When no one is Watching

For centuries, every human being has been affected by this problem. It has been the source to nearly every struggle the world faces. It is a characteristic implanted deep within ourselves, and it’s the reason that we make many of our decisions. It has been known to separate close friends, destroy relationships, demolish whole companies and much more. While this problem will never completely go away, it is possible to shrink its power over us and create a more caring world. The characteristic that has caused so many problems for so many years is expressed in one diabolically simple word: selfishness.

The day is Wednesday February 19, 2013. Twenty airplane passengers are awaiting their board a flight from Antwerp to London. Little do they know, this is no ordinary plane, it is to be carrying $50 million dollars in diamonds. Just as the plane is about head down the runway the cargo hold of the plane is attacked. Seven minutes later, eight masked men escape with the $50 million dollars of diamonds. According to Van der Cruysse, interviewed by CNN, "This was a very precise, almost military-organized and well-executed robbery." As shocking as this incident might be, it is fairly clear to see what motivated the eight assailants: selfishness. These criminals thought well and hard how they were going to better their own lives, not allowing any consideration to the owners of the diamonds, the people on the plane, or anyone else. They may have disturbed the lives of thousands of people, but in the end they’re $50 million dollars richer.

Actions like these only help to prove that the world is filled with selfish people. And when there is so much of one thing within the world, someone is bound to give it a name. Another term that could be used to describe selfishness is psychological egoism. According to Hugh LaFollette, “it suggests that every action or behavior or decision of every person is motivated by self interest. It also suggests that every action must be motivated by self interest.” While this statement may seem a tad harsh and unrealistic, give it a little thought and you might just see the truth within this perspective. Start by asking yourself questions like these; why did you take a shower today? Why do dress the way you do? Why do you go to school? Why do you have a job? Why do you volunteer at the homeless shelter? Your answers should have one thing in common; self interest. You took a shower today because you didn’t want to smell or look bad. You dress the way you do in order to achieve something or for your own personal comfort. You go to school so that you can have the job you want. You have a job so that you can have money to do things that you want. You volunteer at the homeless shelter because in the end it makes you feel like a better person. Everything we do is within the context of self interest.

Through conducting a survey among Woodland Park High School students, I attempted to see how many people actually recognized selfishness in themselves and others. One of the questions that the students were asked was, out of anyone you have ever known, how many of them do you believe are selfish? 0%… 25%... 50%... 75%... or 100%? Approximately seventy-five percent of students said answered “75% to 100%” of everyone they knew were selfish. Then they were asked, how much of everything you do, do you do with selfish intent? 0%… 25%... 50%... 75%... or 100%? The responses were very interesting. More than half of the students said that only “25% to 50%” of what they do is with selfish intent. This survey shows that almost everyone is willing to point the finger and call others selfish, but when they were asked to reflect upon their own selfishness, the majority of the students say that they have little to no selfish intent.

So the question that we should now ask ourselves is how can we decrease the amount of selfishness in the world? The first step is to recognize just how much self interest effects our decisions, actions, etc. Secondly, there has to be a will to change. After both of these two beginning steps are completed, it’s important to recognize where selfishness begins. There is no better place to start at home; better yet childhood. According to Susan Guibert and JP Shortall from the University of Notre Dame, “young children are innately selfish and have to be "taught" to give.” The root of self interest lay within the early stages of life. According to PBS Parents in The Role of Parents, “one thing remains constant: we are our children’s learning models.” Through the early stages of child development, children learn from watching the people around them. Therefore in order to create more caring individuals, parents and other influential people need to be the right role models for their children. Not only is it important for parents to talk to their kids about how to act and behave, they have to be examples as well. Children need to not only hear what the right thing is; they need to see it in person so that they may learn by example.

If more people started leading their kids by a good example through their own lives, the world would be a more a more caring place. People will always have a sense of self interest, but the way we are raised plays a key role in determining how much we let self interest control our lives. There will always be selfishness and selfish people in the world, but it is possible to lessen the effect that it has over us. Like any problem in the world, it just takes the will to change, a little effort and the result will be immeasurable.