Let's stop with the performative cynicism on HN.
There is overwhelming scientific evidence that (mentally healthy) humans are pretty capable of empathy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empathy
> They motivate their selfish actions, to others but also to themselves (Motivated Reasoning) with noble sounding arguments
You are claiming that selfishness is the only driver but https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motivated_reasoning goes both ways.
Besides, why do you refer to people as "they"? Are you a bot?