Word: selfishness
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Whether a higher power exists is debatable, but widespread belief in one has helped humanity advance for millennia. Wade, a New York Times reporter, defends that provocative thesis with evidence drawn from biology, archaeology and anthropology. Humans may be innately selfish, he argues, but early hunter-gatherers needed to subordinate self-interest to the will of the group in order to survive, and "the solution that evolved was religious behavior"--humankind's best organizing principle. Ritual chants and dances fostered kinship and inspired tribes to battle outside threats. As language developed, people ascribed their good fortune to the supernatural...
...want to improve on everything,” Stone said, “we want to be ready, we don’t want to be selfish, we don’t want to change lines inappropriately. That’s what happened at the end. It gave [Princeton] an opportunity that they never should?...
...necessary for its success, however, is not. The health-care debate serves as only one instance of this more general conflict between compassion and conscience. Our collective moral outlook appears purposefully structured, above all, to not offend and to avoid dogmatic statements that seem improvable. Even disapprobation toward a selfish man seems out of place. His hoarding might not be laudable, but each of us is hesitant to claim definite knowledge of his moral worth. In a widespread effort such as national medical reform, compassion requires conscience in order to work. On a solely pragmatic level, without appeal...
...He’s not selfish,” Iannuzzi says. “I still see him giving tips and mentoring Treavor Scales...
...faith as a giver of readings, because I'm not a great fan of them. I don't think of that as a hot night out. So I usually try to make it something a little more special. Although this marathon in some ways is kind of a selfish thing. I hope it's terrific for other people, but it really was another way of getting out of the robotic loop of just reading the same chapter over and over again. I wanted to make the readings mean a little more...