In my psychology class the other day, the professor mentioned good deeds and selfless deeds. He said that some people think that there is no such thing as a selfless deed because all good deeds you try to do reward with something. All good deeds usually reward with a "Good feeling". That is the reward that we get for doing something good. Since good deeds have that reward of "self satisfaction", people say that a "Selfless deed" does not exist. I would like to put my own thoughts into this matter.
Good deeds and selfless deeds are very different. Most people combine the two because people don't think about the "self satisfaction" as a reward. Good deeds and selfless deeds are actually entirely different. A good deed is simply any deed that is done for a positive result. These can include donating money or helping somebody out with something.
Somebody in my class mentioned this, "What about those people who jump into grenades to save their comrades on the battlefield?". While it may seem that these people get no reward, they actually do. Their reward is a feeling of worthiness right before they die. Also knowing that their comrades will live on to see another day. While this feeling may only last a few seconds, it is still a reward. Thus making this a "Good deed" and not a selfless deed.
A selfless deed is an entirely different matter. A selfless deed would be something that you do that offers no reward. For example: If you help somebody that you hate. This is a selfless deed. You get no satisfaction from helping that person and it makes you feel worse for wasting your time to help them. Another example of a selfless deed would be shooting yourself in the foot. This also offers no reward and only results in suffering and pain. Another example of a selfless deed would be hurting somebody that you care deeply for. This also yields no reward in any manner. Only thing resulting from hurting a friend is regret and emotional pain. Do you see a pattern yet?
This concludes my argument on good deeds vs selfless deeds.
