Flos Selection - You can be selfish and be a good person at the same time

Title: You Can Be Selfish and Be a Good Man: The Speculative Journey Adam Smith Lets the Stanford Economists Start, Rediscovering Who I Am, and the Meaning and Value of Being Human (How Adam Smith Can Change Your Life: An Unexpected Guide to Human Nature and Happiness)

Original Author: Russ Roberts

Publisher: Facebook

"The Theory of Moral Sentiments" is a six-revised tome by Adam Smith, the economics giant. Talk about how to be a "lovable" person and a happy person. The cuteness here is not the cute/かわいい that everyone talks about, but it is similar to the meaning of lovable in English. This cuteness refers to being loved and worthy of being loved, as well as being worthy of respect and admiration. And to achieve this state is not relying on money and fame full of copper smell, but relying on self-examination and making one's words and deeds close to virtue, justice, and prudence; and acting with humility, tolerance, and restraint over ambition.

Everyone is selfish, but selfishness does not mean selfishness.

There are many people who misunderstand that selfishness equals selfishness first. When reading Adam Smith, we must first understand that the two are not equal. A saint in the Talmud of Judaism said: " I am not for myself, who will be for me? But if I am only for myself, who am I? " We are selfish and under the influence of " my iron law " Taking care of ourselves a little more does not mean that we are all selfish people. gold

How selfish soever man may be supposed, there are evidently some principles in his nature, which interest him in the fortune of others, and render their happiness necessary to him, though he derives nothing from it, except the pleasure of seeing it.

The Theory Of Moral Sentiments, Part I, Section I, Chapter I, p. 9, para.1.

It means "no matter how selfish a person may be, he must by nature adhere to certain virtues which will make him pay attention to the fate of others and to decide that the happiness of others is necessary to him."

There will be an unselfish bystander within us, a fictional character that acts as our inner moral judge. This presence becomes our altruistic drive, reminding us that we are not the center of the world. So we also have self-control when we're alone, and Jean Valjean in Les Miserables has a reason for an inner battle and finally decides to turn himself in to his ideal self.

Man naturally desires, not only to be loved, but to be lovely

The above sentence comes from "The Theory of Moral Sentiments", which is also an important reason for the definition of "cute" above. Being seen as lovable is the source of human happiness, and the little excitement you get when you're being complimented by friends, being clapped on stage, and rising in supporters online comes from this primal craving. And a large part of it is because we think we should be loved in the first place.

In our daily activities we receive all kinds of praise and flattery, some are social rhetoric and some are ulterior motives. If you can afford it, please accept it; if it is not a fact, you should refuse it. In the face of false flattery, " only the weak and the most superficial will rejoice in praise they know they don't deserve. A weak puppet will accept it, but a wise man will reject it anyway, " Smith said, and Wise people will feel uncomfortable when they hear such words, and they will immediately reflect on themselves and improve.

But this is because people always love to deceive themselves and think they are really cute. In addition, when human beings see people make mistakes, they tend to be dissatisfied but not introspective. Even if they are frank and introspective, it does not mean that they can accept the conclusion; human beings tend to be influenced by their own ambitions and beliefs, and they will forget the " limitation of reason " and fall into Keynes. In the so-called " hypocrisy of knowledge ". All of these influence the responses and judgments of our inner selfless bystander, which in turn affects our lives. Adam. Smith said, " The self-deception of human beings, the fatal weakness of human beings, is the source of half of the troubles in human life. ...", which shows how important it is to look directly at one's own problems.

What is happiness and how to be a lovely person

Human beings have the most to seek all kinds of material fame and fortune. In this way, it is true that people can be loved for a short time and can be happy, but the loss after enjoyment makes us continue to pursue, and the ambition and excessive passion during pursuit will devour people. If you want to be successful and famous, you must give up your stability, suffer from pressure and anxiety, and decide whether you are happy or not. Smith believes that what should be done is to pursue behavior close to virtue, justice, and prudence; and to act with humility, tolerance, and restraint over ambition. People should have self-knowledge and foresight. This is our greatest weapon as a human being, and it is also an important point to be a lovely person. When we truly become that loveable person, we will get real happiness.

impression

There are many troubles in life. After reading this book, I found that many of them are actually caused by the way we act and treat others. It is really not easy to do exactly what Adam Smith said, and it is really difficult in modern society. But I still hope that I can get closer to this goal step by step. In this book, I read each chapter two or three times before moving on to the next chapter, and I wrote a lot of notes. Because there are so many things that touch the heart and are worth thinking about, every time I stop and reflect, I have to read it several times to sort out my thoughts Later, I decided to read the original text of "The Theory of Moral Sentiments" and feel for myself what the giant wanted to say. I hope that like the author, I can personally meet this great and idol in my brain and talk to him.

Many people have pointed out that The Theory of Moral Sentiments and The Wealth of Nations are the product of Adam Smith's dual personality, but my thinking is closer to the author's conclusion. In society and even the whole world, there are so many events on a scale that we must act with the concepts in The Wealth of Nations in order to govern the country and bring peace to the world. Only then can an economy be pushed forward, and human life can be improved. The "Theory of Moral Sentiments" is closer to the level of self-cultivation and family. The scope is in the homes, neighborhoods, neighborhoods, and cities where we live, and the people we are in constant contact with. In fact, there is no conflict between the two, so how can it be the product of dual personalities?

Finally, I would like to send a quote from Smith that I think it is very important to face reality and pursue happiness:

The great source of both the misery and disorders of human life, seems to arise from over-rating the difference between one permanent situation and another. Avarice over-rates the difference between poverty and riches: ambition, that between a private and a public station : vain-glory, that between obscurity and extensive reputation. The person under the influence of any of those extravagant passions, is not only miserable in his actual situation, but is often disposed to disturb the peace of society, in order to arrive at that which he so foolishly admires. The slightest observation, however, might satisfy him, that, in all the ordinary situations of human life, a well-disposed mind may be equally calm, equally cheerful, and equally contented. Some of those situations may, no doubt, deserve to be preferred to others: but none of them can deserve to be pursued with that passionate ardour which drives us to violate the rules either of prudence or of justice; or to corrupt the future tran quillity of our minds, either by shame from the remembrance of our own folly, or by remorse from the horror of our own injustice.