I don’t think that people think they are selfless. They usually think they’re more selfless than they actually are, though.
The theory is that though we tend to think that we’re selfless beings, we’re actually not, and the sole reason we act selfless at all is to make other people think we really are selfless, and the reason we think we’re selfless is because thinking we’re selfless makes it easier to convince others that we’re selfless.
I suspect most people at Less Wrong have more a complex view than this description. People also behave selflessly for reasons of inclusive fitness and reciprocal altruism. People also engage in “selfless” behavior for the same reason a “forgiving” tit-for-tat strategy wins in iterated prisoner’s dilemmas.
I don’t think that people think they are selfless. They usually think they’re more selfless than they actually are, though.
I suspect most people at Less Wrong have more a complex view than this description. People also behave selflessly for reasons of inclusive fitness and reciprocal altruism. People also engage in “selfless” behavior for the same reason a “forgiving” tit-for-tat strategy wins in iterated prisoner’s dilemmas.