Very interesting interview. I found myself intrigued with Stannie and his answers as much as I want to know about this 'Adam' character and his story. I would suggest, with regards to writing in English, he expresses himself quite well here. I found the answers compelling. I haven't had time to read the story, but it has become a goal of mine after reading this. Thanks and cheers... Gary....

I must confess... this question and answer has been on my mind since I read it...

Do you believe people are inherently selfish or was that just Adam’s take for his blog?

Yes, I truly do. I’ve had many discussions about this with people and every time I don’t get it why they don’t feel the same way about it. I challenge them to show me a situation in which someone isn’t inherently selfish, only to counter it by explaining what the selfish part was. It always works, unconditionally, unless it has something to do with having children. I haven’t been able to explain why people do certain things for children even when it doesn’t make them necessarily happier or something, so I guess that’s the exception to the rule.

I haven't reached conclusions, per se, but I have some opinions and I do see your point, Stannie. And yes, I especially see how having children affects our inherent selfishness. Having children changes everything. I might put forth we transfer the basis for our selfishness so it covers our children... substitutes if you will. Great food for thought.  

OK, I read the story. It was sad to see how hurt Adam was by being betrayed and abandoned by people who were important to him. The ways he coped were understandable, even if they were at timed counter-productive, and caused other people to be hurt.

I think people are not so much selfish in the negative sense of the word, but we are definitely motivated by whatever makes us feel good about ourselves. Our personality and experiences determined what it is.

“A red rose is not selfish because it wants to be a red rose. It would be horribly selfish if it wanted all the other flowers in the garden to be both red and roses.” ~ Oscar Wilde

I cannot state my opinion about selfishness better than Catherine Collautt who perfectly explains things in her blog.

She writes, “Being self-centered is part of our existential condition. We are inherently self-centered.”
“It is disfiguring until we come, first, to love ourselves. That is, until I find the divinity within myself, until I consider my self (myself) sacred, and worthy of my own attention – of my own love, my own energy and resources, my own admiration and devotion, too. After we get that, we learn how to be of service to something more than ourselves. But only after because before, our service will be despite the self not through the self; and despite myself, instead of by means of it. And it is these efforts that end in contortions and disfigurations, in us feeling alone, uncomfortable, and alienated from ourselves.”

I agree with her conclusion: “It’s a dark, lonely road. Always, endlessly. Because you are nothing if not this self. And because I see ‘selfishness’ as simply actively recognizing and honoring the priority of place this self necessarily has in our lives, I vote we throw out the derogatory nature of the appellation.”

https://catherinecollautt.com/blog/selfishness-self-centered-v-ego-centered/
 

That was really well put, thank you @William King

I forgot to say last night, that I enjoyed the story, and I'm looking forward to more. Oh, and even if you definitely could benefit from an editor, I think you did rather well for a non-native English speaker. I know how difficult it is, and I'm forever grateful to my editors and beta readers.  

The only mistake which really made me   was when Adam was staring at the roof and not the ceiling in his room.  

Haha, I actually do have an editor, I just didnt have one when I started out with the story, that's why it says so. And yeah, I bet I made many more of those mistakes if not for my editor, haha

Greetings from Vienna!

1 hour ago, Stannie said:

Haha, I actually do have an editor, I just didnt have one when I started out with the story, that's why it says so. And yeah, I bet I made many more of those mistakes if not for my editor, haha

Ahh, that makes sense. I did wonder about that note, because the language wasn't that bad, especially in the later chapters. btw sorry about not leaving any comments on the story, but I wanted to read it fast, so I could join the discussion here.

No problem. I saw the time between the likes on the chapters and man, you really did read fast xD

While we are discussing the story here anyway: I never really gave the story a setting, like a country or a city, because I felt like it didn't need one. Now Adam is going to travel around and I kinda want to use my own travel story, but then I would need to specify the cities he's going to. Do you think I can do that, or should I continue with the unspecified setting?

36 minutes ago, Stannie said:

While we are discussing the story here anyway: I never really gave the story a setting, like a country or a city, because I felt like it didn't need one. Now Adam is going to travel around and I kinda want to use my own travel story, but then I would need to specify the cities he's going to. Do you think I can do that, or should I continue with the unspecified setting?

Of course you can specify the cities, it will give local color for people who are familiar with them, and for others it's nice to get some description of places we may never visit.

It is always possible to leave it vague, but I find it more interesting to read about fictional characters in real places. Especially when the next part of the story is all about travelling. I think it is easier to write, and affords the opportunity for you to write about places you know, because you were there. Besides, if you name the places and describe the little details, your fans will be able to follow in their hero's footsteps.