowing that lying to others will just do a great amount of harm. The pseudoscientist selling "healing crystals" and writing books on nonsense doesn't care about anyong but themselves and their immediate families. However, this does a great harm to the people at large, seperating them from money while at the same time fostering a very damaging way of thinking.
So no, I do not share your ideal.
I constantly get into affairs that are not my business, often even when no one asked me to "help" :D.
You see, the ideal of only helping out those in your immediate family is the same philosophy that, according to the evidence we currently have, doomed the Neanderthal. They too were very close nit tribes that only cared about their immediate concerns. Humanity on the other hand evolved a useful trait in which we care, by our nature, about ALL other humans, even if we have not met them.
Several thousand years later, we are doing very well for ourselves, and the neanderthals... not so much. Many of the things that have lead to our long term survival can be directly linked to the desire to help any and all humans even if we do not know them. For example, well, scientific inquiry. It's hard to say how Galileo would have benefited himself or his own friends by his actions of challenging the church's ideas. "And yet, it moves." However, we can certainly say how well it has suited US, and the majority of people. Most scientific studies are the same way. The average scientist isn't exactly rich. The average pseudoscientist however does VERY well. The difference? The true scientist seeks the truth even at their own expense knowing that lying to others will just do a great amount of harm. The pseudoscientist selling "healing crystals" and writing books on nonsense doesn't care about anyong but themselves and their immediate families. However, this does a great harm to the people at large, seperating them from money while at the same time fostering a very damaging way of thinking.
So no, I do not share your ideal.
"On two occasions, I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question." ~ Charles Babbage (1791-1871)