Nerve Endings Firing Away

Just the mere thought of money can turn a person selfish, so that he helps others less often and prefers to play alone, a new study shows. In a series of nine experiments, researchers found that money enhanced people’s motivation to achieve their own goals and degraded their behavior toward others. The concept of money, they suggest, makes a person feel more self-sufficient and thus more apt to stand alone [source].

Before you exclaim, “told you so!” and begin a rant on the evils of money or profit as some of our socialist overlords would like us to, let me tell you that these findings are nothing astounding. The question is, whether it is as harmful as the reporting of this finding is made out to be. Selfishness is not necessarily a bad thing because it drives self-interest. Although man is a social animal, self-interest has always been a core characteristic. Adam Smith explained it best when he elaborated on his concept of “the invisible hand” i.e. people acting individually to promote their self-interest tends to promote the good of their community. Money is merely an instrument to promote your self-interest.

If people think that cooperating with others will promote their self-interest in a better manner then they will do so. This can be extrapolated to imply that all altruistic acts are selfish to some extent. Doing a favor generally carries the weight of its expected return either in equal or greater measure. We would like to believe that people are inherently charitable but they will not be unless it promotes some self-interest. And that is not a bad thing.