Co-considerational selfishness to self-orientated selfishness

Co-considerational selfishness to self-orientated selfishness

• Purely for you.

• Working where both gain, mutualism.

• Giving to others; rewarding when it is appreciated.

• Going out of your way to assist.

• Someone else’s pain addressed - you have less guilt.

• Sacrificing something major - donating eggs, bone marrow or kidney.

• Pure altruism – your last fatal act.

I ask you this; does the appreciation of music give you an evolutionary advantage? What about tinkering with model railway lines. Or making a dolphin picture from an arrangement of sea shells? I ask these questions as some have this belief that all facets of humans and humanity has a reason. A reason for being there. That does not seem to be the case. Some things are incidental and serve no purpose, particularly in the primary role of procreation. If you were to suggest that non-heterosexual people also play a part in procreation, namely by helping mothers then you could be trying to make oddities fit where a fit is superfluous. There are enough mothers having more than two children that more than compensate for those that don’t have any. There is no reason in many cases for things we do in terms of them having some kind of evolutionary benefit. Push aside the obsession of seeing the world through the lens of procreation and how animals thrive by evolving and adapting to the environment. Only some features of evolution are necessary. The rest are incidental.

Our curiosity may encourage us to try different fruits, nuts, and seemingly edible items. The more we try, the more options we have to call upon, thus enabling us to have a greater chance of surviving. A varied diet will also offer us the greatest chance of living healthy. Boredom helps us. Boredom of eating the same things all the time plays a part in enticing you to eat more variety. You try other things to alleviate that boredom. We seek different things to do because of boredom thereby expanding our knowledge and capabilities as a person.

The curiosity to explore led to the population expanding. We began to seek out new lands to invade. A grander type of curiosity than others for sure. A train has wheels, as do cars, bicycles, tractors, and shopping trolleys. The wheels provide a mechanism to roll. The wheel provides the same action no matter whether on a car, train, or trolley. Each wheel looks different, but they perform the same function. When you see curiosity in the same way as the wheel you will grasp what I am saying. The wheel rolls whereas the curiosity seeks to fill in gaps in your head.

That curiosity can power the panic we occasionally have when we want to know. I mean really want to know what we should do right now. Desperation, desperate for news, desperate for knowledge that a loved one is safe and well for example. Frantic, frantic headless chicken emulation. Curiosity, nonetheless, simply in overdrive.

Infants don’t get far without calling on the co-considerational selfishness principle. Parents plus those in the community get fulfilment from nurturing and aiding the young. That obviously helps the next generation to transpire. An elder offers advice and wisdom until they are put to sleep by an act of kindness/act of selfishness. However, I can’t fathom any evolutionary advantage in helping a person reach 100. Medicating, feeding them, hoisting them in and out of bed and providing them with an hour a week of jovial entertainment. It is done to avoid guilt. It is done for our pleasure and out of respect. Looking after others is rewarding, but there is not always an evolutionary advantage type reward in what we do. There doesn’t need to be one.

In all walks of life, we face battles of psychology. From self-confidence, caring about what others think. Through acceptance and dealing with rejection, to allowing love to take over. Resisting impulses and curating habits. Mastering things despite objections. Overcoming tiredness and boredom. Overcoming self-doubt. Getting through hard times and being capable of sharing joyful times. Battling guilt of the pleasure we are having - whilst others are struggling. Losing, failing, and things not going the way we want. Fear and trepidation of potential problems. Every game, every encounter, every decision will have a psychological element. If you delve a bit further, further than what you might normally do, you will see the philosophy as plain as day. In here you will find every-day, every-man philosophy to enjoy. It will assist in those numerous endless psychological battles, lots that you will be confronted with. So many mistakes and errors, delays and procrastinations revolve around a psychological war inside your head. You can do it beautifully when alone but not when others are watching, or when the stakes, the prize is higher. Philosophy underpins psychology. Learn philosophy and you will be great at dealing with anything in the psychology field.