Angelica Elle Abarca
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Is Greed Ever Good? The Psychology of Selfishness
This article from Psychology Today analyzes greed, and how greed stems from being selfish. We are all taught that being selfish is something negative, but the article raises a very interesting question, can selfishness sometimes be a good thing? Is it possible to be selfish without being greedy? If someone has a strong sense of themselves, strong morals and ethics, they are selfish in the sense that they want to better themselves as an individual. This type of person is not going to be easily swayed by negative influences. They care too strongly about their own self worth, so to speak, than to give into something materialistic (money, drugs etc). Take for example recent events on the national, the greed of wall street. To be a wall street banker, you have to be willing to be vicious to get to the top. Not everyone can be as ruthless as a wall street banker. It is when we lose sight of ourselves, that we fall into the downward spiral of greed.
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This article caught my attention because I always had the idea that greed is not so bad all the time. Everyone has a sinful desire inside them which can cause them to do sinful things like being greedy. Happiness and desire are different forms of greedy and humans are generally functioned in a way to gain pleasure. Humans are more likely to do things that give them comfort rather than discomfort. I grew up as a Christian and I’ve been taught to never be greedy because the bible states it as one of the great sins. But in reality, as the article states, greedy isn't as bad as everyone proclaims it to be and that there are advantages and disadvantages to it. How about greediness having an affect on social? I know many people think that greed is what destroyed the economy because it caused high homicidal rates, crime, depression. It's true but in the other hand it brought energy to one's thoughts(the drive to succeed continues to get better) so therefore affected social changes. Greed is what made some nations stronger than others because of the ambition that people brought forth with their greed. Such great things wouldn't have been done if people didn't have some sort of greed in them. I think it is just a way of life and plus humans weren't made to be perfect.
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