At 7:14 PM -0700 on 7/7/99, Alain Farmer wrote:
>Uli : I don't agree with ST's vision of the world.
Nor do I.
>people occupy themselves without the
>necessity (tyranny) of working to insure one�s survival,
And that alone is in opposition of reality.
>Uli : Ultimately, I think even altruism is only a form of egoism ...
>
>Alain : If you mean that the altruist is only being altruistic so that
>he can feel good about himself, I suppose you could be right. But
>that�s not so bad, is it?
It is when they feel good about themselves when they force it on others.
Examples: Welfare. Socialism. Communism. Etc.
>
>Uli : ... but as long as people are working for OpenCard because they
>intend to use the resulting program, I'm sure they'll do their best in
>their own interests.
>
>Alain : A form of altruism nonetheless, despite the eventual benefits
>to the contributors, because we will all benefit from contributions
>that are not our own. And because we are adopting a long-term view on
>what is �in our best interest�, instead of the usual immediate-gain
>that directly proportional to the effort one expends in its attainment.
>That�s altruism too in my book.
Well, it's certainly not the dictionary definition. If you're concerned at
all about the eventual benefit to yourself, that is not altruism.
>
>>Alain : And, ultimately, content is what it is all about anyway.
>
>Uli : Exactly.
>
>Alain : Except in our case, eh! Because we are the tool-building
>types. It's what attracted us to software like HyperCard. I see myself
>as a facilitator that makes the effort to master the technical side of
>all of these technologies, in order to allow other people
>(content-providers) to do THEIR thing without being handicapped by the
>technologies. And I make money doing this. Is this altruism or not?
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Not.
