You dislike and distrust Goku for more than the bottle. The only lasting impression of that is the distrust of Goku+Food
I'm aware, it was just an example. Young children make immediate value-judgement based on short-term positive and negative reinforcement. As they age, they learn to make judgements based on other things, such long-term benefit and principles/morals.
And your conclusion does not follow from your premise
Gossard sees himself through his heritage (both Saiyan and Briefs), and that makes him selfish?
A bit elitist maybe, Malfoy-ish but not selfish.
Things that define him are by definition things that define him. That's not selfish, that's a tautology.
...I admit, I'm having a significant amount of difficulty in even understanding how it is you're reading that into what I'm writing. I'll try and see if I can't avoid talking past you.
My premise is that there are two things important to Gossard
as an axiom: the Briefs, and the Legend. Everything else he psychologically values ultimately derives from this, or from his biological needs and reactions. The fact that these are also the groups that include he himself in is
relevant, but not
necessarily the case; it is entirely possible for someone to value things axiomatically that don't include themselves.
For instance, the given example is Gilgamesh, who axiomatically values Beauty-- and in a specifically different way than how he values his own perfection. Because of this axiom, he may take actions in contradiction with his other axioms (such as, for instance, his rightful place of supremacy above all other living things) in the name of protecting or sustaining this beauty. This isn't to say Gossard
should also axiomatically value Beauty, but to give an example of an
external value that can win out against a
selfish value.
A
selfish value is defined in this context as "an axiomatic value that is inseparable from one's self". A simple biological example of a selfish value would be "Pleasure". Selfish values are psychological values that work to encourage actions that benefit the self, by definition, and are both normal and expected in young children, who generally won't have many axiomatic beliefs anyway.
My argument is that all of Gossard's axioms are generally expressed
in selfish values.
Ex.,
"I can't lose because I am a Briefs / The Legend / Do not want to get hurt!"
"I need to get more powerful because I am a Briefs! / the LEGEND! / It feels good!"
"I want to hurt this person for disrespecting me, a Briefs / The Legend / and making me feel bad!"
And to be entirely clear, I know they don't
have to be; in fact, axiomatically working in the interests of the Briefs by necessity means there's an external value he's expressing in regards to his family.
"I have to stop somebody from hurting Gohan because he's a Briefs / my twin"
That's definitely a case where Gossard might contradict a selfish value of his own in service of this external value... but you'll definitely note it still has a selfish twist to it, in that most of the reasoning is the same as what he uses to justify stopping people from hurting
him, just without the physiological value added to it.
The importance of acquiring external values is important because it defines how your way of thinking matures as you grow up. The adult mind is less capable of picking up new axioms and generally just finds new ways to shape the ones it has already established; by age 30ish, it's effectively impossible to change how you fundamentally think about things.
The danger of Gossard growing up without expanding the ways he makes judgement about things is that he'll just frankly never be able to relate to people, having always determined the worth of things based on their relation to the Briefs, the Legend, himself, or furthering the cause of one of those three things. Gilgamesh, again as an example, is clearly still
capable of relating to the problems of others, and in fact is seen taking interest in the affairs of others for reasons beyond his own personal benefit on several occasions, even if he doesn't design to bother for most.
...So, yeah, selfish.
I'm actually confused about why that was a thing you were stuck on; you even explicitly compared his personality to Gilgamesh, who's one of the most gleefully frank fictional characters about his selfishness I've ever seen. Indeed, one of his most famous scenes is berating someone who called themselves a king while being
self-less, something he considers false on the face of it. Pride and egoism are fundamentally connected to being selfish; my only concern is that we should ensure that's not the only way Gossard can interact with people.
What is important to him is a Challenge, of the Mind (science), Body (Power Levels) and Soul (Meditation on Instinct). Though admittedly Gossard will care less about non-martial conflict if you don't do more Science or find a different competition.
He also values Family, much more than the average Saiyan, though following the Saiyan interpretation of Family which lacks a Patriarch.
I didn't get a particular impression, so far anyway, that Gossard valued challenge for its own sake beyond the opportunity it offers to demonstrate his (/the Briefs/the Legend) superiority over whatever. Though you could probably make an argument that he values victory for its own sake.
Goku, for instance, strikes me as someone that values challenge axiomatically rather than for the sake of superiority, which is one reason why he shies away from killing his enemies; dead opponents can't come back for a rematch, after all (without dragon balls anyway).
I'd have labelled his axiom 'family' rather than 'the Briefs', but you specifically pointed out the Briefs name earlier so I figured he had some sort of pride in the title beyond the fact it's made up of his family. The difference is basically just if he feels pride in himself and/or superiority over others for being a Briefs while they aren't.
...Holy shit this got
waaaay more into detail than I was ever planning to go.
*quick definitions for how I'm using words if anyone got lost during that:
Axiom: a fundamental belief that governs action without any chain of logic leading to it. Axioms are irrational (in that they don't need to be rationalized, not that they're nonsensical) governing idea that forms the basis of psychological judgement-making.
Value: A metric by which you judge something and decide action. Values are derived from your axioms, or your physiological reactions.
External Value: A value that functions based on something entirely separate from the self.
Selfish Value: A value that functions based on something integral to the self.
