Is Self Interest Compatible with Self Development?

There may be a selfish gene in all of us which compels us to act out of self interest. Is this incompatible with self development?

When I was a teenager I was very selfish like most of my peers at that time. As I grew older and became interested in spiritual matters and self development. Then the ideas of compassion, cooperation, selflessness and self sacrificing attracted me.

In Buddhism this is expressed by the  Boddhisatva  ideal – a person who has delayed his own liberation in order to help others. In Christinaity Jesus represents the supreme sacrifice of dying on the crosss to save us from our sins.

Then I came across the theories of Richard Dawkins who introduced me to the idea of the selfish gene. In evolutionary terms, creatures evolve because they are stronger or more adapted to survive.  The mechanics of this involve the so-called selfish gene.

Richard Dawkins in his book, The Selfish Gene, says:

“I shall argue that the fundamental unit of selection, and therefore of self-interest, is not the species, nor the group, nor even, strictly, the individual. It is the gene, the unit of heredity.”

What is implied here is that I my basic nature is to be ruled by selfishness and self interest. Is this incompatible with compassion and unselfishness?

Often the first step away from purely self interest is the practice of cooperation. Usually the arguments about the power of self-interest vs. cooperation are based on moral grounds. However, if you look at this from an evolutionary stand point, could cooperation have advantages for the human species as a whole? As the world is seen to be more and more connected then self interest could best served through cooperation and compassion.

Here are some reasons why cooperation can be seen to be in my self interest:

• If I am reliant on a country  to manufacture the goods that I need, then  it makes no sense to go to war with them.
• If I do not help people, then I will find that people do not help me.
• If my company has a green environmental policy it will  attract more customers.
• If I provide perks to my staff, then they will be less likely to leave my company, and thus save me lots of money on training new staff

As humanity evolves, our very survival could depend on being compassionate, cooperative and unselfish.

The Evolution Manifesto by John Stewart states:

“Cooperation enables living processes to do better in evolutionary terms. Whatever evolutionary challenges they face, organisms will do better by cooperating. And the wider the scale of the cooperation, the more effective it is—the greater the power the cooperators will have over their environment, living and non-living. When evolution discovers ways to increase the scale of cooperation, life progresses in evolutionary terms.”

Your own self interest may be best served by cooperation and altruism. Whether you have a selfish gene or not, then cooperation and altruism are the best way to go. You can start today to include cooperation and compassion as part of your self development strategy.