Selfless Deeds
Is there such thing as a selfless deed? This is a very common topic in the media world. Many can argue that everything we do is selfish because we will always gain something. I personally agree with this belief. We always receive something in return for a deed whether we intend to or not. For example, let's say that I hold the door for someone because that is the nice, polite thing to do. I don't expect that person to pay me or give me anything in return for holding the door for them. They will, however, probably say "thank you." By saying "thank you," I now have a sense of pleasure because I know that someone is grateful for what I did. Every single thing we do benefits us in some way, whether it be by receiving a material item or a sense of pleasure. I honestly cannot think of an example where we do not gain something in return. Even in instances of pain, we endure that suffering because there is something that we gain out of it in the end. Every time you are given a choice, you always gain something from it. It's inevitable. You probably don't even think about half of the choices and deeds you make throughout your everyday life, but you are subconsciously doing these things and gaining something from them, whether you are aware of it or not.In one of the AP books we read this summer, The Fountainhead, Toohey states that "a totally selfless interest in one's fellow men is possible in this world, Peter." I don't disagree with Toohey in this statement. I believe that our actions can be intended to be selfless. I argue, however, that while actions can be intended to be selfless, we still unintentionally gain things out of them. Like in the example I talked about earlier, when you hold the door for somebody you don't do it to help yourself, but to help another person, which is selfless. The feeling of pleasure that you receive after you hold that door, however, is what causes holding the door to no longer be a selfless deed.
When I think of this topic, it reminds me of the T.V. show, Friends. There was this one episode where Phoebe was trying to find an "unselfish deed," but to no avail. She even let a bee sting her because she knew that that wouldn't make her happy and the bee could "brag to all of his bee friends", only to realize that after a bee stings you, it dies. By the end of the show Phoebe realizes what I've been trying to say, that no matter how we go about our actions we will always gain something out of them, whether it be a material item or sense of pleasure, thus there is no such thing as a selfless deed.
