Someone please identify a truly selfless act - it can be something you have actually done or just something you think of.

I contend that there is no such thing as a selfless act.

Holding a door for a delivery guy, my timing is crazy strange with that!

Donating blood, giving to a charity, feeding a stray dog

If the choice is limited between selfless and selfish then your contention is not correct.I don't believe the fact that you get some sense of satisfaction from performing an act of kindness makes it any less selfless or worthwhile.

the only true selfless act is one done anonymously

I'm not one to get involved but a few years back i heard a loud argument coming from a car in a parking lot. I walk a lot and a woman came out of this car and she was trying to take her dog and the guy wouldn't let her. She walked by me really fast. I asked, "are you ok?" She was crying. I glared at the guy and he said, "This is none of your business!" I said, "Doesn't sound that way to me." He had out of state plates, so probably nothing I could do.

If you take a bullet for your loved one. That is selfless.

Just like Bruno Mars' song Grenade...

"I'd catch a grenade for you
Throw my hand on a blade for you
I'd jump in front of a train for you
You know I'd do anything for you
Oh, I would go through all this pain
Take a bullet straight through my brain
Yes, I would die for you, baby
But you won't do the same"

... ok ok that would be a tad too much :D

I'm afraid I don't agree with your interpretation mzrosie.The last line "But you won't do the same" implies he expects the same from her so he wants something in return.

I agree, although not always! A true selfless act is done without regard to self. You are not part of the equation when helping another. It's more of an automatic response without any thought of what you have to gain/benefit from it.

For instance... you are driving down the highway and you see an accident happen, the car flips over and begins to catch on fire. You run to the car and get that person out before it explodes. The act of doing that was selfless, however it will not remain anonymous... police reports will require you to give your name.

Firemen, policemen, and those who are fighting for our country preform selfless acts on a daily basis. As does anyone else who acts on instinct to protect or help another without regard to self.

Least that's my understanding of what a selfless act is.

as a semantic argument, I agree no act is selfless, or done with NO consideration or concern about oneself... even if we are trying to live up to our standards and values, we are thinking about that action from a self value perspective.

as a technical argument, if we go by this definition of selfless:
concerned more with the needs and wishes of others than with one's own; unselfish.

I think there are many acts that can be considered selfless, like those things that are done without any thought to whether there is gratitude or repayment or even acknowledgement of ourself,when we are more concerned with maybe making something better for someone else at the risk of our own sacrifice of time or energy or money.

I do many things like that any time I leave my home, from finding things to compliment total strangers on, or opening doors for others, or helping someone pick up something they dropped, little things, but things that don't have any direct benefit to me except to feel good about the potential impact that action had on another person.

Vacating a seat on the bus for an old person, donating organs/stem cells, rescue a pet from a shelter

There is no such thing as a self-less act if the act is done by you on purpose.

In all the world, there is only one you, one person that lives behind your eyes.
The acts you do or don't do are completely selfish.
That is because you do them for whatever reasons you do them.

A self-less act is you doing something without a reason - so if you think about it, anything you do by accident is a self-less act. The thing about a truly selfless act is you do not expect an outcome from the result of your action.
Neither a public or a personal outcome.

There is a difference between selfless and sacrifice.
Sacrifices are done with an outcome in mind.
Selfless means you had no idea you were going to do it and the results of that action cannot be predicted or assessed.

EXAMPLE:
The act of throwing a $20 bill out the car window while you are driving may seem like a selfless act.
In reality, you know someone someday will find that $20 and it will be a winfall for them.
That knowledge gives you a good feeling about yourself.
Thus, not a truly selfless act.

In contrast:
You lose $20 out the window while driving.
Someone finds the winfall and is able to eat that day.
You have no idea where the money went or if it was found.
The act was selfless.

The one caution I want to give about this overall subject (which I have witnessed people debate for decades), is that although it is SEMANTICALLY correct that there CAN'T be such a thing as a "selfless act," since in order for an act to happen, there has to be a self...

that this does NOT in any way excuse anyone from refusing to work for the greater good.

It does NOT excuse selfISHness.

The single most common reason why I've seen people go on about how "selfless acts aren't really selfless," has been that they were jealous of, or annoyed by the praise that can get heaped on the few people who actually DO try to make a positive difference. (Note, assuredly NOT making any accusations about anyone here!!!)

And that's too bad, because when it comes down to the basic reality, if something very positive is done, by someone who gains (for example) only a small ego boost in exchange, that doesn't in anyway make the positive gains, negative.

As for myself, just like Ms Harmony and others here, I make it a point at every opportunity I have, to make the very small differences that I can make.

I stopped along with my brother once, when we were on vacation, driving across the midwest, and we together put out a would-be forest fire that was just getting started. Then we got back in the car and went on to Denver.

Every time it snows, I drive so that I can nibble away at any ice and snow patches that might cause trouble for others.

When I walk down a sidewalk, I watch for broken glass, and if I find any, I move it out of everyone else's path as best I can.

And so on.

Is any of it truly selfless? Hell no. I am convinced that if I make the world better, that I will enjoy the world a lot more. It's all for me.