yes, everything we do could be contrived to a selfish motive.  even when helping another person at direct expense to yourself, it could be said that it is so that you can"feel good about yourself" or respect your self.  and then there's that "warm, fuzzy feeling" that some people say they get when helping others.

Others, who end up dying for a cause, is often either a) because they think that doing so will give them a better "afterlife" or b ) because they think that they made a difference, so they will be respected/admired/looked up to

There are no good people, only bad people who make good choices. And then the "good" choices aren't really good either.

Samurye.

Not only do I agree with this, I have made this exact argument many times. 

It is instintual to think of ourselves/our bloodline first, because without this instinct, we may never have advanced as far as we have.  Whether this is good, or bad, is debatable, but it is true, none-the-less, and it's ironic that humans think that they are so above other mammels that act on instinct. 

I don't know if I agree with this.  Our decisions may not be based on good motives, but they can indirectly/directly have a good consequence.  Of course, this depends on your definition of "good."

I think the main problem comes when you mix selfishness with stupidity: just look at wall street/detroit.

Instinctual*  (My pc is not letting me edit for some reason.)

Selfishness is in us all, and even a little stupidity.  Yet we always try to delude ourselves into thinking we, or the ones we deal with/trust, are above that.

Actually, we ARE above other mammals simply because we CAN debate our morality.  You can say sentience/intelligence is just another tool in the war called survival of the fittest, but you can't deny that it's probably the best tool that currently exists.

How can you know this for sure though?  We assume that other life-forms aren't as intelligent as we are, because we use our knowledge of the way that our minds and bodies work as a basis to compare.  Just something to think about.

No, I can't deny that.  But of course we may only believe that because we compare other creatures to ourselves, and base our beliefs off of that.

Morality is definitely present in some species.  However, the distinct lack of it is present in many of the supposedly more intelligent ones.  Certain birds mate for life, some herd animals will protect the young of even another species at the expense of their own life, while dolphins regularly rape and kill each other despite the typical warm and fuzzy reaction to us humans.  They rival humanity in every aspect of immorality, genocide, wholesale slaughter of their own young, and gang rape.  Of course, with flipper for a PR rep, who wouldn't go on a murdering spree...

This is why Americans have the right to own firearms. Because selfish and stupid people exist, the kind with such a large dose of both that they threaten the whole of humanity.

But usually, it is the selfish and stupid people who wind up owning the firearms...

Try [ctrl][F5] with the page you want to edit open.

Humans are only smarter than other animals in the respect that we use ITEMS against them, if we are pitted with no weapons against a tiger, we loose, and thats why we are NOT at the top of the food chain in that aspect.

there natural instinct is much more enhanced than ours is today, with everything we have now-a-days we've lost alot of the naturall evolution in us, we become dependent on our "things".

Without technology we woulnt be what we are today. u could argue we are much more, or we are slightly less.

Scoutdog should view guncrime statistics with legally owned firearms in perspective with the number of legally owned firearms.  The ratio of cops committing crimes are higher.

I disagree with this, there are good people, yes everybody makes some some bad choices but then we try to use the mistakes we to learn from them and not to make them twice, what makes them good people is that they learn from the mistakes. Its rare nowadays but there are people you are selfless in the things they do.

There is one more c) To protect the ones they love, to make a difference to their loved ones in the world.

I agree with you on this for a and b, dying for them is pointless, there are bigger things in the world then themselves, admiration is not worth dying for, and chances are they are admired already from there loved ones.                                   

Living in the modern age,
death for virtue is the wage.
So it seems in darker hours.
Evil wins, kindness cowers.                                                                                                                                        

-The Book of Counted Sorrows

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