Selfishness

Why do people act out of pure selfishness, I can not understand.  Can some one enlighten me please?

Now I can understand the selfish act of protecting yourself, your family, etc.  But to act entirely for your own benefit, at the expense of others?

A little while ago, this person decided to give me some 'blunt hindsight' - at my huge expense.  It hurt deeply that he could be so callous. What he was saying was untrue, he didn't know the detail of the situation and thought that he had all the answers. He bluntly told me that we had error-ed  etc, etc.  All about a huge decision that we had made - that had no consequence or effect on him.  All for his own ego trip it seems.  How could a person gloat about how much better they think they are while it visibly upset you? (I told him several times to stop, why are you telling me this and what is the point of you telling me this - but he didn't care).  I now call this person FSC - and I have never used that word before.  I'll leave it up to your imagination to work out what that is.


BUT seriously why be selfish?  What's the point, what is to be gained?

As my Grandma used to say 'If you can't say anything nice, then don't speak.'  However I tend not to entirely agree with that saying.  If parents followed this, then how would children be corrected, shown the error of their ways and redirected to better deeds.  If bosses followed this, then how many workers would not improve, or worse, take advantage of their situation.  If good friends followed this, how could you tell your friend that maybe they shouldn't do inappropriate things, etc?  But in all these situations, it is not to the detriment of the receiver, or the selfishness of the giver.

What is the point of putting yourself above others?  Why do this?  Why not at least consider others and the effect of any selfishness?