Altruism: A mask for selfishness or the beauty of the human soul?

Sephiroth017

        The human mind is a mystery better left unsolved. Its endless facets continue to confuse and strain us in a billion ways, day in and day out. Perhaps, that is why the people of today’s generation cease to be surprised by the oddities seen and heard in their everyday lives. Thus, I come to the purpose of this text- the cause that I fight for in life. What is altruism in our world today? Is it the call for a greater cause or is it a way to satisfy the need for happiness?

        Let me start by citing the root of everything. I guess I really cannot pinpoint the right time or occasion that brought me into this state but let me begin from the start of my curiosity. I, like any other kid, was sent to school. School became my outlet of ideas. I poured my curiosity into its massive walls and endless hallways. It was relief. It was the first place that seemed to satiate my almost insatiable need for understanding. It thought me a lot about who I am and what I believed in. But what made it so special was that it also learned from me. I was able to feel the importance of my existence. School was my first step towards contributing to the common good. I was no longer the indifferent and seemingly worthless stranger that I once perceived myself to be. I was an asset. I was somebody!

        And so, I learned more about altruism and its role in society. I tried my best to do more for I, like any other volunteer, loved the satisfaction derived from helping others. It was a feeling of goodwill that crossed the boundaries of race, beliefs, and status. It was the total immersion into a new and exciting world. It was my initiation to something beyond my comprehension and reasoning. From that day on, I lived my life knowing that it was made for helping and being relief to the hopeless. However, I never expected that my sanctuary would also be my abyss.

        School did not only enlightened me; it also exposed me to the ideas of my peers, especially those of my friends. One particular friend of mine encouraged me to read a certain book entitled “The Fountainhead” which was written by Ayn Rand. Being the bookworm that I am, I started devouring the pages of the challenging book. Little did I know that it would leave me baffled and confused about my own convictions. Now before I come to the inevitable battle of ideas, I must first state that I am not contesting the ideas in that particular book. I am just expressing my own. I believe that Ayn Rand is a fantastic author as is suggested by her best selling works. However, I must state that I am deeply bothered by the way her books are received by the masses. For me, it is a reflection of corroding beliefs and an excuse for indifference.

        It was from her that I first contemplated about altruism’s role in society. Is it for service or for personal gain? Are we doing it because of compassion or because of ourselves? I guess the author really didn’t wrote it as it was interpreted by my friend but my friend’s reaction to that book bothered me a lot. She started reasoning that altruism is only masked selfishness. This made me think, “Does this world view everything as selfishness?”.

        Basically, it does make sense that some people help others because they feel good in doing so. People help other people because they want something in return for it-namely the good feeling. Or perhaps, they want to clear their consciences and they help others to do so. We have a lot of different reasons that boils down to ourselves. It’s what we gain from it that counts. Who cares about the outcome, I gained something from it. Let me tell you, I’m not as strong about my convictions as people think I am. Hey, Tolstoy and Dostoevsky made my head swim and flip. Obviously, I joined the masses that proclaimed that our existence is based on selfishness. I cringed at the word ‘altruism’ and stopped thinking about the boundaries of life and its complexities. I was satisfied by the explanation that I lived for my self. No more were the days of thinking about what this life is all about and the ‘this and that’ of this world. It was simple and quite bearable to live in a world you can explain by a statement. But it just didn’t fit my way of thinking. There was something missing. Something that just didn’t get into place-suffering.

        Being in a world full of pain and trials, it’s quite hard not to feel exhausted or drained by work and such. That realization lead me into thinking why others do good eventhough they feel pain and suffering because of it. Now, others can again jump into the conclusion that they would feel nice and warm because of helping. Just brings you back into that simple idea that life revolves around the ‘self’. Well, I would like to introduce a new concept called uncertainty. Yes, life has a hundred tricks up its sleeve and I just happen to stumble upon one of them. Helping does not guarantee that cozy feeling. It’s full of uncertainties like most of the faculties of man and life. Yes, we do have an innate quality of sharing with other people’s joys and triumphs but… the outcome of imparting one’s help does not guarantee anything in life. Help can change a person but it also can make a person stoic and monotonous. Help can give a person a new life or make it worst. Helping is based on uncertainty and sometimes-even pain. It is helping your worst enemy or giving away your left arm to a stranger, who is undergoing a 50/50 operation.

        Life is not simple its complex. No matter how much we try to simplify it we just can’t. It’s a mass of complexities and it will stay a mass of complexities. It’s not a matter of rules and steps but a matter of choices. People must not use these modern theories to escape life. These ideas must be used to analyze and have a better understanding of life, to have a more solid foundation for our convictions. Personally, I really don’t know what this text would bring me. Again, it is another uncertainty of life. I don’t even know if I am able to go with my title and let others see the beauty in altruism. How it extends into something more profound than the actions we give into it. How it can define the boundaries of right and wrong. How it can make people see beyond the external. And how it can encourage one to delve deeper into his heart and into the core of his faith. Sorry but I am not as gifted as I think or want myself to be. Honestly, all I want to say is ‘stick to your convictions’ and ‘know what is in your heart’. The beauty in altruism is found in the core of its existence. It reminds us that there is more to life than the vessel and soul we call ‘self’. Life is the interaction of the self with the world. Let yourself fulfill its purpose-to complete another lost soul in this enigma we call life.

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