I don't recall reading about a selfish attitude there, and looking at the Japanese it doesn't seem to be an element. He does say he didn't talk to people very often as a kid since he was often not noticed, and had a lot of time to spend pondering by himself. And his parents didn't hear his opinions very often.

-- Thinking about it, that kind of adds a new slant to the ending of his Summer Scramble conversation with Henry.