Originally Posted by sillygirl

ahhh - see that is exactly how I define selfihness though. Different defitions of a word make conversations very difficult!

Many people refer to a toddler who is whining for "MY TOY" as being selfish - but i see that as a moment of lack of selfishness. See at that very moment she is alienating or pissing off the other child she is playing with and ultimately doing herself a disfavor. Thus she probably wont get to play with the other childs toy the next day.

However, if she had shared her toy, then when the other child gets a brand new toy, she is more likely to share back. Thus she is spreading her resources to get more in return. And thats what I call the beauty of being selfish. Same principle as helping others because it is the right thing to do, just a tad more honest, and more importantly a larger view of the actual transaction at hand.

Objectivists like me get a bad wrap - but usually its because people are hesitant to understand a difference in language - which is very subjective. Frequently people get caught up in their own definition and fail to listen with an open ear....