Morals.

[Southtown]

I don't think caring for ourselves is exactly the same as caring for others. There comes a point, while we are doing what benefits ourselves, when we might be a detriment to others. It is this point when we can choose to yeild or not. And if we do yeild, it can be either be cause we care about others, or because we're following someone else's moral code.

 

And I know for a fact that my kids were not born moral creatures.

[ldsoftwaresteve]

Southtown:

And I know for a fact that my kids were not born moral creatures.

Consider for a moment that perhaps what I meant was that humans, by definition, will develop or accept a moral code. That's because we're moral creatures, i.e. we need a moral code because we're missing the skills to survive without one. Don't confuse moral creature with good or evil creature. That comes later with the choices we make about what to value or not to value and how we propose to survive.

Also, if you hate yourself - and here I mean truly hate yourself - down deep, fundamentally, I would hesitate to claim that you can love anybody else. So it is very important to love oneself first and by that I mean love what you are as a creature, to love the precious time you have and to know that the time of others is precious as well.

You simply cannot care for others if you do not care for yourself.