Dave looked sternly at his audience and spoke in a clear, convincing manner,
I've talked on this subject once before but to my knowledge, no one has agreed with me, and sadly, no one seems to even understand."
He paused for effect, as the audience waiting, willing to prove him wrong, each member certain that he was evolved enough to understand the speaker's subject.
"We are incapable of love in the manner commonly known to man."
A young woman in the front row knitted her brow, not liking the path the speaker's topic might be heading down.
"It's a bold assertion I agree, and it shatters the illusion most if not all of you have. Most who listen to this topic jump quickly, attempting to preserve their narrow definition of love. If you are going to sit there, try not to jump until you've heard my entire speech."
He lowered his glasses and peered out at the audience, his paternal look swaying the them into acquiescence.
"We are incapable of selfless love, love for loves sake. Every inward action we take is a selfish one, no matter how contrary to that notion it may seem. We love on our terms, no one else's, we love only the reflection we see in others, when we grow bored we move on, we are shallow creatures, but we do have empathy which is sometimes a saving grace."
Have the audience frowned, disapproving of the speakers assertions. The other falf grew bored, looked at their watches, yawned imperceptibly, and began to fidget in their seats.
"We can only love ourselves and no one else. When we love John or Jennifer, we love them on our terms for what they give us. We love our parents, children, friends and lovers for the same self-centered reason...to please our desires.
I also assert that we always love ourselves, no matter what. "Wait now!" you say, 'I have you cornered now, reprobate! Men commit suicide because they hate themselves!'
No they don't. Every person who has ever ended their lives does so out of self-love...that their image of who they want to be, or how they want to feel is so distorted that they would rather die than to face the truth. What greater proof of selfishness is there than that?"
The half of the audience still listening to the speech, began to talk amongst themselves. Who was this man to tell them that they did not love anyone but themselves? Just because he was so self-centered, that didn't mean that they were!
Undaunted the speaker continued,
"I'll step further. Every action known to man is a selfish one. If you save a man from a burning building, you do it for selfish reasons. We give blood out of selfishness, save homeless puppies out of that same selfishness.
We create images of who we are and live by them. We know what social standards exist and often they play a strong part in our identity. We have empathy and often that drives us to do seemingly selfless acts, but they are not, they are inward driven, we do not care about those we love, we care about what they mean to us."
One young man stood, and yelled, "Are you telling me, you ignorant son-of-a-bitch, that I don't love my wife? The woman next to him stood up beside him and clutched his arm closely, her hateful eyes focused on the speaker.
Familiar with such reactions, the speaker continued,
"True empathy does keep us from being worthless human beings. We understand pain, suffering, sorrow. And since we can identify, we attempt to comfort, to understand, to offer aid. But make no mistake, that is inward driven, it is an importance we have placed on our self-image. Others don't feel that need and so they do not act, they may still feel guilt, for they understand the power of societies' expectations, but it didn't overcome their desire to please themselves my not acting.
Yes we are selfish, but I don't mean to imply that we are necessarily conscious of these actions. Certainly some we are, most probably. But many we aren't. When I tell someone I love them, the inward emotions that flow out, feel like that popular term love. I love them, I love who they are, what they stand for, how they exist in the world. It's a wonderful theory, the only problem is...it's all a romantic lie."
Several other members of the audience stood. They yelled and waved threateningly, they knew what love was and didn't need any warped academic misanthropist telling them what they knew!
The speaker looked out at the audience but did not seem fazed by their disapproval.
" I love you, who ever you are or will be because you are needed by me. I need to love to feel love, to imagine that I am loved, and even when I know only I am able to love myself, it need to be deluded, assuming another can love me for qualities unneeded by them...a love that stands alone. It's impossible.
I suppose if we were capable of some degree of inter-connectivity I wouldn't be able to make this claim, because there would be a direct inward and outward flow, counteracting my theory. But there is no such connection, we are self-contained creatures. We learn through society how to behave, how to act, how to react, but in the end, we can only do these things through self-interest.
You don't agree, and I would understand if I thought you had understood my reasoning, but odds are you only understand what you entered into this speech with, your pre-conceived notions. And that isn't necessarily self-love, just self-preservation."
The audience angered beyond propriety began to stand and walk out. The bored bored followed those who were upset, and yelled epithets like, "You suck" and "Get a life" even though they actually had no idea what topic he was been speaking on.
The auditorium had cleared out but the speaker never once stopped speaking,
"So the next time someone asks you, "'Do you love me?'" The real answer is, 'Of course not, I am incapable of loving anyone but myself. But I do find you pleasurable, a handy device'. A loved one is not unlike a television, a car or a vibrator...just a tool for a required pleasure. Sad? Probably, if you cling to your former notion of love, but not if you understand the what really drives us to our actions.
And looking out that the empty auditorium the speaker smiled and spoke ironically,
"And no, I'll answer no questions. I've been here before, I expect no new revelations to be expressed."
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