Your Inner CEO: Generosity

More than two hundred years ago the economic philosopher Adam Smith made a statement that’s still being discussed and argued about. Smith said that society works best when people act in their own self-interest. But what exactly does that mean? Is self-interest the same as selfishness? Actually, self-interest is the opposite of selfishness. Let’s take a look at why that’s true.

At first glance, it’s easy to see why people do selfish things. A man finds a wallet on a bus. The wallet has money in it, so he pockets the money from the wallet and throws the wallet in the trash. Whatever this means from an ethical perspective, there’s a clear logic to it. The man wants more money than he has, and he acts accordingly.

Yet sometimes, and more often than you might think, the man will return the money. But why? Keeping it for himself can be explained in one sentence, but returning it takes a little insight. Why do people do generous things? Human beings sell goods and services in order to get money, but generosity means providing something without the clear expectation of a definite return.

Actually generosity and self-interest aren’t really so different. It all depends on how we define self-interest. Is it just the satisfaction of short-term desire for material gain? Or is self-interest more than that? The fact is, most people have long terms goals beyond just making a quick profit, or even beyond making money at all. They may still be acting out of self-interest, but not in material terms.

Suppose a traveler runs out of gas on a dark country road. Just then a farmer comes by in a jeep. The farmer happens to have a can of gas. He stops and puts the gas in the car of the stranded driver. When the driver offers money to the farmer, the farmer shakes his head. “I know what it’s like to be stuck on a dark road,” he says, “so here’s the only payment I ask. Someday you’ll see somebody stranded just like you were. When that happens, I want you to stop and help, just like I stopped for you now.”

Was the farmer acting like a completely irrational person? Would it have been more reasonable to say, “All right, that’ll cost you ten bucks.” Not at all, because all of us benefit from living in a society where we help each other. People act generously partly because generosity may someday be extended to them. A young man giving his seat on a bus to an older woman provides a model for that woman, and in fact for everyone on the bus. Hopefully, the woman will remember the generosity she received -- and someday she’ll help someone else. It will be like repaying a debt.

And what about if you don’t repay the debt? Someone who benefits from generosity but doesn’t extend it is a kind of free-loader. They’ve taken but they haven’t given. Indeed, people like that are not uncommon in the world. Do they feel badly about themselves? Not always -- because there’s a simple way to justify their behavior. They say, “Nobody ever gave me anything, so I don’t have to give anything back. I haven’t received Appreciation, so I don’t have to offer it.”

But that’s absolutely false. How can anyone who gets out of bed every morning into a new day assert that they’ve never received anything? How can people who can see with their eyes and hear with their ears believe that they’ve never received something for nothing? They’re alive, aren’t they? And that life didn’t cost them a dime.