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Originally Posted by Og  Some people just have bizarre ideas of what is pleasurable. There seems to be a large mental component to human pleasure. 70 virgins for suicide anyone? People will choose the path that is most pleasurable to them based on how the thought makes them feel.
It is a constant. The only thing to figure out about individuals is "what is their idea of pleasure?" |
I'm with you on this one, Og. I don't quite think that these soldiers that dive on grenades are taking great pleasure in the death they experience, but I do believe that the lives they are leading, just like the lives almost all of the rest of us lead, are driven by what is pleasurable. That's not even including our consumerism trash that we are fed on a daily basis.
Don't confuse altruism and a selfless lifestyle to be the same thing.
Altruism, also, is an animal instinct. In zoology, it would be the animal that sees the predator and cries, warning the rest of the pack. Sacrificing its life and position to ensure the survival of the whole.
We're still animals, no matter how evolved we may get.