The Scientific Reason You’re Selfish
If you’re someone who is in constant contact with people, you often wonder why a lot of people are keen on making everything about themselves. It’s about them when you miss their calls, It’s about them when their messages are unread, It’s about them when they are not incorporated into your schedule, when you make certain decisions that affects you, it’s about them, even when you drink water, they make it about them.
Many people don’t consider the fact that there could be a hundred more reasons why other people do or don’t do certain things…What if she’s sick? What if he had a bad day? What if there are a hundred other messages unread? What if she is stressed out? What if it’s not about me?
You don’t even have to be the above category of people, just being a human living in a world of humans is enough to get burnt by people’s innate selfishness. You don’t even have to look outwards, you must have noticed it in yourself, the generality of our thought process and actions as humans are geared towards self.
It would propel one to give credence to Thomas Hobbes who argued that humans in the state of nature are selfish and are willing to hurt each other it would help them…bruh that took a lot of observation and probably personal experiences.
Recently, I have had a lot of encounters with people who don’t fail to rub their selfishness on my face, I have caught myself on that lane too, making me wonder whether there is something in our anatomy responsible for it and today’s is about sharing what I found out.
Interestingly, I discovered that human are altruistic at heart, that means we are selfless at heart and suggests that selflessness is the default option. So where does the selfishness come from.
Research as revealed that a part of the brain called the pre-frontal cortex might have something to do with it…weird yea? This part of the brain is responsible for making complex judgments.
In an experiment, this part of the brain was disrupted using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) while participants were asked to give money to people with two possible outcomes; if the disruption results in less giving, it means this part of the brain without disruption restrains selfish urges and if the disruption results in more giving, it means without disruption, this part restrains our natural generosity.
The latter proved true after the experiment, voila! Stringently, this is just a consequence of its role in impulse control and only attests to a minute part of self-servingness.
A more appealing reason would be one adduced by psychologist Lisa marie; low emotional intelligence- one of the symptoms of low emotional intelligence is the tendency to be self-absorbed, or exclusively concerned with what you are thinking, feeling, needing and wanting, instead of the thoughts, feelings, needs and desires of others.
While we have the tendency to consider ourselves first, I think we also possess the rationality to consider the bigger picture. These days I try as much as possible to consider the fact that there is not always one reason a person does something, even when it affects me, it does not discard the possibility of it being about me.
So the next time you are tempted to consider yourself alone, especially when people do or don’t things, do so, but don’t discard the possibility that there could be other reasons. This is just one of many instances self absorption plays out and when you can’t decipher other reasons, the safest route is to ask or just move on.
So tell me readers, can you relate to being caught up in peoples’ web of self absorption or are you a perpetrator yourself? How did you handle it? Remember to like comment, share and subscribe, ciao!
Nice
As a child I was a perpetrator of this. And that’s why I believe being self absorption is a natural prediliction for children. As we grow older, we are expected to leave that habit behind and pay more attention to issues that affect others and our society. The problem is, there are a lot of individuals roaming about who haven’t shaken off that infantile trait. Caring about oneself alone without giving a hoot about others is something no one ever should be proud of.
*…being self absorbed…*
Omo… This particular topic loud oh.
But personally I’ve noticed that most times I’m so self absorbed but I’m trying to stop it. Thank you for this post. It has made me understand the reason for my being so “self absorbed”.
You are on point. Jefferson also aptly submitted on point. It’s a natural trait whereas, altruism only manifests in those who welcome the divine nature in them.
In certain but most rarely circumstances, I get absorbed in self consideration.
Nice picture. I will also like to say that the chief cause of anxiety is selfishness. When it’s only about you-i need shoe, I want that sneakers, ooh, he didn’t reply message, just imagine he didn’t text me on my birthday…What this does is that once you are unable to have those wants, you’re plunged in anxiety, which may lead to depression as the case may be.
Also, thinking about others more than you think about yourself makes you happy, efficient and free.
As regards Hobbes proposition about the nasty and selfish nature of human being, I don’t agree with that. And I noticed he borrowed that proposition from Darwin’s theory of natural selection. This theory have it that the weak, altruists die off leaving behind the strong, selfish ones to subsist. Therefore, every subsisting human being is selfish, strong and less altruistic. Now, the impediment or rather the challenge is, why do we still find altruistic people. Why are they still alive?. A solution which Darwin preferred by saying that the altruistic nature of man is aroused when he stays in group because more altruists in a group, more successful the group becomes. So Hobbes might be right but I think he’s wrong.
Nice work Riji.
A very succinct and well researched piece. It is a generally accepted phenomenon that most humans are wired to be selfish, egoistic, self centered creatures. Thanks to facts and observations that have been proferred by some great theorists as well as experimental studies. However I do have some strong hesitations about some of these postulations . e.g The assertions that selflessness is our default mode, Hobbes assertions as well as Darwins theory of natural selection. I tend towards the thought that these observations or theories may be just be products of hasty generalizations. I recognize, however the degrees of truth they profer.
My point simply is that it is very possible to see human beings (children and adults alike) who are selfish and brutish, just as it is to see those who are selfless and considerate. In addition to scientific facts, Factors such as politico , economic et social factors as well as Life experiences, upbringings and orientations play very vital roles in shapening the the Egoistic or altruistic tendencies of people.
It is sufficient to say that I am both victim and perpetrator of this act of self absorbtion.
Nice job riji riji. ??