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by chris-orgmenta 898 days ago
You can 'turtles all the way down' it all you want (A god fearing person goes to heaven for selfish reasons, blah blah), but how is altruism a myth - Could you possibly elaborate? (TIA)

Anyway, I do agree that altruism is arguably not the correct term for this movement, given that the members probably look after themselves first (subconsciously or otherwise) then are able to engage in giving (and cannot truly be 'selfless' in the hermetically sealed sense of the word).

1 comments

> how is altruism a myth

Much altruism - especially in the Silicon Valley subculture sense - comes with positive externalities. You gain influence, popularity, brand, whatever, from activities that always seem to go well publicized.

If you're gaining something, and you know you're gaining something going into it, can it really be altruistic?

OK thanks yes, that's the interpretation (/thing that undermines true selflessness) that I had (and had poorly worded in my comment). I suppose I thought I was missing something else that OP was implying.