(A slightly incoherent, selfish piece of writing.)

Us, humans, are a peculiar breed. We like to state what we don't believe and hide what we truly do. I won't be so drastic as to extrapolate this to all aspects of life. I will focus only on one. Our selfish need not to be considered selfish. Believe it or not, everyone is. Or better said, accept it or not. Now, don't be too appalled, I do admit that the degree of selfishness varies from person to person.

If you are frowning your eyebrows or shaking your head in disbelief, consider this: we don't care to be the only ones happy, but we madly desire to belong when hit by misfortune.

I'm not expecting anyone to take this statement for granted. So let's dig in. Take into account the expression: "I'm the happiest man alive". Not only happy. The happiest. No other can achieve the state that I am in. I (and only I) have found Nirvana. We don't want to accept that this vivid emotion can be shared. We want it for us (and us alone). Don't get me wrong, we don't mind if other people are happy. Just as long as we can be the happiest. And, equally enough, we don't mind if others aren't happy. Just as long as it doesn't affect our serenity.

All our lives madly self-inflict the idea that we are unique. "We are well shaped individuals. We are state of the art. We are the exception." We struggle to stand out. But as soon as we find ourselves in times of need or grievance, we search for people who feel the same way. We don't want to be the only ones anymore, we want to blend in, to walk hand in hand through the steep path of desolation. Our times of misery are the only times when we accept that we are not so different. Not only accept, but crave to lose ourselves in an amorphous group of people that experience the same aching feelings wallow in. We take great comfort in knowing that other people hurt too. We feed on it. Here goes our life long search for individuality. Down the drain. Pathetic, into the Google search engine.

Now the icing on the cake is the great myth of selfness. We state that we would rather sacrifice our happiness than the happiness of those we care for. Fair enough. Completely true. But selfish again. The only reason we do so is because we compare the two types of suffering. We are aware that the pain felt by the person we love would hurt us more, in consequence we chose self pain. It's a well disguised selfishness, you've got at least to give it some credit. A bow may be in order.

As for the rest of the empathy in the world, if you peel it like an onion you'll find that the core is a benefit that comes back to you. You're nice, you'll be treated nice. You cure an abominable disease, you'll be praised. You feed the poor, you'll be viewed with gratitude. You conquer world peace, you’ll, well, live in peace. The are only few and probably the most uninspired examples. We are selfless because unconsciously we expect selfish things in return.

If you find this reasoning insulting, you need to take a step back and have some perspective. I find it funny and fascinating. I am not in any case judging. Just laying the facts as I see them. I may be wrong, but then again, I am an egoist and value my opinions as a truly emancipated individual.

So light up, chew it for a little while. We are selfish, let's not be hypocrites too. It ads up to a hilarious combination.