The Cost of Kindness

The Prompt

Perform a genuinely costly act of kindness for a stranger — one that requires real sacrifice of time, money, or comfort, with no expectation of return or recognition. Afterward, write a candid introspective report: What motivated you? Did it feel selfless, or could you detect self-interested motives (warm glow, social signaling, guilt avoidance)? Connect your self-examination to the psychological egoism vs. altruism debate as studied by C. Daniel Batson.

Completion Criteria

A description of the costly kind act performed, followed by an honest introspective analysis of motivation that engages with the egoism-altruism debate, referencing Batson's work and acknowledging the difficulty of distinguishing genuine altruism from disguised self-interest.

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