Doing Good For Interest Is Typical Of Smart People, Not Good People

Doing good sincerely is much more complicated than doing it while preserving your own interest above all else. In this way, someone often receives the label of “self-interested person”, when the good intention of the same person benefits them in a personal way.

An interest that is otherwise usually lawful, although it is poorly considered by a significant differentiating element: the “labelled” person is accused not only of adhering to the cause for their own benefit, but also of doing so only when that benefit exists.

This type of behavior, which we often notice too late, has more to do with cunning or selfishness than with kindness, sympathy, or surrender. Being good is not the same as being smart, but in certain contexts we confuse both: the second characteristic can be camouflaged with the first, and in this way we end up deceiving ourselves. Furthermore, when this happens we can even feel disappointed and sad, as we have created an expectation of the other person that does not match reality.

The selfish nuance of doing good for the sake of it

Following what was exposed above, it should be said that the moment someone helps us, we are happy to think that the person took this attitude because he really cares about what we need. However, when we discover that the action is taken out of self-interest, we immediately tend to diminish the value of the action, even though the benefit generated for us in both cases is the same.

The damage arises because we perceive the true motivations of the supposed act of kindness: if the individual good is at the essence of the actions and strategies used to achieve something, this person is probably acting for their own benefit, not out of solidarity.

In this case, what is good, but was guided by cunning, has a certain selfish nuance, since its person and its goals are at the center of its actions. So much so that the possible altruism and concern for the other are in the background, as we will see below.

Altruism: within the essence of goodness

If on one side of the coin is cleverness stained by selfishness, on the other side is altruism. This is the essential nuance that defines the good above anything else. The altruistic person is dedicated to others, is interested in them and is, above all, supportive and dedicated.

This happens because those who are good and act according to this idea carry out their actions seeking not to hurt anyone, and abandon their own interests if they will harm someone else. Altruism constantly seeks the good of others, without thinking about what can be received in return: doing good without looking to whom.

Of course, self-love is indispensable, but an altruistic person keeps the limits firm: it is not a matter of showing a lack of interest in oneself, but of understanding that kindness arises from a free and voluntary act that seeks to help other people.

Qualities of kindness, not smartness

We can define this form of help with interest as the artificial ability to achieve any goal. In other words, interest is not bad because it moves us, the problem is in using this movement to manipulate and take advantage of others.

On the other hand, among the qualities of a good person are those we have already mentioned, and we can add a few more. For example, someone kind is kind to people who need and those who don’t, she does favors for those who owe and who don’t owe anything, she gives up her place in line to a person in a hurry even without any interest in it.

Finally, and above all, we cannot forget that by performing acts of kindness voluntarily and without interest, we transmit values ​​of empathy and humanity, fostering a feeling of full satisfaction within those who act in this way.