The Dan Norton Show

Selfishness in Iran and the United States. Are you selfish if you do something good for yourself? Is eating breakfast selfish? Sharing food on a lifeboat—with a murderer. Is selfishness sometimes good? If so, when? Helping the homeless—how much? Are good and bad subjective?

Is it good to be a selfish person? If an action is selfish because it helps you benefit others should it be called “selfish”? How would you define “selfish”? Can you be selfish on a desert island? Is our language missing a word?

Who is the most selfish/selfless person you can think of? What makes Jesus perfect? Why is it good to be selfless? If heaven is better than Earth, why not end your life now? What if selflessness didn’t benefit you—would you still be selfless? If so, why? Is being motivated by treasures in heaven selfish?

I'm raising money to help me continue and grow The Selfishness Project. You can see my progress toward my fundraising goal in the comment section below the corresponding video on YouTube or Facebook. If you value this project, please consider making a financial contribution: Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TheSelfishnessProject PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/SelfishnessProject Facebook Pay (via Fa...

Here is a two-minute video with some highlights and testimonials from various episodes of The Selfishness Project. I post it to help convey the value of the project, since I am currently doing a fundraiser for it. For more information on the fundraiser, please see https://www.facebook.com/dan.norton.1428/posts/10158924987323338 and https://www.facebook.com/dan.norton.1428/videos/10158935571583338/...

In this 23-minute talk (with powerpoint slides you can see if you watch at youtube.com/DanNorton1), I present Ayn Rand's new idea of selfishness. A 65-minute Q&A follows, in which the following questions are addressed: --Wasn't Mother Teresa really selfish? (26:30) --Is there a book you recommend for learning more about Ayn Rand's ideas of selfishness? (34:43) --Does the concept "selfishness" only...

Is it selfless to return a lost wallet and selfish to keep (or ignore) it? “Paying it forward”—what does it mean and was I doing it by returning the wallet? Unintended consequences of good (or bad) actions. What makes an intention good?

The coronavirus, the internet, and the future of higher education: Prof. Molyneux’s experience during the outbreak; will professors be laid off?; effects on STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) vs. non-STEM disciplines; what about philosophy? The University of California graduate student strike. Student loan debt and debt forgiveness. (Starting at 0:46:46) The lockdowns: Do they sacri...

Greek egoism and secularism as a counterexample to the idea that humans are innately altruistic.

Altruism as a tool of exploitation in religion and history.

The relation of egoism and altruism, and their meanings. Preachers of altruism. Altruism as a tool of exploitation, in history and religion. Do preachers of altruism themselves believe in altruism? Is there an innate tendency to accept altruism? Greek culture as egoistic and relatively secular; Homer, Aristotle, and Plato. Are the Greek heroes altruistic? Achilles and Prometheus. Why do we get sat...

Self-interest and global warming; prisoner's dilemmas and game theory; free rider problems; volunteer armies and charities.

Universal basic income, government programs generally, and force.

The coronavirus outbreak: How Jesus or Mother Teresa would act vs. how most people do act. Are we obligated to do what is ideal? Should unrealistic ideals be ideals? Ought implies can. Giving lip service to selflessness as an ideal without really believing it: a tension in many people’s view. The moral and the practical. How to assess practicality. Is practicality a purely relative issue? Or is it...

Is Indian philosophy anti-selfishness? Aamir’s view of selfishness and Ayn Rand. Indian philosophy/religion versus personal desires and material possessions, and Aamir’s view of this. Buddha, Lord Krishna, and Lord Rama. Parallels to, and differences with, Christianity. The “middle path” vs. asceticism. Aamir’s view of the ego. Jesus and Mother Teresa. Psychological egoism, and a possible countere...

Kant and the categorical imperative.

Religion's anti-selfishness. Nietzsche's critique of Christianity.

A little about Ayn Rand's life and communism.

Ayn Rand and the motivation for The Selfishness Project. Distortion of Ayn Rand and the importance of reading Ayn Rand herself.

Senses of equality: equality of outcome/opportunity vs. equality before the law. Capitalism vs. communism.

American individualism vs. asian collectivism in families, education, business.

Religion preaches selflessness and altruism, but does it motivate people by appealing to selfishness?

Is it selfish to stay in America or go back to China? Are we missing a word?

Why is there a trend of deference among Chinese/Asian college students in their choice of major? Where does the trend of deference come from?

If doing what's best for oneself comes into conflict with what's best for the world, which interest would you serve--your own or that of the world? Questioning the way one was raised.