I have asked everyone i know, and all of them say they would die for someone, and i believe of all them would.
However If I were to ask them if they would devote their life, all 60-70 years of it to serving someone else - handicapped, poor. Or if i was to ask them to give up everything they owned - then the majority of them say no.
so how the hell is it that life, the greatest gift of all has been undervalued and has had its value trodden down so much that we'd rather die than give up everything we own?
Deciding between sacraficing your life and watching a loved one die is a split second descision. Yes, or no. They know they won't be around for the repercussions, so they might chose to die rather than suffer through life without that person.
However, giving away everything you own still leaves you behind with the consequences of your action. You have to suffer, and for what cause? Often enough, the weight of the cause does not equal the weight of suffering that will happen because of it.
Sometiems people also can't stand the idea of devoting their life and it's work to someone else. They'll be out for themselves, and no one else unless that person can take them somewhere.
I have asked everyone i know, and all of them say they would die for someone, and i believe of all them would.
However If I were to ask them if they would devote their life, all 60-70 years of it to serving someone else - handicapped, poor. Or if i was to ask them to give up everything they owned - then the majority of them say no.
so how the hell is it that life, the greatest gift of all has been undervalued and has had its value trodden down so much that we'd rather die than give up everything we own?
Thomas Hobbes summed this one up in a cinch. Human nature, as he saw it, was conceited, egocentric, competitive, brackish, and lonely.
This would be why people would not give up the things they like, or devote their life to someone else entirely.
Every motive, no matter how self-sacrificing it may seem, always has an undertone of "How is this gonna affect number 1?"
If man hasn't discovered something that he will die for, he isn't fit to live.
--Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
To answer your question Helios, humans have beome nothing more than consumers. We have been taught that the things we have are what make us, what define us. People also tend to be a bit reckless, not understanding the value of a human life untill that understanding is no longer relevant.
My great-gransparents live through the depression. When a meal was cooked you ate every single speck of food that was put in front of you. If you couldnt finish the food you got it for the next meal until you did finish it. Today people happily throw away tons of food every day. They see so much food around them that they dont even think about it. Hundreds of lives are thrown away each day as well. People see so much death everyday that soon the tragedy of it is lost.
Were these people you asked mostly religious? If so then it makes sense that they'd be willing to give up their life rather than waste it. They believe they have something else waiting for them.
Also, did you ask these people if they'd give up everything they own to save someone's life, or just by itself? Did these people say that they'd let this someone die just so they can't get rid of their possesions?