But probably does not belong on this board...

We could debate the 'self-interest' in doing good, and we could debate the idea that 'doing good' is actually a concept that arose from the evolution of a social animal...

Much of the time when I do 'good' I know it may come back to me... other times I know that it is an act that just helps others and the only benifit to me is it makes me feel better to help.

When I was a student at UT there was a huge homeless population around campus- There was an incident that really stuck with me... I was walking down the street and a homeless man asked me for some change- I told him, honestly, that I had not even a penny on me. Somehow a conversation started... we talked a while- he had had a hard time- (He never stated it but I suspect mental illness was a large part of his problems) As we talked it became clear that he had become estranged from his family- he had a son in the military and knew that he was in Iraq (the first iraq war)- but he had no further information. He was clearly proud of his son, yet it was clear his son had no idea about how his dad was doing... We talked a while... finally I had to go, I again said I was sorry that I had no money. He shook my hand and said "Its ok, you talked to me like a man- I haven't had someone do that in a long time" His eyes were watering- he seemed so touched that some kid would see him as a human being- I wish I could have done more. Most people walked by him and pretended he didnt exist- when it comes to intangible needs of the human animal, respect from other humans is probably the most important. If only an acknowledgement that you ARE a fellow human being...

Sometimes doing good costs you nothing more than time, and rewards you with nothing but insight into what it means to be human.