Helping Others

Some people say your main objective should be helping other people. I don't agree with that. I think your main objective should be helping yourself. Supposing what we all want is to live in a world where everybody is very happy then we should first concentrate in our needs and then on somebody else's needs. That is because we know our needs better than anyone else.

We shouldn't spend all day trying to help others and forget to do what makes we happy. Imagine a world where everybody is trying to help each other all day. Probably nobody would succeed, because you would be trying to help someone which is trying to help you and then this would result in a deadlock.

I know that researchers says that helping others makes you happier, but again how would you help someone who main objective is to help you? You wouldn't be able to and you wouldn't be happy because you didn't succeed. Today people only is able to find happiness in helping others, because it is not everyone's main objective.

Off course it is important to help others, but that shouldn't be your main objective. Your main objective should be helping yourself. Maybe people that say that your main objective should be helping others don't really mean it. Maybe they say that just because they know people won't stop caring most about themselves anyway.

P.S.: I decided to write this article after listening to the really nice Ben Horowitz’s commencement address at Columbia University.