Would you say sacrificing ones own life for other people is the ultimate selfless act?

[Kain10th]

just trying to think of the most selfless act one can do. an act that contains the least if any ego at all and benefits other people. Would self sacrifice be that?

 

[Soul]

If one values one's own life then I guess yes.

I know someone who died helping a stranger with a car problem. He didn't save anyone's life but he was simply being a good samaritan and got knocked over the barrier by a car and then run over by another on the street below. That was quite pure. He died like an angel.

 

[Fragile]

If one values one's own life then I guess yes.

I know someone who died helping a stranger with a car problem. He didn't save anyone's life but he was simply being a good samaritan and got knocked over the barrier by a car and then run over by another on the street below. That was quite pure. He died like an angel.

he was definitely a good person, but that seems more like an accident than an act of self sacrifice.

 

[ERASED]

just trying to think of the most selfless act one can do. an act that contains the least if any ego at all and benefits other people. Would self sacrifice be that?

I would think so.

 

[Soul]

he was definitely a good person, but that seems more like an accident than an act of self sacrifice.

Which is what makes it so pure: He didn't do it for any noble reason or for glory; he just stopped to help a stranger. Drove him to a gas station. Drove him back. Waited to make sure that fixed things. When it didn't he got out of his car and looked at the engine. He sacrificed time and effort to do good on his way home from work, and died of it.

But you mean something more like the various miners and soldiers and engineers at Chernobyl who knew they were getting lethal doses and shrugged it off.

 

[Fragile]

Which is what makes it so pure: He didn't do it for any noble reason or for glory; he just stopped to help a stranger. Drove him to a gas station. Drove him back. Waited to make sure that fixed things. When it didn't he got out of his car and looked at the engine. He sacrificed time and effort to do good on his way home from work, and died of it.

But you mean something more like the various miners and soldiers and engineers at Chernobyl who knew they were getting lethal doses and shrugged it off.

Don't get me wrong, it's absolutely a beautiful thing to do and just knowing it makes me know that he was an amazing human being.

but i think OP was referring to the conscious action of giving one's life knowing what will happen at the end, the Chernobyl liquidators are actually one of the best examples of this now that i think about it.

 

[Soul]

Do you think it matters that many of the Chernobyl liquidators were uncouth types who weren't given any choice, who told each other it probably wasn't really that bad, and/or were so downtrodden by authorities they had no confidence in that they did their job with active hatred rather than goodness in their hearts?

All respect to them, mind you. I'm just curious about our attitudes. Some of the primo examples of self-sacrifice are types many of us wouldn't feel comfortable sharing a cafeteria table with.

Yehoshua was another famous self-sacrificer. A brown rabblerouser who hung out with iffy types, tossed tables around in the temple courtyard, talked back and arguably committed suicide by Roman police. If he turned up today he'd probably be given electroshock therapy.

 

[Fragile]

Do you think it matters that many of the Chernobyl liquidators were uncouth types who weren't given any choice, who told each other it probably wasn't really that bad, and/or were so downtrodden by authorities they had no confidence in that they did their job with active hatred rather than goodness in their hearts?

All respect to them, mind you. I'm just curious about our attitudes. Some of the primo examples of self-sacrifice are types many of us wouldn't feel comfortable sharing a cafeteria table with.

Yehoshua was another famous self-sacrificer. A brown rabblerouser who hung out with iffy types, tossed tables around in the temple courtyard, talked back and arguably committed suicide by Roman police. If he turned up today he'd probably be given electroshock therapy.

I think that the effects of radiation were underestimated or simply not thoroughly explained to many of the liquidators, and some others took the job out of pure necessity, but I'm sure a lot of them knew how dangerous and possibly deadly the task would be. So in a way it plays a role but many of them did it for the self sacrifice that we are discussing here.

 

[Sensei]

Since I assume that this is a theoretical discussion, I'll take it to the extreme. I'd say the ultimate selfless act is to chose life when knowing that you will face unspeakable suffering. For instance, to voluntarily suffer decades of pain and terror in a torture chamber is a more selfless act than shooting yoursefl.

 

[Soul]

@Sensei, does there need to be a purpose to the suffering? Like it will save someone if I opt for that? Does it become nobler/ more selfless if it saves more people, or if it saves only one?

I used to have a recurring dream that I was hearing my abusive guardian screeching and squealing from hell, begging me to take her place there, for eternity. What's the right response to that?

 

[Sensei]

@Sensei, does there need to be a purpose to the suffering? Like it will save someone if I opt for that? Does it become nobler/ more selfless if it saves more people, or if it saves only one?

Maybe I should clarify: to choose stay alive and suffer incredible torment instead instead of escaping through death. There's no moral, no symbolism, just a suggestion what the ultimate selfless act might be.

I used to have a recurring dream that I was hearing my abusive guardian screeching and squealing from hell, begging me to take her place there, for eternity. What's the right response to that?

I think the right response is to stop using hallucinogens.

 

[Brick In The Wall]

I've sacrificed my own life for, my own fam, so yes.

 

[Soul]

Maybe I should clarify: to choose stay alive and suffer incredible torment instead instead of escaping through death. There's no moral, no symbolism, just a suggestion what the ultimate selfless act might be.

But but but I wasn't asking about a moral or symbolism, just: What's the purpose of the suffering in this scenario? If there's no aim to it, I say let's not glorify suffering by calling it selfless.

The OP stipulated that the selfless act/condition would benefit someone, and that's what I was mulling over. If my suffering or sacrifice benefits just one person is it more or less selfless than if it benefits many? Or does quantity not enter into it?

 

[Sensei]

One example could be a parent who decides to stay alive to take care of their child despite suffering from a terminal and extremely painful form of cancer. Another could be a leader of a nation who decides to staly alive to guide their people through a crisis despited suffering from late-stage ALS. No matter how many people benefit from the decision, it will still be selfless. Admittedly, this is mostly a matter of hypothetical scenarios.

 

[Luchs]

just trying to think of the most selfless act one can do. an act that contains the least if any ego at all and benefits other people. Would self sacrifice be that?

I don't know if it is, it depends on your motivation, I guess. I'd probably sacrifice my life, but mostly for the selfish reason of wanting to die. If my death makes someone's life better it is a win, as my life will only suck more and more with time passing by.

 

[Chiyuki99]

I think sacrificing yourself for someone else is beautiful regardless.

 

[GonnaGoBye]

Because, they say its humane and the most noble sacrifices, and when you go to the afterlife you will be rewarded with something good they say.

 

[goldseph]

i think that ending my life would hurt my family a lot, so choosing not to end it just to avoid hurting them is actually very selfless, and i did end it i think it would be selfish as i cared more about my self than for others.

 

[Forever Sleep]

Agree with a lot of people here. It entirely depends on how much you want to live. Most of us don't- I expect many of us have fantasized about the opportunity of going out like a hero. It might be easier on our families to accept and it's what we wanted anyway.

I ave to agree- the REAL sacrifice is doing something that pains you in order to spare others from feeling pain... Like continuing to live! I don't know how my Grandma hung on for as long as she did. She was in pain every day. I don't think I could put up with that. I think she partly did it for us.