Man can be, for the most part, an irrational being who acts solely on instincts such as selfishness. However, if it were true what the Underground Man is saying, then what we would see is that all men act selfish in order to gain an advantage over others when they are actually creating disadvantages for themselves. This idea however, is somewhat illogical because the following question arises: Why would someone who is trying to sway the forces around him try do so only to find himself in a position worst than his original state of being? It simply does not add up. Now, it would make sense to Dostoyevsky since he believes all men to be beneath him intellectually. However, we know that all men are not actually limited as he describes but, in fact, more unlimited than the Underground Man will ever be because he cannot make up his mind in areas where men of action analyze the situation and choose the lesser of two evils for the sake of forward progression. So, back the main point, men act selfish in order to gain advantages and, the majority of the time, they actually succeed in achieving an advantage over others. Men of inaction like the Underground Man are too blinded by their own conceitedness that they cannot function as proper human beings and are left in the cloud of regret.
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