Selfishness - Human Nature? Options

[Nam Quoc Son Ha]

I almost confront the sight of death today. Today, one old guy was having seizure and somehow he was in the water in Sydney Harbour. I was on my way to work at my casual job and I saw everyone were congregating around the platform. I was curious so I came and have a look. By the time I knew what was the fuss about I realised that something was floating on the water. I got five seconds to jump into the water to save him but I was indecisive about it (because I would be wet and its a long way home) and the guy got into the water first. Everyone were just there looking and only one guy attempted to save the old man's life. The saver wasn't a good swimmer so he struggled abit. I helped him pull the man in.

Afterwards I felt so guilty that I didn't act sooner. I'm a very good swimmer and even won swimming competitions at school. Do you guys think that selfishness is human nature?

This post has been edited by Nam Quoc Son Ha: May 18 2004, 07:13 AM

[Xa NgUoI MinH Ye...]

no it not your fault, in that situation you have Two choice jump in or not... when you eventualy saw 1 person going to save the old man... then you think that you don't need to jump in or it just you don't feel comfortable of all the people looking....anYway you offered help to the guy to pull the man up...If their's no one going save the old man, i would think you should 'jump' down...as you said that you good at swimming...
'selfisness is human nature' not really, some people don't really care about other, and some are confuse 'wat they should do'...

[Nam Quoc Son Ha]

I still feel so $hit now. Can't believe I didn't do anything. So depressed

[tattra]

-delete-

This post has been edited by tattra: May 18 2004, 09:04 AM

[Nam Quoc Son Ha]

I'm in no mood for jokes over this matter, tattra.

[Kewell7]

Wow..this happened today in Sydney, didn't even see it on the news.

If I was in the same situation I wouldn't have jumped in too, coz I'm not a strong swimmer but I would have called for help straight away. If I really came to a matter of life and death for the old man no decent human being would have let him drown and someone was there to rescue him anyway.

Don't dwell on it man, the most important thing is the old man was saved.

[tattra]

I'm in no mood for jokes over this matter, tattra.

You're right, I shouldn't have joked about it. Let me delete it then, sorry bro !

[Bchung]

atleast you felt sorry.

Some may just forget about it in an hour or something..........

[ejay1]

Yeah you did feel sorry, and it isn't your fault. If I was in the same situation I wouldn't care, I would be like hey at least it wasn't me. I don't show or have any emotions, well maybe I do show anger and happiness. Heck when my cousin died I didn't feel sad. Showing emotion or sadness is for the weak. I have learned this when I was young.

[ngo.ngochy]

the old man is okay now, feel better Chuong

i wouldn't jump down either, i can't swim.. i've learned how a few time, but just really stupid n never got it.

u've learned it wrong ejay1 !!

[ejay1]

the old man is okay now, feel better Chuong

i wouldn't jump down either, i can't swim.. i've learned how a few time, but just really stupid n never got it.

u've learned it wrong ejay1 !!

There is nothing wrong with the way I think, only the strong survive.

[ngo.ngochy]

There is nothing wrong with the way I think, only the strong survive.

but u r not healthy.

[ejay1]

There is nothing wrong with the way I think, only the strong survive.

but u r not healthy.

So your saying it is not healthy to not show weakness.

This post has been edited by ejay1: May 18 2004, 09:52 AM

[DragonMP]

You would have nothing to conceal if you had nothing to fear.

[ngo.ngochy]

There is nothing wrong with the way I think, only the strong survive.

but u r not healthy.

So your saying it is not healthy to not show weakness.

Showing emotion or sadness is for the weak

^ this is not weakness

[ejay1]

There is nothing wrong with the way I think, only the strong survive.

but u r not healthy.

So your saying it is not healthy to not show weakness.

Showing emotion or sadness is for the weak

^ this is not weakness

That is not weakness, your starting to not make any sense.
Of course those are the qualities of weak people.

[ngo.ngochy]

There is nothing wrong with the way I think, only the strong survive.

but u r not healthy.

So your saying it is not healthy to not show weakness.

Showing emotion or sadness is for the weak

^ this is not weakness

That is not weakness, your starting to not make any sense.
Of course those are the qualities of weak people.

showing emotions is not a weak quality, u show emotion so that others understand u.. n when u get along w/ ppl u dun need 2 b strong 2 live .. ..besides emotions/sadness is part of u, n if u dun show it u r living it out fully!!

[Doan Du]

I have had a similar situation four years ago although it didn't turn out positive for me. Four summers ago, while riding my bike home from my office during one evening, I saw a person stumbling on the sidewalk on the other side of the street. It was a senior gentleman who felt down on the pavement and looked like he was in bad trouble.

I dropped my bike and ran across the street to help him while calling 911 using my cell phone. A few minutes later, a police cruiser came with an ambulance from the fire department.

The old gentleman was a incoherent 88-year old who got to walk with his 80-year old wife at the local mall once a week for exercise. During this outing, he somehow managed to escape from his wife's supervision, got lost in the crowd and started wandering outside of the mall unaccompanied. He walked like a zombie until he came to the edge of the shopping mall where the graded slope between the parking lot and the sidewalk caused him to lose the balance and fall.

I was very glad I could help the old gentleman out. He was a veteran of WWII who fought many battles in North Africa and Italy as a infantryman. What pissed me off was the cops asking me all kinds of question, vaguely suggesting that the old man was mugged and the suspect was... Go figure. That was really low. I was really mad at those police officers who talked like they didn't have the ability to graduate from high school. If I am mugger, why would I use my cell phone to call for help my victim and wait for the police to come? That's when I realized that America has changed for the worse. From that day on, I haven't helped anyone, including women who have flat tires on the side of the road - something I had always enjoyed doing as a young person.

The only consolation I got from the incident was a telephone call from the wife the next morning to my office, thanking me profusely for helping her husband. No calls from the cops though.

This post has been edited by Doan Du: May 18 2004, 10:10 AM

[ejay1]

There is nothing wrong with the way I think, only the strong survive.

but u r not healthy.

So your saying it is not healthy to not show weakness.

Showing emotion or sadness is for the weak

^ this is not weakness

That is not weakness, your starting to not make any sense.
Of course those are the qualities of weak people.

showing emotions is not a weak quality, u show emotion so that others understand u.. n when u get along w/ ppl u dun need 2 b strong 2 live .. ..besides emotions/sadness is part of u, n if u dun show it u r living it out fully!!

Okay so emotions might be normal, people are generally weak. You need to go through some tough times to lose your weakness. But if you don't have any then it is an big advantage.

This post has been edited by ejay1: May 18 2004, 10:15 AM

[VNlilMAN]

to answer the question, yes i think selfishness is part of human nature. As darwin said its survival of the fittest, everyone for themselves. As kids, why else are we taught to share, its cause selfishness is in our blood...

As for the topic, maybe cause i wasnt in the situation myself but i would have jumped in to save the man. I dont know how long of a way home it was but my boss is real koo and he'd understand so that wouldnt really be a problem.

but yeah maybe if i was dealt with the situation it would be different? last week i saw some 25 year old guy fall off his bike, i didnt even say anything or help the guy out. i just sat in my car acting as if i didnt see him.