Occam’s razor definitely has no place within Kriswest’s words above.
We have different personalities, different worldviews; but our hungers are the same, just customized by those aspects of who and what we believe we are.
Hmmm… 
Define customized here?
Tailor made by us to fit our perspectives.
Look at what was the original writing of Exodus.
mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0203.htm
The God declares that there are other gods . It declares that it is their one true God. Not all people’s one true God. It was later translated in Christianity to be the only true God for all.
The original or oldest known Exodus is by far the most telling and interesting part of the whole bible
Christianity, NT style, gave us the idea of a compassionate God as Jesus notes and a universal God as Paul asserts, those two gods being the same. Mark Twain wrote that the NT also gave us hell as a place of eternal punishment. This “gift” has been the cause of centuries of human torture and corruption in the name of some sort of final justice. So traditionally fundamentalist Christianity has evoked the best and the worst that is within us, the hungers that manifest themselves as altruism and those that manifest as selfishness–mutual help vs retribution.
In “Heaven and Hell” Aldous Huxley describes these as places a mind can go to under the influence of certain types of drugs. There are good trips and bad trips. Apparently both places exist in the human mind. this reminds me of the Roman adage “in vino veritas”–in wine is truth. So what is this inner truth?
Very true. We live in a very depersonalized world now I would argue full of arrested development complexes of the most severe kind of constant psychological repression.
I could give everybody real arguments as to why genuine altruism in the world is nonexistent.
Environmental I would argue with a small percentage of genetics. Mostly environmental however
It’s not like individuals wake up one day and say to themselves, today would be a great day to become a rapist, serial killer, and pedophile. It’s not an instance that happens overnight. There is a progression of environmental events in a person’s life that leads them to exhibit those behaviors overtime.
There are old threads about altruism and wether it is real, dating back to the beginning of this forum. I personally agree with you.
Agree with whom, Lady K.? Agree about what? I don’t want this thread to be about digging up bones of past threads. I want it to suggest that there is a spiritual hunger which is able to address both the altruistic and selfish aspects of human nature in a positive way.
Agree about his point of altruism. The brain will reward for selfless acts. And I am not intending to go to old threads just some good thoughts on it if he is interested in a discussion about altruism. The spiritual hunger is a part of some of those discussions. The drive to do selfless acts is self preservation in a form.
Agree. =D>
Tearing away the social masks leaves what at the core? Basic hunger? That may be a deeper look at the core than considering it populated by angels and devils.
Was Sartre right about what lies at the core of human nature? His idea-strip away the ego masks and one arrives only at a place of horror and dread. Does hunger allow for altruism? Pretend you are going before a firing squad in the morning. Will your midnight thoughts be about mercy for those who are about to kill you?
ROFL, My midnight thoughts would be about escape. And holding a grudge against the squad who is just following orders is fruitless. You hold a grudge against the leaders. Sartre was a morbid minded human. So many “philosopher” classed authors were/are. Look at them side by side and deeply look at their work.
True pure altruism may only be done in minds that we consider damaged or simple. But, cannot occur truly in normal healthy minds. Altruistic style deeds are done all the time by the latter. Dig deep enough though and you will find the deed was two edged.
No he was not right about that. His interpretations are too extreme.
Your thoughts on altruism appear to be contradictory. Could you explain.
A normal mind will help , do something good without physical reward. They may even sacrifice their life. They are a great human doing so. But they still know they gain by doing this act. They know a profit to self. It could be as simple as a good feeling to the status of heroism. Profit is profit as reward is reward. Altruism is supposed to be an act without reward or profit in mind. Only a simple or damaged mind will be the one that can be truly altruistic. Why would a male nonnuetered dog bind itself to a kitten, protect it and nurture it? Why does a predator bond with an animal that is normally prey? Mental needs and desires at the most primal level. We may be the most educated or intelligent but, primal drives exist with in