The Fallacy of Your Own Way

We want our own way. Obviously this is not surprising, what is surprising is the fact that some people purposely put the needs of others infront of their own. Furthermore, it is surprising that some people push for their own needs so much that they make their lives difficult for themselves. The answer to these conundrums and a unification for this problem lies in the wise saying: 'there's no such thing as a selfless act'. Instead of selfless acts, there are just unwise acts.

Everything is ultimately motivated by happiness, we want our own way because it is the one that makes us happy. We serve others because there is a social responsability mechanism in us; it makes us happy. We only care for people if we see how it benefits us, even indirectly. This is why we feel patriotic, we reason that what's good for the country and its people is good for ourselves.

Equally, this reasoning can be applied to throwing tantrums: pushing too far for our own way. I started giving this thought when my niece once threw a tantrum for some trivial reason. I figured that the wisest thing for her to do was to compromise. This would have led to a more cohesive environment at home and she wouldn't have had to terrorise herself with fits of crying. Obviously I still think she's awesome, and I know she is only a child and incapable of complicated reasoning but such behaviour is also seen elsewhere. After writing all this it does strike me as an obvious deduction, although in my head at least, this behaviour makes a bit more sense.