My friend is going to Kenya and Uganda to do some humanitarian work this summer. She's afraid that when she returns she'll be disgusted by the shallowness of people's problems and concerns back home, to the point of being unable to relate to anyone. Is this likely, and if so, can it be prevented? Should it be prevented? [more inside]
posted by daelin on Mar 25, 2009 - 25 answers

How do I stop feeling so detached from everything? [more inside]
posted by anonymous on Mar 16, 2009 - 15 answers

Ambition vs. Altruism: How do you know if you are going "too far" in terms of self-interest or self-sacrifice? [more inside]
posted by uxo on May 8, 2008 - 22 answers

i'm looking for songs about selfishness. the tricky part is, i'm looking for lyrics that celebrate or accept selfishness as the way the world works nowadays. with all apologies to the rolling stones, you CAN usually get what you want nowadays -- if you live in a first-world nation. where's the music about that?
posted by rubberfish on Jan 14, 2008 - 46 answers

[Literary archetype filter] I'm looking for short moral tales / folk stories / fables with themes of selfishness and pig-headedness. Specifically, I need stories about somebody who focuses so intently on X that they don't realize they're alone and screwed until too late. [more inside]
posted by mr. remy on Aug 9, 2007 - 14 answers