IN> Selflessness Paradox

[Daniel Childers]

>From: dande002 at fish.co.uk
>non-selflessly self-benefitting
>

Good words--if one defines selfishness as acting in a way that benefits 
oneself
at the expense of others, then there are many actions that are neither
selfless nor selfish. Satisfying your human physical needs--eating, 
sleeping, even
breathing--only benefits oneself, but is usually not particularly at the
expense of anyone else. (Note that Celestials generally do not have that 
type
of needs--yet another way they would have trouble understanding Corporeals
and their middle grounds). (Note that Ethereals *do* have that type of
need--they must acquire and consume Essence.)

There is also the sort of selfishness that--acto my wife, the nurse--rescue
workers are trained in: keep yourself safe first. A dead EMT or firefighter
isn't rescuing anyone. (This needs emphasizing in training, since rescue
workers tend towards selflessly charging into danger, or they wouldn't
go into those fields in the first place.) Some Angelic Superiors would
emphasize the same point. (OTOH, Malakim would be more like commandoes,
who often have appalling casualty rates and know it--commandoes are
expensive, but expendable. Extremely dangerous but important missions are
what commandoes are for.) It'd be the rare demon who was farsighted
enough to realize that an underling is no use to them dead--and even in
that case, grooming a strong underling in Hell is often the same as
training your own murderer.