People only do good things for selfish reasons.

It is still selfish if they do it to keep if off the conscience. They are not a bad person for this because it's a completely natural desire to not feel guilty, But it is still technically selfish as they are thinking of them self. About the man saving the child: They save the child to keep their death off their conscience. If they did not care about the child's death being on their conscience, That would mean they don't care about the child's death. Therefore, They would not save the child. My point is all of this goes back to the selfish and natural desire to not feel guilty about someone's death. If they did not care, They wouldn't save the child, Simple as that. Everyone's different: But why do you do the kind thing? Think about it. What is your purpose? I'm not saying I don't understand why; I understand completely. There are multiple reasons why you might have done a kind thing for your friends and family even if you don't expect to get something back: One reason is: You enjoy seeing them happy: You gave something or did something for them because you like to see them happy. Though this sounds like a selfless act, It can't be. You enjoy seeing them happy. Though you may not realize it, You are doing this for yourself because you enjoy seeing them happy. After all, If you didn't like seeing them happy, You wouldn't do it. Selfish vs Selfless: No, I do not see being selfish as good or being selfless as bad. I just see selfishness as natural and selflessness as unrealistic. With gratification, The person is doing the act to feel the gratification of it, Therefore making them concerned for themselves. As for "what goes around comes around", A person may do a "selfless" act purely because they feel karma will reward them, Making them selfish. Parents: A parent raises their child well, And they feel good about it. They can say "I'm a good parent. " If they're having a bad day, Thinking "What have I done that's important? ", They can remember that they raised a child well, And they can believe they did something good. Now, This does not make the parent a bad person whatsoever. This just makes the parent human. Good or bad? : No, It is not a bad thing. It is only the natural thing. It is impossible to do anything good without thinking of yourself. That's just life, It's natural, And I won't criticize it. Jane may have done something good, But it still benefits her. She feels the gratification of her good deed. She doesn't ask for anything back because she believes that will make her look selfish and that it will take away from her good deed, Which means it will take away from her gratification. My argument: Good deeds give people an excuse. When someone does something good, They may then think that they should reward themselves. After all, They did something good. If someone says they're a bad person or selfish, They can say "Well I did this, So you're wrong. " And when they think that their life has been a waste, They can remember the good thing they did. Note: Some people seem to think that I'm some sort of amoral person, Believing that good isn't real and all people are bad and that I'm only projecting myself on others. This isn't true. People are not inherently bad. To be selfish is to be human, And I can't criticize that. I just accept that in life people are concerned with themselves, And that's just a fact.