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| who is going to be the angel in here? |
This is how I intend to test this:
step one: Post on blogger at 9:47 (according to my clock) just before the deadline for the assignment, far too late for anyone to just simultaneously post and comment.
Step two: wait and see if the people who were in favor of the altruistic model come through and comment in the angelic fashion promised.
Like I mentioned earlier, I think we will all drift towards instant gratification. That means posting and commenting in the same sitting, thus leaving late posters to peril. Prove me wrong. If I get the required posts I will be wrong and there may be stock in the altruistic approach. If I don't receive comments I will be write and altruism is dead in section 002 of English 211. Making the only logical next step one where we install a system of ensuring comments are had by all.
and now on to my actual post about Greek stuff...
As a psychology major I encounter the philosophies of ancient Greek in almost every class. Aristotle is credited with thinking of some of the questions psychologist are still trying to answer today, Heck, the entire preface to this post is rooted in a Greek ideology. Psychology is absolutely drenched in Greek thinking.
Challenge Accepted!
ReplyDeleteOkay, first of all, your post doesn’t prove anything about altruism because a majority of people will probably not even see your post. Luckily for you, you actually do not need two people to comment on your post; you have to comment on two posts but you are only required to get one “insightful” comment on your post. Secondly, the fact that you need comments is also to inspire you to post in a timely matter. If you are purposefully posting at the last second you are taking advantage of the system in order to prove your point. Usually I wouldn’t bother posting on this, but I felt like you were challenging my character and I felt like standing up for the altruists in the world. This may be just some psychological trick or an excuse for getting around to homework late, but that’s my reply.
Interesting thought. You made two assertions. First, altruism is unattainable, and second, that we should not rely on it. Under our circumstances, I disagree vehemently with the both.
ReplyDeleteAltruism is attainable. It is entirely possible for someone to act without self-interested motives. People do it all the time. Though I can only think of one Man who perfected altruism in all aspects of life where one should be altruistic, we have to understand that people are not either perfectly altruistic or completely incapable of altruism. I'm very far from being perfect, and yet there have been times in my life where I am certain that I acted without seeking reward. And so it is with everyone, people oscillate all the time between selfless and self-centered actions. But, to your second claim, is it wise to let our grade rely on the altruism of the class? In this case, yes it is. But why? Altruism is not a trait that strikes randomly or appears in even consistency among all people. The probability of someone acting altruistically depends on that person and the task in question. The ease with which someone acts altruistically is related to the significance of the task at hand. It is easier for someone to act altruistically when the task is easy and subsequently harder when the task is more difficult. Additionally, if that person has generally been exposed to and embraced more altruistic teachings than another then that person will likely have more instances of altruistic behavior. As it happens, we are a small group of people who, likely, have been brought up (or at least exposed to) more altruistic teachings than most and have had a very easy task assigned to us. While it is nigh impossible to suggest that sufficient instances of altruistic behavior will occur over this semester to 100% guarantee that no one loses points because someone else decided to be selfish, it is equally impossible to intelligently assert that, regarding this assignment with this group of people, altruism is unattainable. It is attainable and we would be very wise to rely on it.
However, if we were talking about relying on a huge group of people with a much more diverse background to be altruistic, I would agree with you that it would be unwise to rely on the group’s altruistic tendencies.