I have a lot of issues with family and no idea how to fix them. It’s a long story. Mom is a professional guilt-tripper.
Depends on what “works” means. A female praying mantis eating her mate works for her I guess. Should we structure human society along the same lines? Who knows.
Apparently you know that trusting your conscience is good but you can’t figure out what is good for society.
If you say so.
One has to consider the obvious definition of the word “steal”. Later, one can move on to other considerations.
You know what they say … one person’s ‘terrorist’ is another person’s ‘freedom fighter’.
“Legal right” is itself problematic … what if a law is enacted which allows you to search any person’s wallet and take out any currency which exceeds the amount in your own wallet, thus equalizing the amount in both your wallets. Is that “legal right” ethical? I’m sure lots of people would say “yes”.
You have a lot of integrity and I am the same way, so I know the downside of it. Isn’t it strange that I’ve grown to hate people because I’m considerate of them (since that’s the only reason to have integrity)? The bad part of holding yourself to high standards is being in judgement of those who don’t. I’d like to think of myself as easy-going because it really doesn’t matter what we have for dinner or what we watch on tv (to an extent) and I see myself as pliable and varied in interests, but can’t tolerate when people can’t keep their word and they never can. Never. It’s a grand fluke if someone accidentally did what they said they were going to do. So if there is a bomb, screw it, it’s not my business because it’s likely a lot of people who would piss me off anyway with their lack of consideration: pull in front of me then turn left, drive slow without giving others an opportunity to pass, raise hell and make noise with no regard for neighbors, promise to arrive at a time and then not show, etc, etc, etc. People are animals with an extra helping of pride and I’ve no obligation to protect the haughty. I’d sooner protect a real animal and if I ever caught anyone torturing an animal, one of us is going to die.
I’ve done a lot of soul searching lately and I don’t know why I keep my word. Why do I bother? No one else can. It’s as if I’m playing a game and I want my character to be a certain way for no reason whatsoever, other than to see how it plays out. Has anyone noticed how I diligently reply to everyone and every point? No one returns the favor however as all have left me hanging. So why do I bother? Why do I do for others what they won’t do for me? Why do I hold myself to such a standard? Idk, I’m still in the process of figuring things out.
“Those who know, don’t speak; those who speak, don’t know.”
“The act of writing is the act of discovering what you believe.”
So here we are… the blind leading the blind, muddling along and trying to figure it out.
Can you?
That’s my favorite emoticon 
Psychopaths lack empathy, consideration, which incidentally seems consistent with most of the population (lack of consideration). Hitherto I thought psychopaths were rare, but now I’m thinking they may be the norm. How many people genuinely consider how their actions affect others? Or maybe they aren’t smart enough to give it consideration. Something is lacking!
If your conscience tells you what is good for you, then it’s also saying what is good for the people who you interact with and as a consequence what is good for society.
Why do you retreat from that idea and pretend that you don’t know what is good for society?
Because I don’t even know what is good for me, nevermind others and even less about society as a whole.
And what is a good society? Are we to maximize population or maximize the quality of the members of the population? What is a quality member?
Then what was all that talk about trusting your conscience??
Does it mean that you don’t trust your conscience to tell you what’s good for you?
I’m really confused now.
I think that many of a society’s norms and values are inextricably linked to what our consciences inform us is morally right and wrong. Such that people who do not act within the spectrum of what is considered morally acceptable are classed as deviants. I think that through introspection our consciences are capable of informing us what is good or best for ourselves and others. The importance of the conscience in human development may be understated, but I think that a society with a general consensus of what is conscionable, that aims towards what is morally right, is one that would be more likely to thrive, due to having a strong emphasis on equality and cooperation.
That is where discussions and debates come into play and better laws drafted.
If you think living by duty and honor is psychopathic then do not live for duty and honor.
Regards
DL
Because that’s all we can do. If you cannot trust yourself, you can’t trust anything, so you have to trust yourself knowing you’re going to be right and wrong sometimes, but you can’t impose that decision on someone else.
You impose that decision on everyone that you interact with directly and indirectly. And you do it every day.
You decide, you act. Then people react. Society changes as a result.
I don’t know what you expect to be different.
Because they deviate from the norm.
Society seems awfully decadent to me. I see some imposition of morality, but not much practicing.
There is a song that goes “You’ve got to stand for something or you’ll fall for anything.”
Sniped for brevity.
You do what you do for your own sense of duty to your fellow man and the honor you feel that allows you to hold your head high.
" The bad part of holding yourself to high standards is being in judgement of those who don’t."
Yet if those like you did not, the rest would never improve.
“Those who know, don’t speak; those who speak, don’t know.”
If one is in the know and does not speak, then one does not love or care about his fellow man.
I quote few word out of the scriptures for their moral value, because they are few but do quote this one.
Proverbs 3:12 For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.
I do not love near as well or as much as I should, and likely never will, but duty forces me to try to correct which at the same time would correct myself if I were wrong thanks to whatever wisdom I would learn from my interlocutors.
Imagine if no one bothered to correct poor thinking or actions. We would still be living in caves and trees.
Remember that when a love bias is formed, it’s counterpart, a hate bias is formed against whatever goes against your love bias. IOW, hate is born of love and should be embraced as it will act to reduce hateful actions and thoiughts.
We should work both our love and hate biases to their limits.
Like a newscast though, people will see more evil than good.
Regards
DL
I agree. That seems to be the case except when a country is religious. Stats are showing that the more religiosity there is in a country, the less peaceful and internally coherent it is.
Religion is not our friend, even though I am one of those who follows a religious ideology. Gnostic Christianity. We tend to be peaceful though as we are thought to be closer to agnosticism than theism.
Regards
DL
No, I’ve been unceremoniously replying to everyone and every point for the last 4 months while quietly watching every single person here eventually fail to reciprocate and I’ve not said a peep until now and only because it’s an example of my morality affecting my decision, but not y’all’s.
Do I put myself above you? Maybe, but I couldn’t do what y’all do because I view it as inconsiderate. I just don’t feel right about it and I never have. The only way I can leave anyone hanging is just to leave to site altogether. So are you superhuman or am I? How can we tell? Is the drunk drinking 30 beers per night superhuman? Or the one who wouldn’t notice if beer fell off the earth? Who has the advantage?
Morality is obviously a disadvantage:
Survival was a moral as well as a physical struggle. A woman doctor wrote to a friend in June 1933 that she had not yet become a cannibal, but was “not sure that I shall not be one by the time my letter reaches you.” The good people died first. Those who refused to steal or to prostitute themselves died. Those who gave food to others died. Those who refused to eat corpses died. Those who refused to kill their fellow man died. Parents who resisted cannibalism died before their children did.[52] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holodomor
Morality seems a high-brow game among gentlemen to feel superior to everyone else while in competition with each other.
“The fact that you possess a sense of morality, and we do not, gives us an evolutionary advantage.”
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rm_06apWsRg[/youtube]