Analysis Of Harry Browne's 'The Unselfishness Trap'

Harry Browne says that all human beings are selfish in everything they do. He elaborates on this statement by saying; all humans selfishly pursue their own happiness. This way of thinking is an example of “X” thinking, in which you believe that humans are one thing and one thing only. Being an “A to Z” thinker, I believe that all humans can be whatever they choose.

In “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor, the author portrays the grandmother as self-centered, dishonest and prideful woman. The grandmother is an old, southern, Caucasian woman who describes herself as a good woman. Throughout the story, O’Connor shows how the grandmother’s pride, and selfishness leads her to unappreciated her family. She does not care about them, she only cares about herself and what will benefit her. The grandmother’s selfishness, judgmental actions, dishonesty put the family in danger. It is the grandmother’s selfishness that leads to the death of her family. The short story “A good Man is Hard to Find” teaches us that nothing good come from being selfish.

The sudden death of a loved one can be overwhelming, frightening and painful experience. The psychological, social and physical effects of loss are articulated through the practice of grief. How individuals grieve depends on many factors: their support system; the circumstances of the death; the response by family members, friends and the criminal justice system; the nature of the relationship with the deceased; religious or cultural beliefs and customs; and the individuals coping skills. After reading this chapter the reader will be able to review psychological experiences, and social contexts and physical aspect of grief caused by sudden death.

In today’s world, one can find many instances of selfishness, whether it be corruption, killing, or even breaking a heart. However, like a diamond in the rough, someone who is truly selfless is hard to come by. One example of a selfless writer is C.S. Lewis, author of Till We Have Faces. Lewis wrote some of his novels in a way to not only educate the world that selflessness will always win but also the fact that selfishness will always lose. One of Lewis’s notable works -- “Till We Have Faces” -- clearly demonstrates how selfishness loses but selflessness wins.

People who committed suicide were in a state of immense despair; they could not see hope and find the courage to go on. They wanted to end their pain. At the same time, they might not realize that they were also being selfish.

“Is Survival Selfish” is an argumentative text written by Lane Wallace. The text focuses on the question of whether survival is an act of selfishness or intelligence. Author Wallace also draws your attention to whether saving someone in dire situations is altruism or idiocy. Throughout the story, the author provides evidence in means to support her claim and reasons. Wallace believes that “self-preservation” isn’t always instinctual and there are many factors involved, including the fact that every survival testing situation is different.

Selfishness and selflessness can be balanced, and this balance is crucial to a functioning

Life is about choices, and the choices you make dictate what kind of human being you are. If you put yourself before others, you are a selfish contribution to the world. People through good grace should always be looking to help others, to better themselves. Gandhi wrote "The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others", that through helping others and always trying to put yourself last, you truly find the good spirit and soul of someone. Gandhi was all about peace, he started a big movement for it.

The person is too depressed that someone close to them died. People often wish their loved one was back, and feel a great sorrowfulness for them. According to The five stages of grief “During the depression phase, you will cry a lot” (Ross 4). This shows depression because it says how one will and should cry a lot during depression. Most people will have a great hopelessness when someone close to them died.

The fact that happiness is a state of well-being pursued by humans since the beginning of humanity is not new. Since the ancient Greek philosophers, happiness has always been a goal for people. However, the definition of happiness is still subjective and controversial as Mark Kingwell, an award-winning social critic, essayist, and professor of philosophy at the University of Toronto, presents in his article “In pursuit of Happiness." The author begins to build his credibility by calling everyday facts and emotions, also by citing philosophers, researchers, and other authors. Using the sources effectively in a persuasive piece, Kingwell demonstrates, through examples and science researches, the difficulty in defining happiness, which can result in unhappiness.

Hayden Porter, a 15-year-old freshman at a high school in Ohio, took his life”(https://www.cnn.com/2018/01/16/health/ohio-suicide-cluster/index.html). This is very selfish because killing oneself is so wrong and so heartbreaking for everyone that loves him/her. In his defence, he killed himself probably from bullying from other people, hence proving another reason why people are bad at heart, but that should not give anyone the right to take your their and only life away from themself. In another example, in the Diary of Anne Frank, Mr Van Daan was stealing some of the bread from the

“If civilization is to survive, it is the morality of altruism that people must learn to reject.” -Ayn Rand. To be compassionate and unselfish seems to be a noble and magnanimous pursuit. Altruism is admired, it is beautiful, and it is praised.

Tavia Hale Hale 1 Mrs. Karr The Scarlet Ibis The short story “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst is about a boy who was embarrassed about his brother’s incapabilities so he tries to teach him, Doodle, to walk, run, swim, climb trees, and fight. It may seem like a sweet thing to do but the only reason he’s teaching Doodle is out of selfishness. His selfishness leads to abandoning Doodle in the rain and passing away.

The two stories chosen are “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway written in 1927 and “The Horse Dealer’s Daughter” by D.H. Lawrence written in 1922. I decided to compare selfishness in both of these stories.

Nonetheless, we can all agree that suicide is a tragedy and there are ways to help those that struggle with suicidal thoughts. In an egoists voyage to improving only their own life, they might harm other egoists. Furthermore, since egoists are not required to help others, they are not required to help the fellow egoists either. This seems absurd, if all ethical egoists ended up hurting each other then how is the moral theory of ethical egoism a satisfactory moral theory at all?. A moral action to one egoist is an immoral action to another.