In replying to a comment a moment ago, I had a bit of an epiphany on the fundamental difference between short term and long term thinking. If it's less than one human lifetime, it's short term. People who are fundamentally selfish cannot think outside the scope of their own lifespan, and thus are incapable of true long term planning.
Having humanity's best interests at heart means thinking beyond your own lifetime. That's where the long term begins.
3 comments:
Hey, thanks!
I think that part of it might be that even though I feel compelled to write for no special reason from time to time, I really only actually do it when it's actually significant enough. Now, maybe some people with inane blogs feel that every single aspect of their lives is relevant enough to be written down, but I don't.
There are things that I don't want to forget, and things that I think others will really want to know, but I don't think the world needs to know how good the steak I had at last night's company party was, or even that we had one. It was a good party, don't get me wrong, but I don't feel it was really important enough for its own entry.
Anyway, thanks for reading.
Hey Aaron, good to see someone else is also thinking long-term. I'm doing it another way, through social change and social work, but the goals for long-term survival of humanity is still the same.
Contact me. (first dot last at juno.com)
Your Brebeuf friend,
Damien
To reverse the question, why would having humanity's best interests at heart be detrimental to the individual? Could a person help humanity on the whole also help themselves in the process? Why not do both if you can?
If you set an upper limit on humanity by failing to help it, you set an upper limit on yourself as well. No individual is going to "out do" the whole. Maybe on average, sure, but not the peak, since the peaks are included in the group. You can raise the average a few ways - by raising the bottom, by raising the top, or by raising the mass in the middle. If you want to benefit yourself, go ahead and raise the top - and do it without lowering the rest.
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