For real now, why the fuck would you film yourself doing a good deed (bonus points if it involves a disabled/elderly person)?

Totally agree.

There’s nothing wrong with getting something out of what you’re doing. Most volunteers could get their dopamine hit doing less wholesome things.

And most who aren’t out there to feel good are out for fulfillment. Nothing wrong with either. Our brains evolved for thousands and thousands of years to operate for the former, and by my belief system, our souls naturally seek the latter. It’s just the way things are designed, and there are a lot worse ways we could’ve turned out as a species.

It matters when it turns someone into an arrogant prat, or if it makes them do unethical things to forward themselves, but I really, really don’t get the idea that doing good doesn’t matter unless you don’t enjoy doing it.

I got into volunteering when I was younger because I wasn’t enjoying my life at all. A (really darn rare) health condition made it so, at the time, I had very low quality of life. I figured if I couldn’t enjoy life, I may as well make it count for something. It was the only way I could cope. Without that, I don’t know if I would’ve stuck it out because what would the point have been?

Can anyone honestly say that anything they do at all, good or bad, has nothing to do with themselves or their belief system? And can anyone convincingly argue that that’s a bad thing?

/r/NoStupidQuestions Thread Parent