people are basically selfish...

So, this came up today.

In a training amongst coaches and business owners, this was a direct quote.

"People are basically selfish."

Notably, the context was advice for someone wanting to work with business managers who are driven to leave a legacy through helping others succeed.

Cringe. I couldn't let that be the only message.

"Not to be difficult, but compassion is also wired in."

The contrast was acknowledged, though it still left me pondering these contrasting perceptions about what drives people.

How would you describe people's natural tendencies? What about your own drives and motivations?

There are certainly plenty of examples of individuals and groups behaving selfishly - putting their own needs and interests above the well-being of others, even at enormous costs to safety, freedom, justice, life... It's hard to dispute that.

At the same time, you may be repeatedly awed, as I am, by stories of people risking their own lives to care for, protect, and save others. There are plenty of examples of this as well.

Throughout history, around the world, we can find individuals and groups risking their own safety for the protection of others through situations like the underground railroad, the holocaust, and even individual actions like a recent story of a bystander jumping off a bridge into a river to save an infant who had been ejected from a car wreck.

In the past year, we've also experienced millions of diverse people coming together to protest injustice, even as they were sprayed with tear gas, pepper spray, and shot at with rubber bullets - people coming together at personal risk to stand up and advocate for the safety and protection of others.

These varied examples do not tell me the story of people's basic or complete selfishness.

In fact, whatever you may perceive about people's selfish tendencies (learned, genetic, or otherwise), people have a natural biological predisposition to compassion.

That's right. We are "hard-wired" to care about others. We perceive suffering in others and we feel strongly enough that we want to do something to help.

In fact, even infants have been found to spontaneously engage in helpful behavior, even if they had to overcome obstacles to do so!

Pretty amazing, right?

One more thing...

Our brains have a marvelous ability to find what they are looking for. If we are looking for examples of people's selfishness, we will certainly find them. However, if we are looking for examples of people's courage and compassion, we will find those, too.

Even if it's both-and rather than either-or, which do we want to look for, find, and nourish?

Personally, I'd rather focus on the latter.

You matter. You can make a difference. I'm so thankful you're here.