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twesterm on 15 March 2010
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dtewi said:
twesterm said:
  1. People generally act good.
  2. People generally only act good because of consequences (Hell, law, pain, ect)
  3. Therefore, people only act good because they are looking out for themselves
  4. That is selfish
  5. Therefore, people are generally selfish.
  6. selfish is not good
  7. Therefore, people are generally not good.

I don't see why acting good shouldn't make you good.

Sure, we almost always act out of selfishness, but that is not a bad thing. It's just one of the natural ideas that being selfish is bad.

But really it keeps the world in order and keeps everyone alive. There are good and bad sides to being selfish, but really, more good to it.

So, why do people hate it?

But aren't you only acting good to manipulate others or using good simply as a means to a better end for yourself?

-edit-

To elaborate:

Why would you act good?  What do you get from being good?

You can act good to avoid something bad like going to Hell, facing the law, avoiding pain, ect, but then you're just being selfish since you're working towards your own selfish goals.

You can just act good towards people without consequence of those things, but what's the point if you're not avoiding those things?  In that case, you're probably only being good to manipulate someone. 

Remember the old saying you attract more flies with honey?

I could simply be nice and hold a door open for a woman, but what if I'm only doing it so she can smile at me and perhaps trick her into thinking I'm a gentleman?  Afterall, aren't men only interested in one thing?

What if I just got a ticket and the officer comes to talk to me?  If I'm polite and say yes sir maybe I can manipulate him into just giving me a warning.