A transactional view on life - Does having a transactional view on life, God, interactions with other people/loved ones make perfect sense or a world view of a child?

[Daddy's Angry Juice]

Maybe its the faggoty artist in me, but i believe that you should do things because you believe they should be done and not for the sake of some reward.
There are many men that i look up to that did things in the name of altruism, Fred Rodgers for example just wanted kids to have a program that taught them meaningful lessons and did not care about things like ratings.
Now we can argue that meaning of "reward" in this context as one can argue that kids learning was the reward for his actions, or
that by shaping the world you are expecting an outcome that would serve as a reward for your own actions.
But I would argue that the real reward for our actions come from within and not from the external acknowledgment of our actions.
If you speak to yourself, do you expect someone to answer?
We serve as our own judges, and that judgement is what ultimately drives us and some are better than others.
Thats why a lot of religions teach us to love ourselves first, before trying to give/seek love from the world around us.

 

[wtfNeedSignUp]

It's incredibly basic to expect some reward for your actions, even if that reward is not purely physical (like being kind to strangers when you expect society will treat you in kindness in the future) The problem starts when you get insulted for not getting the reward you expected (ie, being a bitch). And then you just becomes a petty person.

You need to be fine with the result of your actions (of course as long as the result is reasonable).

 

[gang weeder]

A transactional view on life is just basic realism. Viewing any human interaction as non-transactional is generally false and dumb. Not everything is 100% transactional, but almost everything has some element of transaction to it. The only possible exception I can think of is parents caring for small children, although if you count propagating the species as the benefit that is received in exchange for that service, then that's transactional on a societal scale as well.

However if you bring God into it this is an area where things are no longer transactional. You do as God wills because it is the correct thing to do, in an ontological sense. There is no expectation that God will grant you anything in return. You don't really know if you will end up in heaven or hell nor can we really grasp those concepts from within our limited mortal frames anyways. God and Satan are embodiments of objective right/wrong, they are ideals moreso than corporeal entities that you can transact with.

So going against God's will is like firing up a video game and then losing on purpose. The rules of the game will never change to accommodate you, you can't pray to the game and ask it to let you win. You either play by the rules or you don't, and if you win, that is the reward. You don't get money or anything else, all you get is the fact that you won.

 

[Josie and the Sussy Cats]

Unless you are terminally ill/have something very wrong with you, praying to God for yourself is downright selfish, and wrong. Praying to God for others and a bigger picture is the whole point of praying. As an individual, you must deal with the hand you're dealt. The power of optimistic/positive thought can be very powerful towards one's own needs.

The only reason you imagine it's "downright selfish and wrong" to pray to God for things you need is that you selfishly and wrongly imagine that you are capable of achieving your own goals for yourself in your own way. You are not. You have nothing that was not given to you. You did not control where you were born or the opportunities you would receive. Nothing you have has been earned. All of it has been given. Everything you have ever received that is good came from God. And yet you think it is "selfish" to ask for good things from the only source of good things.

 

[Sneeter Rabbit]

it makes sense but not if you consciously adhere to it. the ideal is to sincerely believe that you dont engage with others on a transactional basis whilst doing so unfailingly.
if you do it consciously, you will become paranoid and miserable on some level, you won't enjoy life as much and your ability to deal with others will be impeded by deliberate overthinking/strategising that most do effortlessly. if you view others as 'ends unto themselves' you will be thoughtlessly cannibalised. nobody means to do it who isnt in some way neurotic or traumatised, but they'll still do it. scorpion and frog.

if you cant live unconsciously, then make yourself behave in the way opposite to your instinct - if everyone is an asset, don't overexploit them or else you'll lose the saleable skills and resources they represent, you'll be outed and ostracised eventually.
if you cant stand using others or want a more intimate connection or whatever, then take time to use others vindictively - tell yourself its a punishment for the way the victim treats other people.
it was a bad idea to have that conversation, by the way.