Enlightened Self Interest

Describe EnlightenedSelfInterest here. This would be the realization of the worth of self as a human being. In my opinion, this cannot be accomplished outside of knowing the personal God, as in Jehovah-Jesus. The human race is constantly on the search of self realization, this being because we are in a separate condition from God at our conception; I.E. death (D.O.A.). Yes, it should not be so hard to come to self worth, but it is because of the situation of the human condition. Only in being "Born again" can one find true self and worth. This is because being born again takes us out of the race of original man, (Adam) and puts us in the new race, (Jesus) with a new spirit and a restored relationship with God; I.E. life. Have no doubt that there is a personal God, the reason the secular world has a problem recognizing this and goes about calling themselves God and finding God within, (without a born again experience) is because they are still in a separate condition from Him. One need only the sincerely ask for God to prove himself, waits and then believe when it comes around. Thank you so much.

A more prosaic, and less Judeo-Christian-centric definition: selfishness tempered by the realization that there may be long-term consequences that mitigate immediate selfish action, as exemplified in the PrisonersDilemma and other game theory scenarios. It may be better for your genes to help your siblings raise kids than to steal food from them for your own belly.

ESI is the mathematical definition of morality. --PhlIp

I strongly suspect that the first paragraph will not survive on WardsWiki, as this material has been expressly assigned to the WhyTwoKay? Wiki.

That said, I believe the term itself has merit. I tend to agree with the second contribution, but with some modification.

EnlightenedSelfInterest is knowing that what is best for you will realized in feedback from the system in which you participate, and understanding the actual scope of that system.

StupidSelfInterest is short-sighted and is absent the comprehension of consequences and ultimate feedback from the system -- indeed is often ignorant of some or all of the system.

If the system is known and the scope of participation is known and there is an appreciation of consequences and feedback over an appropriate time frame, then self-beneficial outcomes can be more correctly anticipated. This, then, would constitute EnlightenedSelfInterest.

(By the way, flirting with the edges of science, if it turns out that Man survives "death" only to find himself back here for another trip, the "appropriate time frame" changes dramatically.)

I've investigated reincarnation a bit. Here's a theory for why we think it's real. There have been experiments where they teach a 1 celled Flatworm to turn left when they flash a light into its dish. Then they ground up the flatworm and feed it to other untrained flatworms. When the light is flashed on the other flatworms, they turn left as well. So, maybe pieces of our memories survive the death/decay process, are absorbed by plants or worms who are eaten by cows or birds......and wind up in our meals. One night after a good meal, you have a "vision" in your sleep that you were an Egyptian princess. Just an idea. I've written an article on reincarnation, http://lbministry.org/id32.htm. -- BrucePennington

Neat subject! I agree with the "StupidSelfInterest" input. If we haven't taken the time to try to find out the full parameters of "the system," then we are likely operating in StupidSelfInterest. If there is no god, then social study and game theory should be enough to qualify for EnlightenedSelfInterest (like the SecularHumanist?s, AynRandSociety, etc). If God is real, then those who fail to get the full definition of "the system" are going to wind up operating in the StupidSelfInterest mode. -- BrucePennington