how do I know if the things people say are against my self-interest

why would anyone say anything for anyone's interest but their own

Be true to yourself

>>2175054

You either need to be smarter than everyone else, or you need to find someone whose opinion you trust, either because you know them to be impartial or because they have your best wishes at heart, as for example with a parent.

>>2175054

you dont, thats one of the major problems in life, experience cannot realy be transfered, you just heed advice if you trust the source or identify with this or that, or you discard the advice and do your own thing, ''see for yourself'', and this you always pay for, in failures, regrets, traumas etc... but thats life, its the only way to actualy know, and the only way to realy develop as a human

>>2176886
>or you discard the advice and do your own thing, ''see for yourself'', and this you always pay for, in failures, regrets, traumas etc...
Well, not always. Sometimes advice really is shit.

>>2175056
Because they put the interests of humanity/their family/the long term against their own, since they don't like themselves very much and know they're going to die soon anyways.

Why do Salmon swim upstream?