Vania Smirnov

This I believe
I believe you should help other people. There are two potential assumptions we can look at to see why this is true. The first assumption is that you are a complete egoist. 100% of your energy is devoted to promoting your own self interests. Obviously this is an extreme case, but let's take a look at it for the sake of discussion. Now, why would a total egoist want to help other people? Simple you helping other people ends up helping you. If you help a person achieve a goal, or support them morally, anything that brings them happiness, it makes their life better. If their life is better, they are more open to working with people, and in turn, they also spread love and happiness. This makes the world a better place, and since you live in the same world, this ends up helping YOU. Also, the fact that you helped someone may make them want to repay you in kind, either with a favor or some other way. So, as a total egoist you can and should help other people, if for no other reason than the fact that eventually it will make YOUR world better. From an altruistic point of view, it seems obvious that you should help other people. You're an altruist, that's what you do. It doesn't matter if the root cause for this desire is religion, personal morals, or too much time and money on your hands, the fact remains that you help other people expecting nothing in return. The best part about expecting nothing is that when you expect nothing, and get something, that something is EVERYTHING in comparison to nothing. Any positive number is infinitely bigger than zero, right? So, as an utter altruist, you help people. You give them love, compassion, kindness, everything you can give. By doing so you make the world a better place, and thus your world becomes better. Not that you care, since you are a COMPLETE altruist, but it's a nice side effect, since your world being better makes it easier to BE an altruist. I believe that all people are connected, and nothing we do is totally isolated. We live in the same world; our actions ripple across. It doesn't matter if you believe in the field of human consciousness or karma or even nothing, most people would agree that anything we do has an effect on the people and world around us. Every single one of your actions comes back to you eventually, directly or indirectly. Thus, by your choices you create your own world. So, as we see, no matter the starting assumption, complete egoism or total altruism, the end conclusion is the same you should help other people. Help other people, help them achieve their true potential and find happiness, and you will help yourself. This I believe.