[altruism] harnessing and unleashing power

Just been re-reading from Nietzsche's Zarathustra [1891] and other things - surprising, huh? Some of his observations were apt, e.g. There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness [7: On Reading and Writing].

On the question of compassion, of kindness, his views are well known - that these things are to assuage the person who does them, rather than to help the receiver - the feelgood factor. And I ask, 'Why not?' All actions ultimately stem from self. If such actions also produce a collateral, cumulative effect, a snowball, why not?

My best friend added that it just takes one act, just one each day, from every single person within a sphere of influence towards someone not family or best friend and the mood enhancement then spills over and creates an atmosphere.

The shop girl who slaps the change on the counter as another irascible customer, deep in his own thoughts unsmilingly gives his order - what if someone had just complimented her on something a few moments earlier? Now she'll say something nice to the chap and he'll be momentarily brought out of himself, as someone from a trance.

There's another aspect to all this. At the point where you, quite justifiably of course, are about to unleash a cutting remark at someone who is being insufferable - stop! Go against your instinct in some sort of a bloodyminded way and actually compliment the person instead. The look of shock is worth it. And as Nietzsche wrote: When a small kindness is not forgotten, it becometh a gnawing worm.

There's no altruism in this - at least it starts out this way. It's simply behaviourism, surrounding yourself with a cushioning bubble of pleasantness in which to travel through the day. And then it slowly becomes altruism because the pleasure you produce in the other is worth its weight in gold. It's a buzz, in other words, a narcotic fix.

Just as the natural instinct is to harbour feelings of resentment, of revenge, of withdrawal, of coldness, which eventually reduce us to quiet bitterness, so a serial altruist gets into a groove and can't help himself - he needs that daily fix but not face to face. No, no. Not at all.

The greatest buzz is to do the act in such a way that you have no chance of being thanked. You simply set in motion a train of events which you know will be taking place long after you've gone and that's the greatest buzz of all, chuckling over what you just caused to happen.

Nice article on the whole thing here.