Thread: What is morality? It's not about being inoffensive to everybody.

Ok then just call it self interest. On the self-interest scale, to be at either end is a bad thing. I was using the term narcissism pretty loosely, just drawing a scale with narcissism at one end and complete selflessness at the other and calling it the narcissism scale, but I can see why you object to that. I guess the reason I started thinking of it that way is to remind myself that the only way I can combat or stand my ground against narcissists is by being a bit more like them rather than the complete opposite of them. I used to hate narcissism and recoil from it completely, which just made me more subject to their machinations.

And I think a lot of people who strive to be Ghandi-like and self-effacing or Christ-like and self-sacrificing could stand to step back and examine why people have told them it's good to be that way. It sure does make things easier on the leaders, and by extension on anybody who wants to take advantage of you. Remember, even Jesus didn't always turn the other cheek - sometimes he turned over tables.

Originally Posted by Darkmatters

Ok then just call it self interest. On the self-interest scale, to be at either end is a bad thing. I was using the term narcissism pretty loosely, just drawing a scale with narcissism at one end and complete selflessness at the other and calling it the narcissism scale, but I can see why you object to that. I guess the reason I started thinking of it that way is to remind myself that the only way I can combat or stand my ground against narcissists is by being a bit more like them rather than the complete opposite of them. I used to hate narcissism and recoil from it completely, which just made me more subject to their machinations.

And I think a lot of people who strive to be Ghandi-like and self-effacing or Christ-like and self-sacrificing could stand to step back and examine why people have told them it's good to be that way. It sure does make things easier on the leaders, and by extension on anybody who wants to take advantage of you. Remember, even Jesus didn't always turn the other cheek - sometimes he turned over tables.

Well said! Self-interest may be the better term, by many measures.

Also, excellent point about Gandhi and Christ-like aspirations... both those guys were likely very powerful personalities, and, ironically, both would likely have been the first to tell their followers not to be "that way" at all times. Go figure.