Is it impossible for man to act without self-interest?

It is impossible for man to act without self-interest because we are always trying to achieve something to either impress others, boast to others, or in general, try to be the best and top at everything. For example, in football, if a bad relationship occurs with a player and his manager or something like that, he will try to score to prove himself, even if his team mate is in a better position. Or even if he does pass, another player may look at this as self interest to prove himself to that team mate that he passes so in future that team mate will pass to him. Another example is in the event of the falling of the two towers when some people chose to save some people they never knew, putting those peoples lives in front of theirs. But when those peoples families were interviewed, they felt it was not heroic, but selfish. They were asked why they felt this, and they said it was selfish because they were putting those strangers in front of them, their family, their son, daughter, trying to be the hero instead of being there for the family that needed them. But if those heroes had just run and got out of the building to get to their families, would the family with the loss of those strangers have thought that what those people did to get to their families think it was selfish? What ever way you look at it, man always has self interest, whether it is to make it to your family, or sacrifice your life to save others, man always has self interest.

However, an alternative way of viewing self interest is in instinct, with instinct, it causes you to act quickly without thinking, for example, in the 9/11 bombing. The definition of compassion is often confused with that of empathy. Empathy, as defined by researchers, is the visceral or emotional experience of another person’s feelings. It is, in a sense, an automatic mirroring of another’s emotion, like tearing up at a friend’s sadness. Altruism is an action that benefits someone else. It may or may not be accompanied by empathy or compassion, for example in the case of making a donation for tax purposes. Although these terms are related to compassion, they are not identical. Compassion often does, of course, involve an empathic response and an altruistic behaviour. However, compassion is defined as the emotional response when perceiving suffering and involves an authentic desire to help. Economists have long argued the contrary, growing evidence shows that, at our core, both human beings and animals have what Dacher Keltner at the University of California, Berkeley, coins a "compassionate instinct." In other words, compassion is a natural and automatic response that has ensured our survival. This suggests that the people in the bombing of 9/11 could have in fact been influenced by compassion, empathising the those people in trapped in the two towers. But could this be to do with all events taken place in life? For example, buying a coffee for a homeless person, not because of self interest, but because of compassion and how you feel sorry for the person, so without thinking, you quickly buy them a coffee.

In conclusion I feel that it is impossible for man to act without self interest because whatever way you look at man doing something, he is doing for self interest, whether it is scoring a goal or just simply cleaning your house, room or apartment. The reasons for why cleaning your room, house or apartment is influenced by self interest is because you are trying to clean it will look nice, smell nicer, and in general look more organised, this is self interest as it is influenced by you, as you want to do it, even if you are told by someone to clean up, even though they are influencing you to do it, its still self interest as you have chosen to go by what that person has said, and why? Maybe because there is a party later or someone is coming round for a friendly visit. However, some actions like in 9/11, or saving one persons life when they are stuck in a building is influenced by compassion and empathy.