Genuine tragedies in the world are not conflicts between right and wrong. They are conflicts between two rights. ~Georg Hegel
Yesterday, I had a conversation with an old friend from college. It was more of a spirited debate, actually, about the nature of good and evil, right and wrong etc. My world view, will, I'm quite sure, be of no surprise to you since you all know me--I believe good is a matter of perspective and that right is determined by whoever has "the bigger gun" so to speak. I believe that is way of the world, and it is too few and far between that the good people of the world outweigh the bad. My perspective on this rarely shifts, and is also reinforced when tragedies such as the one in Newtown, Connecticut, or Ferguson, MO, or San Bernardino, CA occur. I believe it is an objectively unfair universe we inhabit, although I have a hunch it has a way of righting its ownself from time to time. So the debate between my friend and I ensued.
My friend's world view was quite a bit different than mine--much more idealistic and much more indicative of his personality. In his eyes, is is certain that good always conquers evil, the meek shall inherit the Earth, all you need is love etc etc etc. He goes on to posit that good things come to good people and eventually, all the pieces will fall into place if you live a good life.
(I keep him around, this college buddy, because he gives me hope, and when I am feeling way too misanthropic and cynical for my own good, he gives me balance. All of the other times I mock him shamelessly for his "dreamy" and (what I consider to be) unrealistic view of the world).
So, my question(s) for you this week is--where in our spectrum does your world view fall? Do you think people are mostly bad or mostly good? What determines that? Do you think that the person who does the right thing always wins? If so, what's the prize? Are there clear-cut answers about what's right and what's wrong? How is it all measured? Let's get a little Lang-y and tell a story (real or metaphorical--no matter) to illustrate/exemplify your points.
Life is fair. All too often the “life is not fair” excuse is used in an argument, either by a parent to his or her child, or to a teacher to a student, etc., despite this being a lie because life is, in fact, as fair as any roll of a die. For example, some people are born into financially stable households while others are born destitute. This may seem like the world was unfair to the destitute person, but consider this similar example: When playing a dice game, some people got the roll they wanted while others did not. Would anyone call the dice game unfair? Of course not; the dice game makes use of statistics: there are 6 sides on that particular die, and the probability of winning, or getting the favorable roll, is calculable, and statistics are fair. Similarly, life is a dice game on a massive scale; there are rules to this dice game, and there are some that are better at the game than others, but, for all people, chance is a factor, and chance is fair.
ReplyDeleteFrom the start of life, the die is rolled. The person has no say in the roll’s outcome; he or she will either be born into a caring, wealthy household with an advantage, or will be born some other place. Rolling a die is perfectly fair. Even when considering that a “lucky” person born into an affluent household often gets “high rolls” throughout his or her entire life, while a poor person does not, life is still fair because all of the outcomes that led to the “luck” of the affluent person come down to the first roll of the die, which was fair. Therefore, life is fair; there are just some people that are not winning at the game.
The concepts of “good” and “bad” were fabricated by early humans to enhance their survival. What was “good” helped with survival (helping other people, being a caring parent, etc.) and was encouraged while what was “bad” went against survival (killing, raping, etc.) and died off if it was not already discouraged. For example, caring for one’s children is universally considered “good” because it helped the survival of man in all instances. However, an idea such as protecting wildlife might not be widely considered to be purely “good” because protecting wildlife may have helped nomads in Europe to settle down into villages (protecting wildlife so that it may be domesticated for uses such as food and clothing) while protecting wildlife would not have helped nomadic cultures on African savannahs because they never settled down, always needed to hunt, kill, and eat animals, and sometimes saw wildlife as a threat (lions, cheetahs, etc.) and, thus, “bad”. Therefore, some groups may see protecting wildlife as “good” while others may not; the ideas of “good” and “bad” are encoded into our DNA, so both concepts often seem to be more instinct than products of rational thought.
For example, how often do you think about whether rape is good or bad? Probably not to often. Rape discouraged the raising of strong, healthy families and resulted in many dead offspring as women raped too often had too many children to care for and were often injured by the rape itself. The idea of rape being “bad” would have discouraged rape and led to increased healthy reproduction, so the idea of rape being “bad” is encoded into our genes and culture.
Rape is good.
Chances are, your immediate reaction to that sentence was anger and not the question “why”. That is because the idea that rape is bad was not carefully thought of in your mind, but simply felt to be bad because of morals, which are essentially impulses resulting from what was “good” to human survival. Had your opinion of rape originated from careful deliberation and equal representation of both sides of the argument, you would have asked why your opinion was untrue and wondered where in your deliberation (or mine) something went awry; instead evolution-induced emotions come into play because the idea of rape being “bad” is encoded in our DNA. (And, just to be clear, I do not think rape is good, nor would I encourage it, because I always discourage the manufacturing of new humans.)
By definition, people are mostly good because “good” is synonymous with “beneficial to survival” and humans, unfortunately, have been surviving. However, “bad-ness” is growing because morality is becoming less of an influence in reproduction than it has been in the past, so “bad” people are not dying off as they were in the past. Today, having a lot of money may encourage reproduction, no matter the rich person’s morality. In cavemen times, a “bad” person would be a threat to everyone’s safety and would die off leaving behind very few children. Therefore, being “bad” (detrimental in a conventional way to survival) is not as discouraged as it had been in the past, so “bad” people are growing in number, unlike in early generations of humans.
DeleteThe person that “does the right thing”, or “the person that does ‘good’ deeds”, does not always win because chance governs much of life and “good” people can get “bad” roles. However, being “good” encourages survival and reproduction, so a person who “does the right thing” often gets to have sex, wooing someone else with his or her “good deeds”, and passes on the morality of a “good” person either through genetics, parenting, or a combination of both “good” nature and nurture.
Thus, there are “clear cut answers” in what is “good” or “bad” because something either promotes survival, discourages it, or has no effect on survival.
Now, to give a story, “real or metaphorical”, to exemplify the aforementioned points: There are two cavemen, Ω and π. Ω rapes a woman, she freaks out, and π murders Ω. Ω is dead and does not pass the idea of raping down, through genetics or parenting. π saved the woman, so he, of course, engages in coitus with her and they have twelve children, all of which are encouraged never to rape, by the mother, and to fight against “crime”, by π. π teaches that rape is “bad” and that policing is “good”; Ω’s story is either never told, because he is dead, or overshadowed by genetic influences that blind others from hearing Ω’s story, as they were born knowing rape is “bad” and cannot be swayed either way: the origins of “good” and “bad” were written in a genetic code that knows not of the meanings of “good” and “bad” and was passed down by cavemen of low intelligences.
Do you believe the DNA that encodes all of our individual humanity is responsible for the societal world view of good and bad? In other words, are good and bad predisposed?
DeleteIt has been proven in twin adoption studies that genetics heavily influences behaviors such as addiction and sexuality. In AP Psych, we talk about three influences to individual development: biological, psychological, and social-cultural. Psychological influences include how we change over time due to our experiences (I’m afraid of bears because, like Leo DiCaprio, I was once mauled by one). Social-cultural influences include the ways one’s peers and culture affect development (I’m afraid of bears because my culture demonizes bears). Biological influences include the effects of evolution and natural selection (I’m afraid of bears because any humans that were not afraid of bears in the past were killed off, leaving only people that were afraid of bears to reproduce and perpetuate that fear). (Also, as I write this, it is Charles Darwin’s birthday!) All three of the aforementioned influences do influence people in some way, and thus, all contribute to what our ideas of “good” and “evil” are, but, at least for me, it seems like biology has the most influence on personality because evolution is what caused the other two influences. Without evolution, people would not have developed the human brain (the most complex object known in the universe), and, thus, without evolution, there would be no psychological influences coming from the brain. Moreover, after humans developed a complex form of higher thinking, they developed societies and cultures, so, without evolution, there would be no social-cultural influences on humans.
DeleteAs for the answer to your question, individual humans with individual humanities sculpted mostly by biology make up the societal world. A societal world view is basically the most popular opinions of the people that inhabit it, and those people’s individual world views are sculpted mostly by biology, so the societal world view, which is an agglomeration of individual worldviews sculpted mostly by biology, has to also be sculpted mostly by biology because of transitive property. However, the societal world views of “good” and “bad” cannot be entirely biological because the other two influences—psychological and social-cultural—also make up the world views of individuals, and thus, the world views of society.
Thus, the ideas of “good” and “bad” are predisposed to an extent. If we look at a newborn baby, we can be pretty sure that the baby is going to think that murder is “bad”, because the baby is human, with anti-murder human genes (unless something went wrong and the baby has a “disorder”). However, we cannot be entirely sure if the baby will grow up to think that killing is bad. “Murder” implies the killing of an innocent human by another human, while “killing” can either imply the killing of an organism by anything, from another organism to natural events, to acts of self-defense in humans to the killing of humans in a military setting. Throughout the history of human existence, murder has discouraged survival. However, the ideas regarding to what extent killing can be “good” or “bad” have differed between cultures. Pacifist cultures would condemn all instances where humans take the lives of other humans while military cultures, such as Sparta and, later, the terrorist country called, “The United States of America”, would support killing in military instances. In this way, society can influence our ideas of “good” and “bad”, and so we would need to know the culture the newborn baby would be born into to know his or her most probable view on the morality of killing. The difference between “kill” and “murder” is complicated, so it requires more than simple biology. (In fact, different Holy Bibles have different translations of the Ten Commandments; some say, “do not kill”, while others say, “do not murder”, so sometimes even culture struggles with the questions.) However, in most cases, the world is not so complicated, so, in most cases, biology can answer the questions of “what is good” and “what is bad”. For example, helping people is “good”, while hurting people for no reason is “bad” because, in a purely evolutionary viewpoint, helping people encourages survival while hurting people goes against it.
DeleteMy world view shares a lot of similarity with your friend’s. I truly believe that life is what you make it. I try to be realistic when I ponder about the world but sometimes my conclusions seem too idealistic. I would like to see the world as a fair place but in a lot of cases, it’s a horrible one. I can sit here and say that life is fair but, in doing that I would also imply that terminal illness, homicide, racism and terrorism is also fair, which is not what I think at all. Life is not fair in the sense that everyone has the same level of hardship but, I believe that everyone has a fair chance at getting the most out of the life they’re given. When thinking about life, the first thought that comes to my mind is God. While I may not be the most well-rounded Christian, I do believe that there is a God, that someone has my back in the end, and that there is a right and wrong. I can’t completely say that “right and wrong” would not exist without the acceptance of a God but, churches gave a model on how to run human society. The first models of government came from churches, the Bible’s 10 commandments offer a basis for right and wrong, and many people shape their lives around serving God. In terms of someone doing the right thing, they already won. A lot of times, doing the right thing offers an intrinsic reward, rather than extrinsic. Doing the right thing should come from the goodness of your heart--not merely for compensation. You can’t expect to receive a prize for every good thing you do. Yes, you can hope that God sees you’re doing the right thing but, to expect repayment is selfish in a sense. The idea of “right and wrong” seems too abstract to define. Of course, killing puppies is wrong and returning library books is right but, both are controversial to people with conflicting perspectives. I think “right and wrong” gives humans some sanity and order but, many people develop different opinions on “right and wrong.” Some people don’t agree with the law, some people don’t believe in God and some people believe there are gray areas between “right and wrong.” Because of all the overlapping and conflicting ideas of “right and wrong,” it is a hard concept to define. “Right and wrong” is subjective. This is the reason why we have rules, because without them people would live by their own rules and all havoc could break lose. In life, “right and wrong” is a necessity. Whether your idea of “right and wrong” comes from the constitution, God, or anywhere else, all sources provide a basis of what’s acceptable in society. Another example that came to my mind while synthesizing my views on the world is “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding. This novel hires seven boys to play both literal and symbolic roles. This allegory is centered around good vs. evil and several other concepts pertaining to human nature. When these young boys were stranded on the island, they formed their own society. They faced the challenge of overcoming their innate savagery. They assigned roles in their society, elected a leader (Ralph) and even voted. While in battle with sanity, the boys revealed that human nature is selfish and cruel but, with the help of democracy and laws, society is habitable. Each of the boys exemplified a different contribution in society. Ralph represented order and leadership, Piggy represents science and intellect, Jack represents savagery and a thirst for power, Simon represents goodness and innocence, Roger represents brutality, and the littluns represent the overlooked and undervalued citizens. With all of these contributions, Golding demonstrates how a society functions. Golding places these characters with their specific skill sets and demeanors on this deserted island to expose the core of human nature and the everlasting argument between right and wrong.
ReplyDeleteI don't believe there's any real way to determine whether the world is mostly bad or mostly good. There is no definite way for me to figure it out.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, not everyone is good. We can't always expect that of people and it would be quite idealistic for us to do so. I've never quite been the person who gives people the benefit of the doubt. If I have any feeling that this person may not be the person I want to be associated with, I won't ignore them but I won't become close to them. Of course everyone makes wrong judgements, though. I've done this a couple times and it ended up in friendships being broken. You can't say whether or not the world is a good place or a bad place.
The person who always does the right thing ultimately wins, in my opinion. That can be argued, but I don't see many points being made for that side. Of course it may not always end in the way that you wish it would, but I believe that the "good person" will take this and turn their experience into something better. The "bad person" would use this against the other person. The prize of being the good person would be to know that they are bigger.
I made a friend two years ago that I instantly clicked with. We were rarely apart and when we were, we were texting. They did not judge me for anything that I did. I could tell them everything and anything and they were always there to help me. Especially when I was at my very lowest. Unfortunately, they were not exactly what I thought they were. They were always there for me and I'm not sure whether to call them a bad person or not, but they lied to me on multiple occasions and made it known that they were not a great person to have around. We all make wrong judgements.
It is not always obvious whether or not someone is a good or bad person. There's just no way to know. You just have to push through the bad people to come out on the good side.
The world sucks and my view is completely opposite from your college buddy, I’ll name him Normie. Normie’s views are totally unrealistic because nothing good ever really happens to me and I consider myself a nice and loving person but here I am with no reward, chillin. Unless you’re rich, famous, or do something stupid and get noticed for it, the world sucks. I’m no where near Normie’s views on the spectrum I’m closer to your views because unless you are deaf and blind I don’t know how someone can’t see all the bad in the world because tbh if the world was full of rainbows and butterflies, Bernie Sanders would be president and I would be able to eat pizza for dinner every night but I can’t so F U world. Most people suck, a lot. Everyone is just fake and it's so rare to find a genuinely good person in this world full of donald trumps. Most people are bad people but you don’t realize that until they do you dirty but that's just how the cookie crumbles!!!!! If everyone turned into a bernie sanders then I guarantee that all world issues would be solved but since the world sucks, that is not the case. You could give someone the world but they could still be full of hate for no reason.
ReplyDeleteYour accumulative actions determine if you are a good or bad person. If you are constantly kicking puppies then you suck and are horrible person. But, if you accidentally step on your dog's paw while running around the kitchen then that doesn’t exactly make you a bad person. To be categorized as a good or bad person you have to look at every aspect of a person's personality. Out of the hundreds of people I know, only a handful of them are actually what I consider good, and I consider these people as my family. Half of my “family” isn't actually related to me but they are all around good people and people that I can go to anything for so shout out to them because everyone else sucks and can go get a gat sandwich.
Just because you do the right thing doesn’t mean you get a prize. You can do everything you can for all of the people around you but most of the time you don’t get diddly-squat back. Doing good things can make you feel good about yourself but since most people only want to do good things to get something in return, you're in for a rude awakening buddy!!!
There are obvious things that are right and wrong but nothing's very “clear cut” some people may take certain things as completely wrong when others see it as completely right. For example!!!!, my mans trump thinks it's completely right to deport all immigrants, but any normal human being sees that it is the wrong thing to do. The difference between right and wrong or good and bad is all measured differently by different people so to you a person may seem great but to others they may seem like a pp head. Again, it's all in how you view things.
Now for a story. So as I was saying, kicking puppies 10000000% makes you a bad person but accidentally stepping on your dog's paw doesn’t make you a devil child. So anyway, my dog is always seems to get in the way of everyone's path while in the kitchen. So this one time my mom was cheffin something up and she turned around and didn’t peep my dog on the floor and accidentally tapped her paw with her foot. Mia was upset for like 2 seconds but then she got over it and that was that. Just because my mom accidentally found her shoe on top of Mia’s paw does not make her a bad person, she's still great but very sometimes she accidentally does something not so good, but she still poppin overall so she's a good person because of her long-term actions, her couple mistakes don’t make her a horrible person.
To start, I’m gonna come at Bryan. I love you and stuff, and I remember you telling me this point. I agreed, but when I read your blog I couldn’t see it anymore. I get it, you’re right. It’s fair. It’s fair on the family you are born with, but those very people fairly place in privileged homes get a golden die for the rest of their life for very thing that comes to them. A person born in an underprivileged home gets a broken die. The game’s not fair because if it was, the underprivileged person’s die would have a side to let them go up. It doesn’t.
ReplyDeleteClark told me something he knows for sure is that “Hard work is noble” and I disagreed. I pointed that you could work on something that’s bad and that doesn’t make you noble. But, then again how do you differentiate between bad and good? What’s bad to one could be great to another. It could be like one of those “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” or the one time Matlack preached that “free costs somebody”. Good and bad is all in perspective. Nobody is mostly anything because it is your viewpoint.
Then again everything is perspective. I really really like “free cost somebody” because nothing is clear cut. Free sounds happy and positive and great especially because I have no money, but it’s free to me but not the producer. Even things in life that are free still come with a cost. Happiness doesn’t just pop outta nowhere and love takes time and patience(especially w/ my ass). SO really what is good and bad? What is right and wrong? We are just seeing it from an angle.
Also, right and wrong and differentiating between them have a ton to do with nurture. I would never hurt a dog. Damn, I do not care if I’m in the Nam I won’t touch or eat a dog ever. Toby is my life<333 love you mother fucker. Anyways, A LOT of people would agree that it is wrong to hurt a dog. But, the people in Vietnam see it as a food source. It is just food. It is just culture. It has been embedded in their brains to not see anything morally wrong with it even though I and a bunch of other people do. I can do definitively say that anything for sure is right or wrong because we are raised differently with different parents part of different environments. We are all the product of some genes from two people who banged and our environment. So what we see it right and wrong and how you see people is all in the perspective which can differ on nurture, environment, mood, etc.
I do not think life just balances out or karma is real even though I say I do because I think shit just happens. The butterfly effect!! We are all just living through a bunch of causes and effects and that’s it.
I grew up in an Asian household. I guess that is only saying a lot when you are Asian and you can relate. It is all about respect. It didn’t matter if my mom was a murderer or my brother kicked a dog. You respect your family. Respect your elders. Listen to Confucius. Listen to Buddha. End of story. It wasn’t until my mother finally let me leave the house and go to public school, I realized she is nuts. That if I wanted to fit in the cooky town, respect was out the window. To her, I’m “Americanized”. My “attitude” (I put in quotes because I don’t have one) would of gotten me in so much trouble in the Nam. She tells me that everyday, and I usually respond with “Well, thank Buddha you took that boat all the way down here, huh?” No attitude, ever. Am I wrong for needing to survive in this town or should I have always followed this family traditions? I don’t know. Did this really answer any questions asked? I guess it depends on your perspective.
Although many say “life is unfair” I do not believe in that. Life is mostly fair because everyone has an equal opportunity of being successful in life. When you are young you have older influences that provide wisdom and knowledge to what is ahead, than you take matters into your own hands and set your future. That's why the ones who realize get good grades in high school (because they know it will affect them in the future). You can't just turn up senior year and start to get better grades and expect colleges to accept you. That just isn't how life works.
ReplyDeleteI believe deep down inside, even the darkest people, have some good (or at least good intentions). Everyone was good at some point in their life. And if they seem like dark people at the moment, there are reasons behind it. It's kind of just like movies, that villains also do bad stuff because of some type of sad reason when they were younger (like maybe they were bullied or made fun of). Everyone has feelings, it's just harder to hit some people's true feelings than others. Deep down inside everyone can change for the good. If a person is bad, they need an event, some sort of action that needs to take place in order for them to begin to change. After this event the person might slowly progress towards good or just change his or her ways completely immediately. You guys might make fun of me but I don't really care, almost everyday at 7 I watch a novella with my mom. We sit down and eat dinner with our little tables so we can watch TV as we eat. And of course novelas have problems that don't sort themselves out until the last 3 days. This specific novella is called “Muchacha Italiana Viene a Casarse” (which translates to Italian Girl comes to get married). So this Italian girl was secretly adopted (because she didn't know until now because the novela is ending). She moved to Mexico because her parents died and this rich guy wanted to marry her that she had met over the Internet. But ends up he lied and he was actually really old, but he was rich. So of course she doesn't like that, than meets the other protagonist of the novela and falls in love with him. Skipping the whole middle part of the novela, when his family finally begins to accept her because she originally wasn't of high class to get married to the protagonist of the novela, the antagonist kidnaps her. The antagonist was told by another antagonist to kill her so she doesn't get part of the money the grandma is going to leave when she does (I swear everyone is this novela is bad). But the guy told to kill her did not have the heart or balls to do it. Meanwhile her husband is searching frantically for her with the SWAT team and everything. When they finally find her by tracking her phone, they find them together. Oh and something I didn't mention, the antagonist that kidnapped her is the husband’s cousin. When everyone arrived at the scene, the wife lied to everyone there and said that the cousin saved her. This event hit the antagonist that kidnapped her right in his heart. This event completely changed him. Ever since this event, he's done everything for the good. He is no longer bad, he is having a baby with his wife and couldn't be happier. It was amazing the change. This is an example of how people really do change for the better. Of course you might say that novelas aren't really all that realistic, but when you think about how people change which is because of events, this situation fits perfect.
The person who always does the right thing might not always win, but satisfaction always comes with doing the right thing. The person who did the right thing will not be the only person who see’s they’ve done the right thing, others will see it to. And that, to me, is better than winning. Sometimes you need to sacrifice the win for the good. Winning isn't everything, what is won in the end or the long run is everything.
Any person can tell the difference from right and wrong. Opinion decisions do not have a right and wrong. And by that I mean for example picking a college, picking a sport to maintain, etc etc. But having the decision to do something for someone that you know they really need, is clear to tell the difference between what's right and what's wrong. Once you reach a certain age, you will be able to see the difference between right or wrong. I do not know that specific age, but I believe it's right around your teen years. Everyone in high school knows the difference between right and wrong. Yes, there might be kids that are bad (like the kids in ISS 24/7) but they might think it's cool and are just trying to fit in, meaning they know the difference.
DeleteGoodness is measured in how many times repetitively a person can do it without anything in return. If you do something good and expect something in return, you are not good. You're only doing that for a reward or something in return. Goodness is also the key to women's hearts, treating her right to be more specific. If you're not treating her right somebody else is.
The world is split up into two categories: good and bad. You are either a good person or a bad person, that is how society sees you as anyway. Society sees people as good if they follow the rules, do nice things, and sometimes makes a difference in others lives in a positive way. In comparison, society sees bad people breaking laws, corrupting society, and making poor decisions. Therefore, what determines whether to be good or evil? Living your life is a personal preference, people choose what they want to be: good or bad.
ReplyDeleteThe world can only be as good as the people who inhabit it. I personally believe that there is more good than evil in this world, that is what I hope for anyways. What determines a person to be either good or bad all starts at home. Home is the first place where children learn and develop, therefore, considering different guardians and role models present in their lives can determine a child’s future.
I believe good will always trump evil in the end. It may be a long road for good to conquer evil in the process, but good always eventually succeeds. With that in mind, in reality, really bad things sometimes happens to really good people and we ask ourselves, “What’s the point of being good if bad things happen to me?” Well, I believe the hardest battles are given to the strongest people, meaning, nothing will happen to you that you won’t be able to handle. Whether you are considered a good or bad person, everything happens for a reason, and you may not understand why bad things are happening to you now, but one day you will realize that you have to go through the darkness to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Decisions made by these so-called, “good or bad people” come from personal morals and beliefs. People do not do things just because, there is always a reason, even if the reason is minute and simple, and not this elaborate plan. But nothing can be clear-cut, or a right or wrong decision because everyone has their own ideas of what is right or wrong. Goodness and evilness does not have an exact scale of what is definitely right or what is definitely wrong because everyone is different.
I would like to believe that there is more good in the world than bad, but when I listen to more tragedies on the news rather than good things, it changes my idea of the world. It’s a possibility that the good hides in the shadows of all of the bad things; making it harder for us to visualize all of the good, but we shouldn’t lose focus or lose hope or forget about the good things in life.
Seeing as though I do not personally know everyone in the world I can only answer this question with hope. I hope, that every person is good. It’s nice to believe that deep down everyone has some good lying in them. It’s obvious that in some cases this is untrue but in my heart of hearts I really like to believe it is. Being good can stem from two things, nature or nurture. It’s easier to believe some people have only been corrupted by nurture and it isn’t their fault, that there is no way they were born bad or evil. So, I’d say nurture determines the good and the bad in people.
ReplyDeleteNothing about that statement is true, the good guy (or girl) doesn’t always win. Everyone has seen something horrific happened to great people. For example, one of my really good friends had an enormous tragedy our freshman year. Her house burned down and she lost just about everything. This girl was the funniest and “blonde” nitwit I’ve ever met and the last person who deserved that, not that anyone does. Things like that happen all of the time. If there was a prize though it’ definitely to just live a rich life, rich in love, rich in friendship, and even rich in that doe.
Not at all. I mean, there’s many different types of wrong such as, morally, lawfully, and “just wrong on so many different levels.” There’s no cut and dry wrong, what is wrong to one person might be perfectly fine for the next.
I am not sure I asked if every single person in the world is good or bad, so your opening confuses me a bit. I was simply asking what your instinct tells you based on what you already know, which is how I always expect you to answer. Also, if you start a paragraph with "not at all" it's really hard to know what you're talking about. The blog isn't a worksheet and it should not be answered as if you were doing numbered questions.
DeleteThis week’s blog post is perfect for me, I have been thinking about this kind of stuff a lot lately and now is my shot to try and put my feelings into words.
ReplyDeleteI truly believe life is not fair, not just because I am biter or unhappy with a lot of things going on right now, I just feel strongly about life being unfair. I see what others go through and I don’t think that is the least bit fair either. For example, why did Shelly’s soul mate have to pass away at such a young age and now Shelly doesn’t know what to do with herself? Why was Dave born into a family of druggies? Why does Carly only have one arm? These three questions I made up and all three off them can have positives but it’s just my point on fairness. At the same time, I also believe what is meant to be mine or how my life is meant to be, will eventually be. I agree with the fact that I can lose something and get it back down the road because timing is everything. So I agree with you and your friend. I don’t think life is a fairy tail and one day I will try on the shoe and find my prince charming, but I do believe some things work out in funny ways for the best. Maybe I watch too many movies.
When it comes to people I think we are mostly bad. People suck. That is not me being negative or thinking the wrong way, it is just reality. It is hard to find good genuine people in this world, so when I do, I try and hold onto them tight. Everyone has some good intentions but sadly, the good doesn’t always outweigh the bad. All the shootings, and horrible things said about other people, selfishness, beatings, etc is what determines that.
I do not think the person who does the right thing always wins. I know a lot of bad people out there who made it to the top, and took the easiest way to get there. Everyone is so quick to say, “oh karma will get them” or “what comes around goes around” but in reality some people are just completely shitty and can slide through their whole life like that. That’s another component on how life is simply unfair. There are clear-cut answers about what is wrong and what is right but hey! Who even listens to that anymore? Coaches, teachers, parents, are so quick to pick favorites which is another way the bad guy can come in and win. My cheer coach kicked two girls off my team because they got into an argument at one of our games. Two girls. Just for arguing. But, her favorite little freshman quit in the middle of two separate games, handed in their uniform in front of everyone and walked off, and still was welcomed back on the team BOTH TIMES. This situation has nothing to do with me but its just another example on how even the simplest thing like this can be unfair, and it only gets bigger from there.
There are many good people in this world, but I feel that there’s isn’t enough of those kind of people these days. However, humans aren’t perfect. I believe the human heart is good, full of kindness and love and that is what we come with when we are born (the purity of a child), but as we grow our desires get the better of us. We get more and more tangled with the stupidities of material life. It’s mostly our ego that makes us chase things at any cost, compromise our beliefs and arise competition and jealousy that makes us 'bad', but we are born with ego too, so we all carry a conflict. To resolve this is to live life. To suffer this, is being human.
ReplyDeleteHuman nature is definitely more complex though. One person’s ‘good’ is another person’s ‘evil’. They are also flexible.People can be a combination of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ qualities, and some people who behave cruelly and brutally can be healed and eventually display ‘good’ qualities such as empathy and kindness. Most cruel or brutal behavior is due to environmental factors, such as an abusive childhood, or social learning from family or peers.
The movie “How The Grinch Stole Christmas”, is a perfect example of someone who was ‘good’ then turned ‘bad’ because of his past, then eventually turned ‘good’ at the end. He was empty-hearted due to his childhood of being bullied. The Grinch was mean to everyone in the village and always wanted to be alone. He didn’t like anyone and didn’t want to be bothered. Then a little girl changed his view on the world and love. His heart was beating again, filling up happiness and love.
With the amount of disney movies I watch, it’s not doubt that I believe good always triumphs over evil. But as a “real human being”, I know that can’t always be true. Is the world good? Is the world bad? I honestly have no idea. I say, the world is what you make it out to be. We live in a very abstract universe. Nothing is ever concrete. I mean, how can I, a little girl from New Jersey, justify its qualities? I’m gonna tell you straight up: I can’t. I’m not God nor am I a psychic. The way I see it, the world is like my bedroom. There are good qualities, and there are bad.
ReplyDeleteThe good: the mural on my wall, or my stained-glass windows, or the photo collage by my closet, or even MY BED.
The bad: the giant stack of textbooks crowding on top my piano, or the dust on my windowsill, or the pile of dirty clothes hidden in my closet (I wash them, I swear).
No matter what you look at, or choose to pay attention to, inevitably, my room is still my room (A rose by any other name will still smell as sweet, HA). The point is, the world is nothing but a haven, a storage place for the good and the bad; It just is. When people come into my room, they marvel so much at the good, they fail to acknowledge the bad (which is A-Okay with me!). Like I said before, the world is what you make it out to be. If you choose to pay attention to the bad, of course you’re going to think the world is horrible. And if you listen to nothing but good, well...the world is your oyster.
As for people, I actually have an answer to that! Maybe it’s just the catholicism in me, but I genuinely believe people are “mostly” good. The only way you’re “bad” is if you were brought up to think a certain way or influenced to do cruel actions. To be honest, I don’t think a person can be fully anything. As messed up as it seems, that’s how our society works. If you’re too good, you get hurt, and if you’re too bad, you get a life-time in jail. It’s like the story of Adam and Eve. They were both good and innocent people, but even the children of God were persuaded to do the wrong thing.
But were their actions wrong? Well duh, I’m supposed to say yes to that, BUT is anything every truly wrong or truly right? I’m a firm believer of the saying, “things happen for a reason”. I’m also a firm believer in “winging” things too. Let’s take my stock class for example. Christian and I are partners for this global stock game. Whenever we think a stock is good, and we believe the right thing to do is invest our money in it, the next day the stock drops and we lose a couple hundred dollars. Worse idea ever. But like the stock market, you never know what’s going to happen for certain. Things could go smoothly, or take a turn for the worse. Whatever happens, happens.
The answer is always self-interest…or at least to Mr. Sera. Everything people do is for their own benefit. The benefit may not be obvious, but it is always there. In my eyes self-interest is bad, but everyone does it. I think that most people try to be good, but as they sat, “Do or do not, there is no try”. There are not many people who are successful at being good. The thing that determines if someone is good or bad is where they are now, and how they arrived there. If someone is a VP at a big law firm, but cheated their way there, they are bad. Although, there are many more factors. In the long run, the person who does the right thing always wins. If you are a “nice guy”, you do it because you like the feeling of self-accomplishment. If a broke man is walking behind a well-dressed business man who drops a nice crisp 100 dollar bill out of his pocket, what does he do? The good person picks it up and gives it back to the man, knowing that he will feel more rewarded if he worked towards success rather than being handed success. The bad man would pick up the money and put it in his own pocket, and then after spending it all, he will be broke again. It all comes back to the old saying, “Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime.” When you are handed success, there is no bumpy road with learning experiences that you learn from. To be a good person you need to help society move forward, not rely on society. There is never a clear cut answer about life, there are so many different believes. The only clear way that things seem to be measure is by good and bad, nothing else.
ReplyDeleteJoey, what are your thoughts on the guy who cheats his way to the VP position, but then ends up doing a ton of good once he gets there? Do the ends justify the means?
DeleteThis is a very good question. I have thought about this before. Cheating your way to the top and then doing good is not the way to go, but the ends do justify the means, just as long as the cheating part wasn’t extremely bad. However, it is much better if you just do good in the beginning and do good at the end. But I believe that as long as you didn’t commit a horrific crime, you deserve a second chance.
DeleteLife is fair in the way it only “works” for those who try to make the most of it. Life may seem unfair once in awhile or for certain people, but if you try to work things out, they eventually will if you persevere and keep trying (wow, I sound like a motivational speaker). Sure, being born into a severely dysfunctional family or in poverty may seem like it’s life fault, but I honestly think that life doesn’t have anything to do with what situation you’re brought into. You can control your life. You can’t control your birth. Therefore, what you’re born into isn’t due to life being unfair because it really is fair in the long run. Even if it doesn’t seem so when you’re having a bad day. You do with you want with the life you are given and you make the most of it. When you fall, you get back up. Everyone experiences hardships in life, no matter if they’re small or big. Everyone has them; they’re not dumped solely on one person. You take the situation you’re given, whether bad or good, and you make it better. For instance, take this person I know for example. Many would say that she has had an unfair life as she has been through so much. Her parents died when she was a baby. She moved from one country to another at the age of eleven, forced to learn a completely different language. She had to drop out of high school and move to Rhode Island to work for her aunt to be able to support herself and her family. Then moves to New Jersey and works for her cousin. It would seem like nothing had worked out for her in the way that all she does is work in order to survive. She moved from state to state without a high school diploma while working for her family. But she turned her life around. She started her own business. And a successful one at that. She has her own family and does all she can to make sure that they don’t have to suffer the ways she has. In the end, she changed her life around. A life that had always been fair to her in the way that it made her stronger and independent. She did what so many other people in the world can do and are doing. Taking their seemingly “unfair” life and making it into ones that other people look up to.
ReplyDeleteIn the world, I’d like to think that people are mostly made out of the good stuff (stuff being stardust) and not the bad. It gives me a more positive outlook among all the negativity in the world. I mean sure a lot of people are criminals or do bad things, but I’ve concluded that since we still get shocked at all the negative things that happen all around us, then most of us in the world are based off the goods and not the bads (if that made any sense). I guess the things that determine the level of goodness in people are the little actions that they do every day without realizing it. Even seemingly bad people do small levels of good things such as holding doors open or saying “thank you”s or “excuse me”s. And that shows me that they do have good in them and that somewhere along the way in their past, something or someone led them down the wrong path. You’d be surprised how many kids labeled as “bad” in this school have showed manners towards me. But I do understand the exception to those kids as I’ve seen people disrespectfully throw lunch trays in the trashcans or treat others as if they were their servants (please explain to me why some people would do that).
In the literal sense of winning, I don’t think that the person who does the right thing always wins because the world and the people in it don’t always care about what’s wrong or right, but rather what’s convenient and beneficial for them. And most of the time, it’s doing the wrong thing that brings faster results. However, even if they don’t win in reality, I believe that those who choose right over wrong do win in a moral sense. They do the right thing and it makes them feel better about themselves on the inside. They know that they’re a good person and that they’re doing the right thing for the right reasons.
There never really is a definite clear-cut answer to what right and wrong. Just like love and hate, there’s a thin line separating the two. And oftentimes people unknowingly cross that barely visible line. For instance by doing wrong things for all the right reasons or, vice versa, right things for all the wrong reasons. But, honestly, there isn’t really a way to measure what’s right and what’s wrong, because there can be multiple factors playing into why someone does something, and at the end of the day, the person committing the actions must know for himself if he’s doing the right or wrong thing.
DeleteI believe people are mostly good but make decisions that make them bad people. They choose to be bad but the opportunity to be good is always there. When were born we’re innocent and haven’t had a chance to do anything to make us bad people. But as we get older we make our decisions that might not be the best. Depending on the situation, the person who makes the right decision wins. But who’s to say that the right decision is the right. It’s all opinion-based if you ask me. For example I was watching a TV show and there were 3 friends. The one girl told the other mean things about the third. So that girl told her that her friend was talking about her. If you generally feel that people are bad than you would think that she made the wrong decision by snitching on her friend by telling the other friend what she had said. If you feel that people are mostly good than you would agree that she did the right thing by being a good friend by having her back. So I don’t think that the people who do the right thing are always right because not everyone’s going to think that it was the right thing to do. There’s always going to be diversity. That’s why everything always has two answers or when you hear “there’s two sides to every story” which I believe is true. But just because people make mistakes doesn’t make them mean people it just makes them human. I guess you would be considered mostly bad if you chose to be mean every day. It’s definitely a choice, whether to be good or bad, and that’s pretty scary because no one wants to be seen as a bad person their views just might seem different than what everyone else’s views are. However, their views seem right to them so they wouldn’t be able to tell whether or not people saw them as being mean since they primarily agree with themselves. Bringing back the subject of whether or not the person who does the right thing wins, I believe they do. Like I said earlier there’s always different views on what the right thing is but I believe they would win people’s respect because people respect and trust people who do the right thing in their perspective. Some people that are accused of being mostly bad are just confused I think. They aren’t sure what their own views are yet and sometimes that takes some people longer to figure out. But as long as they learn from them, than they’re good people.
ReplyDeleteLife is fair, it’s just the parts that make up life that are unfair. Everyone has an equal chance of being born into the world with a privileged life. However, not everyone can have that life. When a baby is born into a privileged life it gives him/her future access to opportunities that children with unprivileged lives would not be able to have. Yes, everyone had an equal chance of being born into that life. But the opportunities a person faces in his or her life can be unfair. The way the world works now is that people at the top continue to stay at the top while people at the bottom stay at the bottom. There are definitely people who can argue this and say that all it takes is hard work but isn’t that unfair? While you have to work hard to get where you want to be, another person is already there. A kid in high school has to study extremely hard in order to get scholarships for college but another kid with rich parents does not care because he knows his parents can pay for college.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was young I thought everyone was bad. Some more than others. Everyone has the capability to be bad and most likely did something bad. But ever since I read something about how do humans perceive what is good and evil, my thoughts on this changed a lot. I read that determining what is good and what is bad is only a human quality. Animals don’t consider what is good and what is bad, they do whatever they can to survive and produce offspring. If we didn’t have this ability, then what is actually good and what is actually bad? I can look at things and go “Oh that’s bad” or “Oh that’s good” because I’ve determined in my head what good and bad are. Animals don’t know what good and bad are. Humans created the idea of good and bad. If we don’t look at it the way humans do, nothing is actually good nor bad.
Even though there is no such thing as right and wrong, I still have an opinion on what is right and wrong. I like to think that a person who does the right thing always win and a person who does the wrong thing gets punished. I guess this means I believe in karma. Hopefully the person who does something good is awarded with something in the future. It’s not clear cut how I determine what is good or bad because there are exceptions. It’s almost like levels. An obvious good thing is when a person helps another person for selfless reasons. An obvious bad thing would be torturing someone. Then there’s some things in the middle like lying. Lying is a bad thing but is it bad if it’s meant to protect someone. There’s just some things that aren’t bad but they aren’t good either.
Regardless of what I think, people are ALWAYS going to suck. I believe that the world is full of good and bad people; the good people are trying to get the bad people to join their side and vice versa. I’ve seen too many good people get screwed over to believe that good things always happen to good people, but I think that if you’re somewhere out there struggling, you’ll be rewarded in time.
ReplyDeleteIn APUSH, we’re watching a Ku Klux Klan video where they not only go back in time to the 1920s, but they also show modern day Klan gatherings and members. The Klan members think they’re doing good things; purifying the Earth and cleansing it of ‘black corruption’, but as biased as my view is, of course it’s wrong.
Those people are bad, but I do believe that most people, at the least, have good intentions. Even the white supremacists of the Ku Klux Klan had good intentions, but “the road to hell in paved with good intentions”. People are good or bad based on the point of view of the person judging them. If you’re a child molester or a serial killer, in the eyes of law enforcement-pretty safe to say in the eyes of everyone-you’re a terrible person.
The person who does the right thing barely ever wins. Cops get shot, judges get death threats, teachers don’t get contracts. Nobody cares about what you do and when you do it if you’re only doing it to benefit yourself. Everybody has this idea all of the sudden that you’re only supposed to do what’s right when you get something in return but that’s not the way this world is supposed to work. You’re supposed to do what’s right because it’s right.
There is no clear cut between right and wrong. Let’s take a woman who has and son and a daughter and their father is missing in action. During the day, she works at ShopRite. Now, what if I said that she was a prostitute at night, because her salary as a cashier wasn’t cutting it and so she can send her kids to school, keep a roof over their heads, put food on the table, and clothes on their backs? Right and wrong start to blur together. Prostitution is against the law, but at the same time, this woman is fighting and putting her health on the line for her kids.
Bre--this is good, and to make it better I would like you to finish that last paragraph with a tighter conclusion. <3
DeleteI would say that I lean a little more towards your side of the spectrum. I think that good sometimes overcomes the bad, but it's usually the other way around. I think that the human mind is relatively weak when the body is put under a stressful situation. For example when rowing an hour piece on the erg, it is much easier to stop pulling than to kill yourself for that piece. Instead of pulling the number that we want, many of the people on the team give up half way through when their muscles start to ache and the humidity of the erg room starts to get to them. The weak mental state of many human beings is what allows us to give into evil so easily.
ReplyDeleteI believe that society manipulates people into being bad. Everyone is born good, but the people and events that they grow up around corrupt them. Due to society, people are mostly bad. I don't think the person that does the right thing always wins. I strongly agree with the phrase "nice guys finish last" from past experiences. I have noticed that the people who try to go above and beyond for others usually get screwed over in the end. Unfortunately this is the case because most people put themselves before others.
There is no definition of what is right and what is wrong, but we learn what is right and wrong as we age. The opinion of the majority in society determines what is right and wrong. For example the terrorist group ISIS believes that it is okay to kill for what they believe in. They think that is right because the majority shares that view. In the U.S. killing people because of their beliefs is wrong because the majority believes otherwise.
I know that there is more evil than good by looking at my family. My grandpa was strict when my mom and aunt were kids, but he was a great father. Despite being a good father, both my mom and aunt hated him at different points in their life. After my parents divorced, my mom hated my grandpa because he always talked to my dad. This man was 80 some years old, and my mom was telling him who he could or could not be friends with. She wouldn't talk to him for months just because he was friends with my dad. Similarly, my aunt hated my grandpa because she felt that she didn't get enough attention as a child and because she always wanted more from him. Both of them showing so much anger towards a man that gave them everything opened my eyes to the hate and evil in people.
Timmy, do you believe that experience can change a good person into a bad one?
DeleteYes I believe that one bad experience can turn people from good to bad. When someone goes through a traumatizing experience (for example when a love one dies), they don't come out the same way they went into it. Hopefully they come out stronger and become a better person afterwards, but that isn't always the case. They might come out of that experience hating the world instead of getting stronger.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteLife is fair in my point of view. Like Bryan said, life is like a dice. We cannot choose the number that the dice lands on. It is not your choice that you are born into a financially unstable family or a affluent family. It is not like you get to choose who your family members end up being. Like Ms Bunje said, it is not your fault that your parents had sex one night and created you. Sure people may look at that as unfair but given a life means that we can choose to make this world a better place. We all have a purpose in life and how we choose to live it, is up to us to decide. I think to that extent, life is fair.
ReplyDeleteI think people are mostly good because I believe everyone is born with good in them. For someone to turn “bad,” something must have happened to them or they must have a reason behind their actions. Take a murderer for example, they do not murder someone for no reason. There must be reason behind their crime. They have a objective behind their crime. Another example is ISIS, many members in the society were once normal. They have been brainwashed to think that they are doing horrendous crimes for their God. So I think everyone was born good, but some people just end up choosing the dark side.
I don’t think that the “right”always wins because there are sometimes we must go on the dark side in order to protect our friends and family members. I remember once my sister had an argument with her friend and she wanted to apologize after school. She ended up being late to piano class, so I had to lie to my mom so my sister wouldn’t get in trouble or else my sister would have been grounded over something stupid such as being late to piano class. Lying is a bad thing but sometimes we have to use it in order to protect our closest family members and friends.
Honestly, I don’t think there is a clear-cut answer to what’s right and what’s wrong. I think it depends on the details to judge if it is right or wrong. So let us take murder for example. Murder is a wrong thing to do. But what someone murdered someone because he/she was saving us from a much bigger attack. Would it really be wrong, considering the fact that he/she just saved hundreds of people? Or was it a right thing to do? There is really no clear cut way for us to determine what is wrong and what is right.
There are a lot of people that I admire because they’re able to see the good in people and I used to aspire to be like that because I thought it would make life easier. In my case however, letting my guard down does not make life easier at all. Instead, I get blindsided due to my sheer naivete. So while I would like to believe that people are mostly good, if I’m being honest I think they’re mostly bad. Which raises the question of what I consider to be “good” and what I consider to be “bad.” In my mind, “good” is compassion, kindness, honesty, and all of the “Disney princess” traits. “Bad” is malicious, rude, disrespectful, all of the things that we unfortunately have to see in the world every day, and sometimes even fall victim to. But more often than not, I find that people tend to be a mixture of both, and certain life occurrences elicit either response.
ReplyDeleteTake what happened this week on “The Bachelor” for example. (I’m so sorry that I watch this show. So sorry.) These women sign up for an experience (I highly doubt they all genuinely believe they’re going to find love.) and then they are thrown into a situation that they’re more than likely going to feel somewhat uncomfortable in. The stress and anxiety of being in a situation where you’re forced to compete with other women no doubt takes a toll on some of them, especially if they DO start developing feelings for the bachelor. On last night’s episode, Leah, a girl who was already upset that she still hadn’t had a one-on-one date with Ben, spread a malicious rumor about another girl, Lauren B. She did it out of desperation, because she felt as though she was being overshadowed by Lauren B. who had a better connection with Ben. She also did it out of fear because she was afraid her connection with Ben wasn’t strong enough for him to keep her around. In her mind, that tiny fib, or exaggeration, would simply boost her chances of winning Ben’s heart. But in reality, that blatant lie had the potential to plant a seed of doubt in Ben’s mind and possibly ruin his relationship with Lauren B, which was one that viewers really enjoyed watching because Lauren B. is portrayed as a sweet and genuine person. In this instance, Leah let her “bad” get the best of her. But Lauren B, who cried hysterically about it first, didn’t take the situation and make it worse. She didn’t yell at Leah, or yell at Ben when he informed her that he didn’t know what to make of the rumor. Instead, she took the high road and decided to trust that Ben would make the right decision and come to realize that the rumor was false. In a position where Lauren B. fell victim to another person’s “bad” she didn’t let her “bad” emerge and instead employed her “good.” With people we love and in situations where we’re comfortable, “good” prevails and pervades. Yet when we’re plagued with insecurity or desperation sometimes our “bad” takes over and then we turn into reality TV contestants.
I wish people who did the right thing could always win, but unfortunately that is not the case. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, Jesus Christ died on the cross, and these are people considered saintly by most standards. And by saying that, I’m insinuating that “winning” means staying alive. In another aspect however, Dr. King and Jesus Christ DID win because their names are forever cemented in history and they were able to live meaningful and fulfilled lives. So it’s a steady balance-- if you’re lucky you will be remembered for the good you did and get that sense of validation and respect, or you’ll be forgotten and never recognized. And when I say that, I’m assuming that most people want to be recognized for their accomplishments.
But then it also begs the question of “accomplishments.” What one person sees as a good accomplishment, another might not. Hitler probably believed that committing mass genocide and “cleansing” the world of Jews was an accomplishment, but clearly no one thinks that today. There is never a clear cut line that separates good from wrong. With the ability to freely think, we can argue about anything and everything. Someone can say that lying is wrong, but another can say that lying to save someone’s feelings is right. And we all measure “good” and “bad” using our own personal moral compasses. Depending on the way we were raised and our brain chemical makeup, we all have different standards for what’s right and what’s wrong. (I mentioned brain chemical makeup because obviously mental health is a serious issue that affects the way many people live their lives and make decisions.) At our ripe high school age, our peers and the people we associate with also greatly influence that moral compass. I feel as though we all have “good” in us, and it’s up to the “good” to combat any of the “bad.”
DeleteMy view on the world is simple, life is what you make it and that's what I'm been going by my whole life. If you don't make it what you want then what's the point? Life can be unfair sometimes but it has to be. If everyone were to be equal, do you think we would have as much stuff as he have now? Life can also be fair depending on how you make it. There is no way of telling if anyone is good or bad. Sometimes you get a certain feeling but sometimes that feeling isn't right. It's always good to go by your instinct but sometimes your instinct is wrong. Some people become bad when they do things they aren't supposed to. Does the person who always does the right thing win? It could go either way. Of course everyone things the person who does everything right will end up very successful and that's true but what about taking chances and risk? Taking chances and risk is what makes you become very successful. How will you ever learn anything if you never make mistakes because you're always doing the right thing. What you think is right might not be what other people think is right so which person is right? Knowing what's wrong and what's right depends on the situation. Sometimes there are clear-cut answers but sometimes there isn't and it takes a little time to think about. For example, if someone was to ask me to buy drugs of course i’m going to say no but if someone broke In my house and tried to kill me and I killed them by accident in self-defense am I wrong or right? This all depends on whom you are talking to. Some people think self-defense is okay but other people who think self-defense does not exist. To me there is no way of this being measured; it all depends on why the person did what they did.
ReplyDeleteWhat I believe to be true, what I believe in, how I interpret reality, and how I go about my life is unique to me, and only me. Of course several people could fall under the same category in our spectrum, but my worldview is completely unique and different than everyone else's, just as everyone else’s is unique to them. Your worldview is a product of your life experiences and the life you lived up until this day and will continue to mirror your life and change as your life changes as you get older. But personally, my unique worldview falls under the idealistic category of our spectrum. I didn’t have a horrible family life growing up, I actually had the opposite, but a good family life doesn’t mean we were or are rich, and successful with perfect lives either and a college degree. My family is huge and we’re all totally, totally different. I have a few family members who are successful and wealthy, but for the rest of us we’re just getting by with what we have, whether that be with one parent or two, a rancher or two story home, a broken down car or one that barely runs, we make the most of it. I’m one of the first of the grandchildren who have a bright future ahead and who has been successful all their life, so to me the sky isn’t the limit because we’ve discovered way beyond that and in the process of finding whatever is beyond what we know to exist now. I’m very idealistic because I strive for perfection in life. But, different from many others, the perfection I strive for isn’t society's definition of “perfection,” but perfection as in becoming the person I’ve always wanted to be and reach the goals I’ve set for myself. I’m a perfectionist at everything I do and everything I do MUST be perfect-- the way I envision it should be in my head, should be the product of whatever I may be doing. Most things I envision, whether it be school work, art work, exercise/ body goals, and life/ future goals are so totally unrealistic, and I know that but why strive to be “better” when you can be the best, right?
ReplyDeleteAlthough we go through life being told to be nice and that good things come to good people, we’re being lied to. Okay, not completely lied to but in the real world it’s eat or be eaten. The nice person who did the nice things doesn’t always win. Being nice can screw you over in so many ways-- I personally believe it’ll screw you over more than it’ll benefit you-- but that isn’t to say you shouldn’t be nice for your own well being. I think this is what people mix up most of the time and that’s why we have more bad people than good in the world. Someone gets screwed over and they want to get back at the world for it. Someone fails to achieve their goals and they blame some irrelevant source and they become angry at the world. There’s so many things that turn people bad, and there’s too many bad people out in today’s society. If people would be more optimistic and willful, maybe there would be more good people than bad.
Another issue people struggle with is being “right” and/or being “wrong.” Who’s to say you or I is right or wrong? No one’s opinion is right or wrong. No one’s beliefs are right and wrong. Right and wrong comes from differing point of views, opinions, and beliefs. People are so quick to tell you you’re wrong the second you say or do something they don’t agree with or don’t believe in. But really, there’s no clear cut right and wrong. If there was a way to measure right and wrong-- which there isn’t because there’s no rules saying what is right and what is wrong-- it would be by agreement, opinions, and beliefs. But honestly, if you focus on your own well being and your future, you won’t have to worry about idiots telling you what’s right and what’s wrong, so be your own person and fsu out there.
"No one is born a racist. Racism is taught." That is a quote I read somewhere, but cannot remember from where. Regardless of that, what that quote pretty much states is that everyone is born "good." No one is born and immediately hates someone else. A person is not born into this world with hate and "badness," he is taught hate and "badness." Or rather, he experiences it all. As he grows, he learns. That is just a natural process a human being goes through. And during this process of learning, he comes begins to see hatred and the general negativity that surrounds the human societies. And even if he rejects all the negativity, he still becomes influenced by it. When surrounded by too much negativity, too much "bad," it eventually gets to a person even if he tries really hard to stay strong and tenacious. But not everyone becomes influenced by the "bad" the same way. Some are stronger than others and thus the stronger ones still manage to control the "bad" they have been influenced with more than the weaker ones can. And the ones who can control their "bad," and not let it take over them easily, are given the title of "Good" and the ones who easily succumb to the negative atmosphere end up being called "Bad."
ReplyDeleteAnd these "Good" people also end up making the better decisons as well. And I say this because tenacity is not the only factor that is used to overcome the overwhelming amount of "bad." Intelligence plays a big part in it as well. These people understand their surroundings, they understand the "bad," and they know how to deal with it. They know how to stay mentally strong and how to not let the B.S. of society get to them. Yes, they fall sometimes, but they know how to get up. They know, and also hope, to learn from their failure. This makes them exceptional and this makes them smarter. With their intelligence and understanding, they know what is "good" or "bad." They know how to scale the two and, so, they choose to do what is good, or, at least, what they personally think is good. Everyone has different point of views. No two people see this world in the same way. That is just impossible! And so, back to the point at hand, the good that these people do do not always end in their victory. It will take a million good deeds until the "good" person has something good done to him in return, but the good that he receives will be thousand times greater. But, then again, there are not set amount of "good" things to do. Yeah, sure, holding a door open for people is a nice thing to do, but in general, there are no specific things that will be viewed as good. Something good is a deed done at the appropriate time and in an appropriate manner based on the situation given. So, since certain situations are different for everyone, everyone has to deal with it in different "good" ways, making the "good" be unpredictable and undetermined.
ReplyDeleteI find that I switch my position on this subject quite often, so I don’t have a definite stance. When I’m in a happy mood, I think the world’s a wonderful, fair place where everyone is good at heart and I remember that Bernard Sanders exists, which means that the human race is surely not doomed. Yet when I’m sad and/or angry, I convince myself that people are inherently selfish and do things only to benefit themselves and I am reminded that Donald Trump inhabits this futile planet, meaning that God has forsaken the human race and love is dead. I exaggerate a tad, but you get the gist. Today I’m feeling rather cynical, so I’ll explain my argument to support the latter case.
Humans are selfish by nature and the world is an unfair place. There’s no clear line separating right and wrong or “good” and “bad”. I believe morality can only be determined by an individual, and that there will never be a universal definition for “goodness”. So think of a “good” deed, something someone could do for another person out of the “kindness of their heart”. Then think about the motives behind this good deed. It could literally be anything; holding the door open for someone, helping someone with their math homework, complimenting someone on their new haircut. All of these actions seem completely selfless at first; how in the world would the person performing them benefit in any way? But if you think about it, all of these “good deeds” derive from some underlying selfish motive, even if we don’t realize it. The people who actually carry out these deeds, for instance, would benefit because they’d be viewed as kind people. Kind or “good” people get many positive advantages in society over the “not-so-good” people, as previously explained by boy-genius Bryan Marengo. These people might also be driven because they want something. Maybe they think that the person in need of math help will return the favor in the future, or maybe they want an A in history, so they compliment their teacher’s new hair style. There’s a million selfish motivations for each action.
Even the simplest actions, such as passing the bowl of string beans to your mother who sits across from you at the table, offers a positive selfish outcome. Chances are that if you do not pass the bowl of string beans, your mother will become angry. Depending on what type of mother you have, you may either be asked once again (in a different tone) to pass the bowl of string beans, or you will be roundhouse kicked into next tuesday. Nevertheless, it can be anticipated that your mother will have a negative reaction to your refusal to pass the bowl of string beans. So, to save yourself a lot of suffering and bodily injury, you pass the damn bowl of string beans. And there you have it: a selfish motive to a seemingly unselfish task.
I literally cannot think of a single incident where a person can do something for another person and not benefit in any way. Like I’m seriously sitting here in disbelief because I cannot think of a. single. thing. It can even be argued that giving your life for someone has a selfish motivation, because you will most likely be remembered as a hero and enshrined in some sort of cloak of immortality due to your sacrifice. But then again, I can’t imagine this thought process going on in someone’s mind seconds before they decide to push someone out of the path of a moving car or jump in front of a bullet; the selfish motivation isn’t realized until afterwards. So maybe it’s not the people who are inherently selfish, but the universe itself? Maybe all of these positive and self-beneficial outcomes are merely the unavoidable product of positive actions, regardless of motive. So with this mind-set, it’s safe to say that the human race isn’t doomed because the universe is designed for our benefit? I completely just flip-flopped my opinion again, maybe because I just ate so I’m less cynical. Oh well. Nothing’s clear-cut, including my own world views.
Your blog fills me with wonderment, and also forces me to ask: what is your opinion of altruism?
DeleteMy views on altruism are just as conflicting. I was originally going to respond by saying that altruism doesn't exist, but I realized how cynical I was being and asked my dad what his views are to gain more perspective. He brought up a good point by saying that a parent would do anything for their child, regardless of whether or not they would benefit. I responded by arguing that not all parents would put their child before themselves, but I understood where he was coming from; I know that he would make sacrifices for my happiness and well-being if he needed to. This conversation made me realize that certain people are capable of committing altruistic acts, while others are not. So there- I was able to compromise between complete cynicism and total idealism.
DeleteI have my own beliefs in this world that are original to me, but I’m easily influenced by other views too. I respect others views more than let them affect me. For example, I know my best friends view things a lot different than me. Not that I don’t agree with their views, because I do, I just see things strongly in a different way. Jess is probably the most morally respected person I know and many people can agree. On the other hand, I’m very laid back and understanding of people even if they're wrong. Jess is too but not the way I am (lol). I admire her for that because that's who she is and her inputs affect my choices. I do think that everyone in this world has more good in them than bad. Somewhere in a “bad” person's life, something went wrong to make them negatively influenced. It wasn’t their choice, and they don't know any better. As we grow older, we experience and learn. Eventually, a “bad” person will learn to be good. I believe in second chances because not everyone is perfect and we learn as we grow. Regardless what anyone says, we all have feelings. We care and love for eachother. Deep down, there will always be a nice spot and sometimes there's never a bad spot. To win, you do not have to make the right decision. You can’t win everything. Again, I’m going to reference “The Climb” because why not? You cannot win every battle, but that doesn’t mean it won’t build you. “Always gonna be an uphill battle but sometimes I’m just gonna have to lose, aint about how fast I get there, ain’t about what's waitin on the other side, it's the climb”. Clear as day explains everything we face. Nothing in life is as straightforward as we think there is. I don’t think the “right” answer exists because for everyone, right is something different. Each decision we make leads us to new opportunities that we didn’t have prior to whatever path we decide to take and that alone is a better spot than we were before. Many people say our happiness reflects off the decisions we take but truly that makes us who we are and everyone is different. If we based things off of right and wrongs we would all be replicas of each other and who wants that? So, no. I cannot be measured. My wrong can be different from my teachers wrong just based off of experience, but eventually I’ll get there. Once again, The Climb never fails to describe life and it's perfect. So the entire song is my backing, also, Nobody’s Perfect.
ReplyDeleteDo you feel as though Jess functions (in merely one of a hundred ways) as your "moral meter"?
DeleteYes I do. Even though I see things differently than her I know she is always right. I may not show that but I believe her. I still make my own decisions and all because I have my own mind but whatever she says is always helps me. I just see things at a different angle.
DeletePeople are evil, I can’t stress that enough, but what constitutes being evil is difficult to figure out. Perspective often influences our decisions on what is good and evil. One could call hell the “wrong side of heaven” or heaven the “righteous side of hell” just to simply justify an action done by someone. There is no clear cut answer to what is wrong and what is right, society only sets standards that it believes are right even though they may not be so. With ourselves being the interpreters of good and evil often leads to conflict among people with different perspectives. Nothing other than widespread belief determines what is good and bad.
ReplyDeleteThe person who always does the “right” thing never can win because in war both parties think they’re right. This stubbornness and created hatred has led to many “holy wars”, both sides attempted to obliterate the other just because of differences in opinion, so who is on the righteous side? Is there even a righteous side to be on? The righteous side is only to be determined by the persons own beliefs, those on one side believe they're righteous while those on the other believe the same. Technically there cannot be a righteous side because in every sort of conflict there must be a so-called “evil” side for the “good” side to win against. The only prize that is gained is further support of the idea that won the conflict, whoever wins becomes viewed as the righteous side while whoever loses becomes viewed as the evil side.
Right and wrong cannot be clearly answered certain groups over time have all believed their cause was righteous and caused some of the most destructive and harmful things known to history. The Nazi’s had the support of a whole country which leads to the genocide of millions of people, the Ku Klux Klan spread terror throughout the south brutally maiming or murdering blacks, and you have the more dominate modern groups such as ISIS who slaughter Christians and Muslims who do not agree with them. All these groups believed they were in the right no matter how horrible the acts they committed were, mass belief is what determines what is right or wrong. The only true way to measure what good and evil are is through popular belief if most people believe it then it’s good, if most people disagree with it then it’s bad, simple as that.
A scientist who is completely obsessed with using artificial life to create the perfect protector of mankind. The Machine is programmed to protect mankind from destruction, so in attempts to destroy the human race in order to protect it from itself. The Machine believes this is the one and only way to protect humans so it goes through with the plan destroy humanity. Humans aren’t too fond of this idea so they try to stop the machine, at the end the machine is destroyed before it is able to fully complete its goal. Both parties believe they are right in what they believe, and it is only through popular belief that the Machine’s plan is stopped.
ReplyDeleteWe all have those moments where we either feel like complete shit, want to curl up in a corner, want to punch a wall, want to kill everyone and everything that breathes, or maybe all of the above. Okay, maybe that’s just me. I’m not crazy, I swear. Anyway, to answer the question, life itself is fair. However, what makes our lives temporarily unfair are the people and circumstances that surround us. Sure, being born into a severely dysfunctional family or poverty may seem like it’s life’s fault, but honestly, it is the person’s responsibility to find a way out of whatever situation they are in. A person has the power to remove themselves from whatever environment they are in. They have the power to seek out new opportunities and to better themselves. And most importantly, they have the power to control their life; maybe not when they are first born, but definitely as they mature.
As I previously mentioned life is only temporarily unfair, well at least to those who are bold enough to make a change. For those who aren’t, they view their entire life as unfair, but that is only because they allowed it to remain unfair. Everyone experiences hardships in life, both minor and major. However, the best way to handle those hardships is to adjust to the situation, be Optimistic, set a goal for yourself, focus on the better things in life, and remove yourself from the negativity. Trust me, it works.
I know someone who grew up in the projects and was subjected to “the hood” throughout his entire childhood. He could have been “in the streets” doing Lord knows what, but instead he decided to better himself and explore what life had to offer. He did not enjoy growing up in an impoverished area, nor did he enjoy watching his mother struggle to feed him and his siblings. He put himself through nursing school, and worked his way up to the top. Now, he has his doctorate in nursing. He is married and has a family of his own. He lives in Texas. He even managed to take care of his mother and get his siblings back on their feet. This is a perfect example of someone who was born into an unfair circumstance, but rather than complain about how his life was unfair, he made a change, and now he enjoys life. This man transformed his seemingly “unfair” life into one that other people could look up to.
Good vs Bad:
Although it may seem like the world is full of evil human beings, due to the extremely high crime rates and corruption within society, I believe that there are many genuinely “good” people out their. (including me). I probably think this, because I surround myself around nothing but good people, and try not to expose myself to the rest of what this cruel world has to offer.
#StayWinning
A person who does the right thing DOES NOT always win, because in our society, people rarely ever care about what’s actually wrong or right, they really only care about what’s convenient or beneficial for them. And most of the time, doing the wrong thing is what is most beneficial to a person. However, even though a person may not win in reality, I believe that those who choose right over wrong actually win in a moral sense. They do the right thing and it makes them feel better about themselves on the inside. So, they feel as if they won.
Life is too complicated to just place it on a spectrum between two sides. We have to take into consideration everyone’s true intention and motives. What does it even mean to be a good or bad person? I have my definitions but I know for sure they aren’t the same as everybody elses. So, for me to answer whether the world is mostly filled with good or bad people is pointless. But, for the sake of having an answer --I don’t have one. I believe our human emotions are too complex to label someone as a good or bad person. (I know this sort of contradicts my past blog where I said there are genuinely good people out there, but this blog made me reevaluate my life --again) In my opinion, the world has a mix of both --I guess. I’m very unsure of my answers because I started questioning what does it really mean to be a good person. For example, in the French novel Les Miserables, Jean Veljean breaks the law by stealing food. He is then sentenced to prison because he’s a criminal. However, he only stole the food because he had to feed his starving sister. Generally, one is a bad person if they break the law; but what was he supposed to do? Let his sister starve to death? Now, he was the protagonist so he was technically a good guy, but was he? He broke the law! Dilemmas like this show that humans are too complicated. In one of my all-time favorite movies, Donnie Darko, Donnie argues that “There are other things that need to be taken into account here, like the whole spectrum of human emotion. You can't just lump everything into these two categories and then just deny everything else.” The two categories being good and bad in this situation.
ReplyDeleteIt all depends who you’re asking that determines whether someone’s a good person. We all have different ideas what a good person could be. In a way, we’re all good people in someone’s eyes. But, we’re all bad people too. We’re all a mixture of both. It’s similar to the yin and yang symbol. There’s good in the bad, and there’s bad in the good. All together makes a whole, or a human being. All of us are walking yin and yang symbols.
I was actually thinking of the character Donnie Darko when my friend and I had argued about this topic. To what degree to you think circumstance and experience play a role in behavior?
DeleteI believe how you're brought up as a child plays a very big factor on how you approach a problem. I think the morals you were taught as a child shapes what type of person you will become.
DeleteLife is NOT fair. How is it fair if your life is already predetermined, sometimes by factors that happened centuries ago? I get that everybody has an equal chance for being born into a rich household or a poor household, but how is it fair that the rich keeps getting richer and the poor keeps getting poorer? The %1 hold more money than the rest us of combined and that is extremely terrifying. There is a point that people reach that any extra money doesn’t mean anything for them. They don’t spend it and contribute to society, it just kind of sits there in their pocket and they compete with others to see who has the most money. On the other hand, there are people struggling to meet days end, sometimes having to choose to have one necessity over the other. Rich people get the privilege of living a good life, living in a great neighborhood, receiving quality education, and being able to negotiate deals in their favor by virtue of money. Poor people don’t have that same privilege, and even if they work extremely hard, they will probably earn enough just to live a decent life.
ReplyDeleteI don’t know if people are good or bad. Its very subjective. I usually judge people based on whether I like them/get along with them or not. I could get along someone but not agree with their views. To me, it could be wrong, but to them it’s right. Everybody has different values, and what they value is good to them.
Doing the right thing in life doesn’t always win you a prize. For example, my uncle lived what most people would call a good and honest life. He was a good husband and father. He never drank, smoked, or gambled, and he worked hard everyday to support his children. However, a few years ago, he had a stroke. This stroke changed his entire life for the worse. He is wheelchair bound and he can't’ speak that well. He’s also poor and in debt from paying his medical bills. Just because you do good things doesn’t mean good things will happen to you.
I wish I had the power to know if people were mostly good or bad. But sadly I don't and I don't think I will ever have the chance to truly figure this question out. Of course I would love to answer this question and say that there are far more good people in this world then the bad but I don't really know if that's true. To me, what determines if someone is good or bad is by their intentions and the reasons why they are doing what they are doing. Good people don't try and cause harm to other people or do things to negatively affect other people. And my definition of a "bad" person is someone who has a negative impact on things or this bad persons actions cause harm to other people. Like I said earlier it also depends on the people's intentions on why they do the things they do. If a killer was to go to a school and shoot a handful of kids and teachers becuase he had a bad experience of getting bullied In school when he was younger, would that make it okay? The answer is absolutely no. He would be considered a bad person even though he felt what he did was okay.
ReplyDeleteThe person who does the right thing doesn't always win becuase sadly that's not how our world operates. There's a saying, "the good guys always finish last", and this quote is sometimes true. For example there could be a student who studies there butt off for a test and another student who simply just cheated on the test and the cheater could have got the better score. Even though what the cheater did was bad, the cheater still won. I think that the good people in this world aren't appreciated enough and are taken advantage of which is why we have so many dickheads in the world today .
For certain situations there is a clear cut answer as of what's right and what's wrong. For example one time I was at the mall and I noticed the person walking in front of me dropped a 20 dollar bill and they didn't notice. Of course a selfish person would pick up the 20 and walk away but I knew the right thing to do was to give the person back what was theirs. Everybody knows if something is right or wrong before they do it because their gut tells them. Overall I think that the good guys in this world should get a round of a plause becuase there isn't that many of them anymore.
The way I think and see things kind of resembles how your friend sees things. Not exactly that if you "live a good life", good things will come because let's face it, living a "good life" that is flawless or perfect is impossible. I think if you are a good person, and you make mistakes which everyone are destined to do, then good things will come even when you make mistakes, or do something out of character. Everyone has a part within them that is bad. I don't think putting the label "live a good life" depicts how your role in life is, or how your life will be. I think good things happen to people who do good things, even if they mess up on several/ some occasions. And I think bad people who do good things will receive good things like the good people would, but not as often. In the world now, I think the bad outweighs the good by just a hair. I think it's a constant battle being fought in the world between good people vs the bad people. What determines a "bad person" is someone who performs malicious actions and doesn't have sympathy or empathy for anyone/ anything. I'm going to go along with what Jess said earlier about there being a God. Being completely honest I'm not sure if the good person always wins. Couldn't the good persons "goodness" bite themselves in the ass, because they could be too credulous, or their niceness is mistaken as a weakness? If the good person does win whatever it is, then the reward is something given from God. I can't really go into depth with rewards because I don't know what God gives. What is seen right or wrong depends on the person. Everyone has their own unique mind and we all think differently. For instance my god father is Ecuadorian. One day I went over to my God family's house, and my uncle (God father) had a table full of different foods. He also had beside him all his friends who came to visit him from Ecuador. I was so ready to dive into all the food that smelt so delicious. I seen pasta and I was even more excited because I'm a really big pasta lover, like a huge pasta lover. I asked my uncle what kind of meat was with the pasta (because one time he fed me cow tongue and lied and said it was steak, so I always had to ask) and he replied, "Guinea pig". Right then and there the little bit of pasta I had put on my plate went back into the big pan. I was so disgusted and upset, how could he eat cute, fluffy, and innocent Guinea pigs for his gustatory pleasures? (See what I did there? :)) Although I think eating Guinea pigs is so wrong and horrible, Ecuadorians don't. They think it's normal to consume Guinea pigs. And again, it depends on the person to determine what's right or wrong.
ReplyDeletePeople are mostly good. I had this realization in eighth grade after reading Anne Frank’s Diary:
ReplyDelete“In spite of everything I believe that people are really good at heart” - Anne Frank
In fact, I believe all people are good and maybe that’s my biggest problem. I’ve looked at it this way for a long time, and though people misunderstand my intentional empathy and consideration for so-called bad people, I believe it’s the best way to look at things. No one is born bad. Being born into negativity, or from negativity, doesn’t mean someone is born bad. It’s virtually impossible to be born bad considering, within those first few moments of life, a newborn baby has no concept of good bad or otherwise. Therefor, it’s pessimistic to believe people can be born bad.
All that aside, I don’t think people’s bad qualities are permanent ones. I don’t believe that rapists or murderers or child abusers, etc, will always be bad people. I go to church, and not so much because I believe in the sermons or the words or the faith, but because it helps me become a better person. I’m not speaking for all churches, but the laid-back eccentric church I go to helps me understand what I believe in general. One thing that really spoke to me is their belief that all sins are equal, and all consequences for unforgiven sin are the same no matter which sin it was or how many times it was committed. I took this in a different way than intended, but in real life, outside of the church and outside of society’s parameters for normality and outside of laws and institutions and sentences and numbers, each person’s struggle is as real and emotional as the next. I mean, that’s why every drug addict’s rock bottom different. My breakup might affect me emotionally as much as the death of someone’s parent. It all depends on everyone’s coping mechanisms and experience level. Anyway, if our struggles can all be equalized then why can’t our flaws? I realize this is a bold statement, and one that most people probably won’t agree with but everyone has flaws, and I believe that, if everyone can struggle from different things but feel the same pain, that everyone can possess different flaws and feel the same pain too. My flaw may be addiction and your flaw may be the uncontrollable desire to start fires and someone else’s might be the desire to kill. Either way, each flaw drives each host insane. Each flaw affects other people. And each host has the ability to then overcome the flaw that they possess. It sounds hypersensitive and “dreamy” as you put it but it isn’t.
Can you imagine possessing a flaw that consists of illegal acts? Immoral acts? For example, a rapist. First of all, “rapist” dehumanizes that person and no one deserves that. Anyway, it’s hard to put yourself in the shoes of a guy who rapes girls, but I forced myself to. I preach peace, so I have to act on it and part of peace is forgiveness, empathy and hope in that order. I can put
myself in that kid’s shoes, twenty years old living with his grandparents who don’t speak english and attending a high school full of other rapists and never being taught that women aren’t objects. Shit, to this day I’m sure he doesn’t know that he did anything wrong. Yet he has girls saying that he did. If everyone put aside their defensiveness and selfishness and unnecessary anger, they’d see that that kid struggles too. I’m not saying what he did wasn’t wrong, I’m saying that I forgive him, I have empathy for him, and hope in him. He wasn’t born bad, and every human being has the opportunity to be good. So one day, he will be. And it may take all of this to get him there. I talked to my pastor about this and he asked me “what would you say if he came in here right now and sat right in front of you?” and all I could see myself saying is “I forgive you”. My point is, all people fuck up. Some people have to MAJORLY fuck up in order to realize that fucking up isn’t really worth it. I try to understand people who act badly, because understanding them and not approaching them with judgement, arrogance, and anger is the only thing that will ever give them enough confidence to become good. And it’s the only thing that keeps good people good.
DeleteAnother example? The KKK and ISIS and radical groups like that. All of the people in the KKK today, are not first generation members. They were kids raised to believe that what they do is good. So are they bad people? I don’t believe they are and here’s why:
In America, so many guys watch porn that a study between guys who do and guys who don’t couldn’t be carried out. In America, so many people take prescription pills in abusive ways and are advised by a doctor to do so. In America, infidelity occurs in almost every relationship including every one of our 44 presidents’ relationships. In America, the people that do these things are businessmen, teachers, government officials, cops, “successful” people. No one sees these things as wrong. I mean, it’s obvious. Watching porn is “normal”, prescription pills are “necessary and monitored”, infidelity is common and legal. So, do Americans deserve to be blamed for the things they were taught? Do KKK members and ISIS members deserve to be blamed for being taught what they were taught? If none of these people had been taught these things, would they still be “bad”? And the people who taught them these things learned it from a religion so do they even deserve to be blamed? Are they even bad people, just for believing popular concepts?
Anne Frank said, “Despite everything” people are really good. Nazi soldiers carried out orders, they were brainwashed. That doesn’t make them bad people. We do it. We blow up towns and kill civilians and kids and shoot our neighbors with our illegally owned guns. We start gang violence, and create divides within ourselves based on appearance and background. We do everything bad that we accuse other people of yet honor ourselves for being so good.
Good people are people who believe they are good. They are also people who believe in goodness. They are people who have hope in humanity, for whatever reason. Good people are hurt people and free people and strong people and weak people and all people. You can call that unrealistic, or optimistic. If I don’t believe in people, in humanity, while everyone else sits on the sidelines chanting about how awful and disgusting people are, then who will? And if no one does, what will that accomplish but more “bad” people? The reality is, people won’t change unless they’re motivated to. And, from my own personal experience, having people tell you “You’ll never be able to change” makes me not want to change anyway.
DeleteThe person who does the right thing...well right in whose eyes? Truthfully, all people think they’re right most of the time. Does the cheater, who thinks he’s doing nothing wrong and everything right because in his eyes cheating is right, always win? Well, yeah. Does the activist whose protesting against abortion, which she thinks is seriously wrong and immoral, always win? Not really. So the answer to that question, to whether the one who does everything right always wins, isn’t able to be answered. It depends on the person, and it depends on what right is.
Here’s a story. I don’t like being told “you’re too good for that” or “you’re too smart or beautiful for that”. I take the compliment to be polite but I don’t like it. “You’re better than that” implies that I’m the only one who deserves sympathy and understanding...that I really am better than another human being which is complete bullshit because humans are humans. It says “you’re better than whoever hurt you” and that just isn’t true because I’ve hurt people too. Then “you’re too smart or beautiful for that” implies that if I wasn’t smart or beautiful, my lack of intelligence and beauty would deem me deserving of whatever hurts me. That isn’t true either. Unattractive, unintelligent people are equal to beautiful smart people in that they have feelings too. I just don’t like to be viewed ass any more important or more deserving than anyone else on this planet. I mean everyone deserves love, forgiveness, acknowledgment. There’s a reason why people do things and act a certain way and we can’t just ignore that. It’s not that I don’t think what that kid did was wrong, because trust me, I do. It isn’t that I lost self-worth, it’s just that I consider my self-worth equal to everyone else’s. Most people I tell about him and what he did get all mad and red and start crying and telling me how sorry they are but I don’t want that. I wish I could say this without sounding like I’m making excuses for him (I’m not) but I forgive him because 1. holding grudges drags out the pain and trauma and also attracts negativity, and 2. it isn’t entirely his fault. It isn’t his fault because society teaches boys that women equal sex. No more, no less. That women should always and openly be okay to have sex...no matter the place, time, or
pursuer. Women are expected to say “yes” at all times and if they don’t there’s essentially consequences. They aren’t written down anywhere and they aren’t verbalized or specific or congruent from woman to woman but they exist. If you don’t have sex with your friends you lose them. If you refuse sex in general, you get taunted for it. Someone might even force you to do it. And rape, if that’s what happens, is a consequence in itself because you’re left to deal with that shit on your own until the trauma quiets down and you feel confident enough to tell someone who may or may not even believe you.... and that probably only happens in 1/10 of rape victims. That’s only IF you can get past the pain, physical effects, and self-blame on your own first. It’s like being sentenced to a mental jail for ever. Because you wouldn’t have sex. Anyway this is what society teaches men about women. No one teaches men that it’s wrong, because those who teach don’t believe it’s wrong either. Sometimes I consider the possibility that, maybe it isn’t wrong. Maybe women are less equal than men, but “I’m too smart” for that. In other words, despite society’s message and men’s actions in my life towards me, I should know that that isn’t true. Whatever. So long story short, that kid isn’t the only one I have to blame, so I refuse to only blame him.
DeleteI always try to understand “bad people” because I don’t believe “bad people” really exist in the permanent way everyone thinks they do. We all have a heart...every human being despite their differences elsewhere, have a heart. That alone is enough to prove that all people can be good. That’s really all that matters.
I think I need to better understand what your definition of a flaw is in order to articulate a worthy response.
DeleteInteresting questions you pose. Difficult questions to answer nonetheless. I actually have thought about this many times before. Usually angered on why I get curved or why bad things happen to me even though I am a good person.
ReplyDeleteYou can think of life as a game. There are winners, losers, and everything in between. You can think of the homeless on the verge of death losers, and the rich living life to the fullest winners. And I am assuming we all fall in between. (Everybody has a different meaning of “winning” at life, that is not even mine, it just seems to be what society accepts it to be) There are bad and good people, and life treats them about the same. Sometimes good people are rewarded by life treating them well, and other times good people are punished for no reason and life just throws all hell at them. At the same time, sometimes bad people are punished for their wrongful doings, and other times they get away with screwing people over and become successful. So no, nice guys don’t finish last, but sometimes they do. And yes cheaters do prosper, but not all the time. Life is really just a game of luck. Even hard work sometimes won’t make you successful. For example, professional football players. This is something that happens very often nowadays. A very talented player works so hard in high school, gets himself a scholarship to good university. He works so hard in college, he gets drafted to an NFL team. First day of training camp, he tears his ACL. Works so hard all season and offseason because the team was nice enough to give him a shot of coming back from the injury. First preseason game he gets to play in as an NFL player, he tears the same ACL again. The team cuts him, his football career is over and he doesn’t get to do what he wanted with his life. Seems harsh? Well it happens, way too often, while there are others who are naturally gifted and never get hurt and succeed all throughout life.
So this comes to the cliche, “LIFE ISN’T FAIR,” because it’s not. Bad things happen to good people, good things happen to bad, it’s not fair but it happens, and that is life.
Did I answer your question? Maybe, idk, sorry if I didn't I just got excited and went on a little rant.
Happy almost Valentines Day everyone!
You did. In your very awesome Manny-like way, you defintely did. Your time will come, Manny.I promise.
DeleteThank you Ms. Bunje, happy to answer the question.
DeleteThe world is full of a magnitude of different kinds of people. Some are good and they try to influence the world in a positive way but, most are bad. People are naturally greedy and selfish. Everyone focuses too much on themselves instead of fighting for the grater good of the community. On a lower level, our peers. The people we walk through the hallways everyday are in masks. They hide who they truly are in order to please everyone while they actually have their own agenda. I believe this is the same in every town. There are always more people that are liars and hurtful to others than there are people who build others up. If you purposely hurt other people, or animals (definitely animals) then you re a bad person. Putting yourself before others all the time is selfish and hurtful to many people. The reason there are so many people who are rude and selfish, is because “nice guys finish last”. The nice person the good person always gets dumped on. Selfish people cut corners in order to get ahead of some on or catch up to someone and step on them. The system is broken, in government, in raising children, everywhere. People are on a new level of me, me, me. Its disgusting and nobody seems to care. People who are utterly disrespectful and rude to everyone around them still are worshiped like they have any importance at all in the world. Nobody wants to stand up for themselves to “the bad guy” every body likes the bad guy. Everyone wants to be on the side of the bad guy. People are cowards and because so many good people are cowards, they let the bad people run the show…all the time. Bottom line is that I hate people and I don't want to talk about this anymore.
ReplyDeleteNever let a circumstance prevent you from overcoming it.
DeleteI believe my view of the world is soundly balanced in the middle but slightly leaning towards idealistic. I believe most people are good, specifically because actions, to me, are what indicate a person’s overall character: good or bad. There are many people who do good things and/or do good things for who (or what) they love. I can easily say that most people have something or someone that they care about and would do good deeds for. However, I also understand how powerful love can be. How it can easily consume our thoughts and cloud our judgement. People will do whatever it takes to ensure the safety of their love. Smothering. Control. Murder. Like the moon, people and their actions have a dark side. Whether or not their actions, in the face of difficult circumstances, was the right thing to do is based solely on moral standards.
ReplyDeleteI have lived the life of the good guy. Always there to help others and always unselfishly fighting for for my own problems.(If that makes any sense.) As the good guy, it is always easy to get what you want and need: Friends, family—in one form or another, and any other simple things this world has to offer. Unlike what you read in the comic books, the superhero does not get the girl. Superman does not get Lois Lane. Spiderman does not get Mary Jane. And in some incestuous way, Luke Skywalker does not get Princess Leia. The curses of the good guy is his dedication to his helpful impulses and his easily approachable—friend-able— personality. Essentially, the prize is gone, and you can only live for what you have. In my mind, the only way I can decide whether or not what I do is good or bad is by weighing the benefits and the risks, along with the amount of people that will benefit.
Although not directly, half of what I will end up writing tied into my last occasional paper and will maybe intercross with my next.
ReplyDeleteI have asked this question countless times to myself on the simple things in life. What is good, what is bad and when is it good to be bad? Many times the good versus evil phenomenon relates back to God and morals and ethics. My parents have always said “karma” is real, even if that wasn’t their exact word. They believe people who have done them wrong will get what they deserve, so to speak, at the hand of God nonetheless. I say “they” because some things are a bit confusing right now and although my family will still continue to be religious with or without my approval I question I’m actually praying to and if they have the slightest sense of what goes on in my life. People look to faith and religion as an outlet, to release past sin and cleanse of the bad. Not only do they feel purified the act of prayer reassures them even if they have no one, they have God. This is where things get troubling and a little blurry. If there was a God, how could he take away the “good” people we love so dearly? How could he rip away our happiness in a single instant? My parents say Oh God will punish them but in most cases the bad continue to be bad until they reach another tier of corruption. Apparently of which not even God can touch because when is the last time you’ve seen a powerful person’s rights or happiness stripped of them for their real sins and not minor offences. Sometimes bad people don’t get what they deserves, and sometimes the greatest people who take nothing and give all have their lives turned upside down. Is this at the hands of God?
Contrastingly enough I do believe everything happens for a reason. Recently Weisback rambled on about something like if the Civil War had just abolished slavery like it was purposed for, the need for acts by Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks and Harriet Tubman would have been unnecessary. Since maybe pre-school, we have learned the seemingly endless lessons of these three well known, civil rights activist who ultimately changed the course of history. Now for all of them to take actions as they did tiny little details in history led up to their presence as a leader of a revolution. Every second of that war and after determined faith. All the stars and the planets and earth had to line up for a single event in history to actually take place instead of it disappearing in the hypothetical. Likewise our lives, our teachers, the people we see and meet, it’s all in the same sense. If my friends didn’t date who they dated, I wouldn’t have made new friends, if new people hadn’t moved to the small town of Mays Landing because of their own circumstance, I wouldn’t have their great influences in life and if I didn’t take the classes I took freshman year I would have missed out on maybe the most Important lesson of high school. Everything happens for a reason, the good, the bad, the ugly, and it can’t get better because life isn’t going to change until you change it yourself.
People who always do “good”, may never get rewarded. Others ask why not take a risk. My intentions are to be and do “good”, if I don’t meet your expectations I’m sorry but I want you to know that I truly try to do good. Others ask why not take a risk. The answer is, if I even tried to do badly, karma as you call it would not strike the person who have done bad their entire lives rather me. My slight misdemeanor would turn into a night in jail, I can be assure of that. The day I skip class is the day I get my first detention. However in all the years of observations inside but mostly outside of high school I’ve come to the conclusion people sin in different ways. Of course law breaking, terrorism, racism, homicide and any other tragic horrific event is out of the question of being on the fence. They are clearly evil, and although there will be controversial remarks against all of them, I’ll be open to hear how in some parallel universe any of them could be good. Regardless, there is no clear cut answer, there is no black and white.
ReplyDeleteThe world is filled with as many colors as there are scenarios in which to differentiate good and bad objectives. Like there’s exemptions to each rule, the blunt concept of good and bad is no exception. There are times when even the good indulge in some bad and so are there really any good people. Each person has their individual guilty pleasure, which to them are consider “bad”, people just sin differently from one another. Morals and up-bringing play a large role in individual decisions of how the good versus bad scale is arranged. People have the potential to be either but in the end usually the bad overpowers the good in the weak. Clark’s class may not have learned grammar well but the excerpts and book we had the chance to read will forever influence the way I view the world. The story of Goodman Brown tells the tale of an innocent man, who loved his wife and his community because he thought they were good people. He soon find out from his encounter with the devil that not everything is at it seems to be. Not every good person has a white heart and the purest disguises may carry the largest sins. In times like these we don’t have the luxury of exploring another’s innermost thoughts and intentions. Therefore good and bad are yet to be defined without the influence of morals and even then the world presents situation where we question what we think we know.
I believe all people are good at heart. Of course, the “good” gene isn’t coded in our DNA, but we all have a little piece of it. Now, some people show it more than others, but that doesn't mean the people who hide it don’t have it. Somewhere- sometime in our life we have all experienced a good deed. Whether it was helping out your guardian, picking up money and returning it to the rightful owner, volunteering at a shelter or retirement home. We have all done something good whether knowing it or not. I believe the people who are good at heart and show it, should be commended because we don’t see much of them around anymore. The people who go out of their way to make someone smile, to help them live a better life, or to be there for them- are the people who deserve better. They don’t do it to get stuff out of it, they do it for the pure joy from the other person. The people who put effort in and go out of their way to make a person feel good, are the people we need more of. You scroll through facebook and come across a video where a man is breaking ice to save a dog. That takes balls. The man put himself in danger to help another living thing. Then, you’ll scroll through the comments and see, “we need more people like this”, when really we need more people who aren’t afraid to show the good side of themselves. I personally love seeing people who do these crazy things to help another living thing out. It makes my heart grow bigger; much like how the Grinch's heart grew bigger when he started to love the spirit of Christmas. I believe I fall in the good hearted spectrum. I do go out of my way to make people happy and to make them smile. I don’t get rewarded a prize for this. Just the pure joy of someone else happy. Which leads me to my next point. People who do good deeds do not get rewarded with prizes. If we find $20 and give it back to the owner, we won’t wake up the next day finding $20 in our jean pocket. That’s why I hate the saying, “what goes around comes around”. I can be finding $20 twice a day and still won’t receive anything. I could go out out of my way and make plans, but have the other person not putting a thought into it. But, I will say, the people who do the good things, always come out the winner. By being a good person, you open yourself up to so many opportunities, and so many adventures. It takes a good person to be truly happy with the outcome of a good deed, when they receive nothing but pure joy from the other person.
ReplyDeleteEveryone was born with a clear knowledge yearning brain. We are born naïve and happy, amazed and fulfilled with just the small things in life. Credulous because we choose to only see the good in people. As we progress in life we face trials and/or are influenced by the people we meet on this life journey. Surely some of these events are negative but we choose to let these things influence our lives. No one was born evil. We don’t come out of the womb with hatred embedded in our minds; we come out with empty hands and open minds ready for the world to nurture us. There’s a reason why a happy baby lights up a room, the laughter is so genuine and full of love that it brings pure goodness and happiness. People are mostly good by majority rule. Those who are mostly bad once were mostly good at some point of another.
ReplyDeleteThe saying, “Good things happen to good people,” is no joke. That statement could not be more true. Some may disagree due to the lack of value they place on the word “good.” Good things may not refer to money, success, or a very attractive spouse; it may plainly mean a quiet home with a loving family. Many students believe that cheating will bring them easy success when in reality it strips them of the knowledge they may essentially need later on in their lives. Yes, you received a high grade in all your classes. But how do you suppose you’ll pass the SATS if you didn’t learn the information needed in all the classes you cheated in? The stress of trying to learn all the missed information at the same time is overwhelming and unhealthy for growing minds. Hard work will provide you with more knowledge and will give your mind some ease. That would classify as “good things.”
Through my eyes any act, movement, or idea that is branched off of love may be classified as good. Any words that are made to only lift spirits and promote joyfulness to all are good. Going back to my freshman year I struggled to see the negativity in cursing. All of my friends started to add curse words into their daily vocabulary and it just felt wrong. I couldn’t figure out why. They are just words that someone, somewhere made up. Why do mothers strive to keep their children from hearing these words? What’s the big deal? I then came to the realization that it’s not the word itself but the intent behind the word that is so negative. Whether used in anger, humor, or to persuade, curse words are purposefully used to apply a negative feeling. (You may disagree with humor but in most cases cursing is used indirectly in humor to face the harshness of this word. Or in other words the evil in this world.) Curse words are not good because they do not speak life or positivity. Essentially that is how you would define good and bad.
We talk about this a lot in AoP and my answer always changes. But ive come up with this and im sticking to it. As a whole I do not think people are bad but instead that a person is bad. I know that everyone has both good and bad in them and I believe that that is determined by the things they do when no one is looking. Ex: someone drops money on the ground and no one else but you sees it, you would either keep the money for yourself or return it to said person. Now, the "good" person would return the money to the clueless shopper. I don’t think that doing things specifically to get praise makes you a good person. In fact, if youre one of those people that only does nice things when people are around or when you know you'll get praise for it then I probably don’t like you that much. "Good" people should want to do things out of the kindness of their hearts and not for the attention. I don’t think that the person that always does the "right thing" always wins but I see no harm in wanting to do good and the "right thing." Although on many occasions I have seen the person that does the "wrong thing" prevail that does not want to make me stop doing what I think is right. Do I think the world is bad? Eh, not necessarily. I just think that we are made to believe that it is because too often we hear about all the bad people do and how horrible everyone is but very rarely do we get to hear about all the wonderful things people do for one another everyday.
ReplyDeleteClique story: you and your sibling do something bad as a child, lets just say you stole some candy, and your parents find out about it. They say if you just tell us the truth nothing bad will happen. So, you tell your parents what happened while your sibling lies. Your sibling gets in no trouble while you get grounded for two weeks. This is the classic case where doing the right thing doesn’t always make you the "winner." But that is a subjective idea because I personally believe that though you are getting grounded you still told the truth and should feel better about yourself than your lying sibling.
Look up the "prisoner's dilemma" and explain here how it connects to what you said about what happened with you and (cough cough) Dave and the stolen candy...
DeleteGood and Bad are two words with vague meanings. Google defines “good” as “that which is morally right”. According to the site, “good” people are morally correct. The adjective “bad” means: “of poor quality; inferior or defective”. Therefore, “bad” people are defective. First, both sets of definitions can be interpreted in several ways. Each person has their personal morals. One idea of “morally right” can be a complete reflection of another’s. One could argue about the meaning of “defective”. Does defective mean “unnecessary to society” or “imperfect”? Then again, how would one measure perfectness? A lot is up in the air and floating in the clouds here, so please forgive my indecisiveness.
ReplyDeleteThe majority of the people on planet Earth are bad. Now, let us pretend that Google does not exist and that I had never looked up the definition of “bad”. When I think of the word “bad” in relation to society and its people, I think of selfishness. As all of us AP Gov kids know, humans are selfish creatures and our nature is built around self-interest. As just another species of animals, humans tend to oppress and/or harm, whether intentional or not, in order to surpass another being. This can be proven in The Case for Reparations. In the article, the humans are the oppressors. In “Reparations”, it is said that Whites have done everything in their power to suppress the opportunities of Blacks, simply because the Whites felt the necessity to be consistently superior to the Blacks. Nowadays, we recognize this as “selfish”, “wrong”, and “bad”.
Unfortunately, the “good guys” almost never win in real life. Anyone who commits an act of maltreatment will receive more attention than someone who participated in a charitable event. Especially in this day and age, the mass media broadcasts far more crime stories than positive, happy, “good” events. If in a rare case, the “good guy” in the situation wins (are they battling or something?), the prize is not material. If the more rational of two people wins an argument, there will not be a large load of luscious gold waiting for the winner on the other side of the rainbow. The only reward for being “the better person” in life is: pride.
As mentioned in the introductory paragraph, a lot of information is floating up in the clouds. The words “right”, “wrong”, “good”, and “bad” are all a matter of opinion. “Good” can be measured in sizes of donations to charity, while “bad” can be measured in the degree of felonies. “Right” and “wrong” are opinions that differ based on what the person was taught as a child. Someone from a broken home has different definitions of the two words than someone from a wealthy, privileged neighborhood (example: a child raised into a KKK supporting family). Although Google has various definitions available for the curious AP Langer, most of those definitions should not be trusted because the ideas of “good” and “bad” are abstract.
Personally I believe the world falls equally on the scale between good and evil but it fluctuates. When something bad happens the world becomes evil in my eyes and when it seems like everything is going good for most people the world seems at peace with its self meaning more on the good side rather than evil. I like to believe that most people are good but then things like mass shootings and robbery come up on the news and I think that the entire world sucks and I'm gonna live in my house for the rest of my life without leaving. However I am surrounded by positive people who are good, down to earth people who I love so so much. However if I take one step out into the real world or even one step out of 204 and I find myself at the center of the Philadelphia zoo with children jumping each other. The person that does the right does not always win I know that for a fact. The sad thing is that statement but more so why it's true. Why does the right person not always win? If they are doing the right thing shouldn't they win? But they don't however if they keep doing the right thing and head down the positive road then I believe that they will win at some point. If someone always won then winning wouldn't be fun. You need bad days in your life to realize the good ones. Same goes with people you have bad people in your life so you can truly appreciate the good ones. What is right and what is wrong is determined like you said by someone higher in authority. Also what is right and what is wrong can also be decided by the society as a whole which would be like society's rules.
ReplyDeleteFor example someone who murders anything is a terrible person. However when I was younger I would step on ants and kill worms because I thought they were dangerous my family and I. Killing animals or people is horrible but my murdering of ants and worms does not make me terrible because I was defending what I love. Although I intended on killing those animals I did not really mean to inflict harm. When I was younger and I saw ants in the house I knew they were bad and they angered my mom so I would kill them to ensure them not becoming a larger problem. The worms I 100% did not mean to harm them. Although I did rip them in half killing them was not an intention. I remembered hearing they could live double lives if they ever were cut in half so one time I decided I would see for myself and that is why I murdered the little guy.
The world we live in is messed up and I am not going to sugar-coat is. People suck. People are cruel. Honestly, people make me want to scream and crawl in a hole. I hate people. I hate how our world is. I hate how the amount of bad people outways the good. We live in a world full of serial killers and school shooters and terrorism and mass murderers. Sick, sick people exist in our everyday world and we have no idea. There could be a serial killer living amongst us every day and we have not one clue. Isn’t that just disgusting? Our world is sick. We coexist with these bad people every single day. Now, obviously not everyone is a serial killer, but there are some genuinely rotten people out in the world. A bad person is someone who obviously, is mean but a person who does not do any good. A bad person is someone who is mean, rude, selfish, and just has an awful character. You know those people you just do not know how to put it into words, but you know they are just a bad person. However, there can be good people who just do bad things and make mistakes. The fine line between a good person and a bad person is that simply a bad person just keeps on repeating those same mistakes and bad behaviors. There is not really one clear-cut answer of right and wrong. Something is either morally just right or morally just wrong. Bullying, cheating, killing stealing, rudeness, etc, is all wrong and there is no way to justify any of those acts in a good way. “What goes around comes around,” something people always say. I wish I could believe this. But I am only 16 and have witnessed so many accounts of good people not getting what they truly deserve or good people going through so much shit and bad things happening to them for no good reason. A friend of mine, probably the sweetest person I know lost her mother and also developed cancer. How much can a person take? How is that fair? Why someone as good as her have to go through something like that?? It is not fair. This world we live in is not fair. Bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people. I will never be able to come to terms with that. It does not make sense. So what if I become a bad person will a good thing happen to me? Life makes me just question everything when such awful things could occur to such amazing people. I hope one day I will live in a world where the good out way the bad.
ReplyDeleteAs Alexander Pope said, “to err human”. All humans make mistakes. I think that people are good at heart, but they can become bad in certain situations. The situations that people go through are sometimes unbearable. People turn to cynicism and selfishness. Another common method is it is to turn to anger. We get so angry, that we are blinded from right and wrong. Take ISIS into account. They are blinded by their religion even though the religion and they use it as a safeguard. They kill, terrorize, and bomb innocent people. Islam does not even call for these acts. They are for the equal treatment and peace for all humans. This the fight between right and wrong. Wrong thinks they are right, and maybe they are, but to anyone else they are wrong. This is the way we’ve been taught to think our whole life. So, your conscience determines wrong and right and develops the standards based on what our parents do.
ReplyDeleteNot everyone can see the nice guy. Most people are the “glass half-empty” type and lose hope. Like in relationships, there’s always a girl who goes between the nice guy and the one who is probably bad for her, and chooses that worst one. The nice guy is left hanging in the wind, heart broken. And us ladies wonder why there are no “good guys left” or “nice guys” anymore. We push them all away and settle for what we think is the lesser of two evils. But what we see isn’t always what is true.
What is considered right and wrong has always been a gray area for different issues. Let’s take up gay marriage. For years, being gay had already been labeled as morally wrong, and now gays wanted the right to marry. But marriage has been saved for straight couples. The US was founded on Christian principles, therefore causing some trouble in legalizing gay marriage. Not many believed that it was right for a couple other than man and woman to exist. They though matrimony was only through the church and that gay marriage was against the bible. But now we must ask ourselves, are we risking other peoples’ happiness? The answer is yes. Nothing would be fought for so long if it was not important. The true meaning of right has to do with content in the decision you make. Everyone has that gut feeling they get when something seems off, or some delay in response that lets them distinguish right and wrong.
Now that I look back on it, many people who I would categorize as good give me hope in humanity. Lainey Day, Elena, Kassia, Melissa, and so many wonderful human beings are prime examples of good morals. In my eyes, they can do no wrong. They are constantly nice to others, and know when to do the right thing.
I fall more towards your friend Bunj on the worldview spectrum. I believe everyone is born good and in saying so there is a small portion of goodness that I believe everyone will ALWAYS have, no matter what. People are mere products of their environment in saying that they are how they are raised. Everyone is raised differently. The question of whether or not something is good or something is evil is not as clear as day. To me cursing, and lying and stealing is evil. To others cursing is okay it is how they express their feeling so to them it's good. Some also believe in certain situations lyin is necessary therefore it is good. These actions since they are so questionable do not defy a person, they do not determine whether a person is good or bad. We all mess up. Even the most perfect seeming people mess up, we all do things we wish we could undo. Actions don’t define people. That to me makes everyone good. We are all good people in life just sometimes doing the wrong thing. But even the most terrible thing deserves forgiveness. There is a song called “Through all of it” by Colton Dixon, in the music video it goes through people's life stories. In the video a mother tells of how her daughter was killed by a grown man, but to let herself live she forgave him. She came to the conclusion that for him to understand what he did was wrong she would need to allow him to really think about it and what better way of doing that than to explain in person that what he did was evil but that does not make him evil. She did the right thing by allowing herself to let go and by giving him a fresh start even though that took tremendous amount of strength. She did the right thing but the fact of the matter is she can never get her daughter back.She doesn't win in this situation. The good DO NOT always win. It sucks, it completely and utterly sucks that those who try so hard in life to let their goodness shine do not always win but that is life. Life is unfair. The very wise Fred Rogers once said “Look for the helpers, you will always find people who are helping”, this is beyond accurate. Always I repeat there will always be people in the world willing to help. There will always be good.
ReplyDeleteI sincerely apologize for my, at times, questionable potty mouth around you... :(
DeleteIt's alright Bunj, that is how you get your point across with the proper emphasis you need. ;)
DeleteWe all want to believe that we are good/ innocent people living in a cruel world. In some cases, that is true. Some. Not all. We all want to believe there is more good than bad, yet bad is everywhere we turn. I couldn’t think of a story that was so exciting or interesting, but I think it proves my point… hopefully.
ReplyDeleteAnyways, I never saw the worst in people until my phone got stolen surprisingly. I was definitely not expecting it, especially because I would never do something like this. If I wanted a phone, I would save some hard earned money….. or beg my parents night and day until they said yes. So one day sophomore year, I stuffed my phone inside my bookbag which was in my gym locker. It was still the beginning of the year so I didn’t have a lock yet. EVERYONE told me to get one asap, but I was silly and inexperienced so I didn’t listen to them. That day, my android got stolen, along with my $4 in my wallet, which by the way was also buried in my bag. When I got back to my locker at the end of the period, I was freaking tf out. I went straight to the main office and they said “sorry we can’t do anything”. Technically they said “we’ll try our best to find the person”, but they never did anything to help me. Lol.
I’m not saying that everyone suddenly is a bad person. The situation just opened my eyes to a side of society I never had to encounter until that point. Determining whether a person is good or bad is totally based upon you and your own preferences. Therefore, no CLEAR cut answers to what's right and wrong.
Yes, good people always win. It just takes a little extra time. A “bad” person will cheat their way up to the top, but in the long run, they get no where. “The prize” I would say, is determined by the ‘Ego Integrity vs. Despair’ thoery. When were old and wrinkly, we look back in our lives questioning if we have accomplished everything we wanted to do or if we haven’t. “The prize” should be the accomplishment of successfully fulfilling a good life. Good people, deserve and should say that when looking back.
The world will never be bad. There will always be hope and genuine good rising, so bad never wins. From what the audience gathers from WALL-E, Allinol mass produced, as a monopoly manufacturer, all sorts of products at the end of humanity on Earth. The Earth was left for dead with only robots left behind to clean up the world, an impossible task. One sole WALL-E machine survives to 2110. Now I won’t type out the whole plot of the movie but I’m sure as most of you guys know, WALL-E is the guy responsible for bringing humans back to Earth and starting a new life for everyone. Corrupted industry wrecked the planet, but there was one lone soldier fighting for the good of humanity. Bad will never consume the world because there are always those who fight for what’s right and they will fight the good fight.
ReplyDeletePeople inherently want to be good. No one dreams of being the villain. Most villains believe they are honestly doing the right thing. People are mostly good. Outside factors cause people to do bad things and change their attitudes toward life.
Good actions are not rewarded with material items but with a sense of purpose. When other people react positively to one’s good, it causes one feel great about themselves. People believe in different purposes of life, so for some this may be great but for others it doesn’t mean much.
People judge what’s good and bad or right and wrong differently due to their values, religion, and morals. The common theme that most people would agree on is that something is bad if it hurts another person physically, emotionally, financially, and so on. Sad and mad are viewed as negative emotions, so whatever caused a person to feel those also receives a negative response.
To recap, the world will never be bad because people want to be good and most would agree hurting others is bad.
My view of the world falls near your friend’s side. I believe that one should do good deeds and be a good human being not to gain something in return. One should be motivated intrinsically and not extrinsically. It is completely understandable that the world is evil and one has to be evil in return in order to have a chance to prosper in the world, but that is not an excuse to escape from the responsibility of being a good human being. One should be human first then other things. I cannot speak for the majority of humanity as to whether they are mostly good or mostly bad.
ReplyDeleteJust like “like dissolves like” in chemistry, “like brings like” in the philosophy of life which is a notion AKA karma. As a Hindu, I believe in karma. Karma can be a gift for one and doom for another. I believe that being good in life will, in turn, better your life in future. Some people argue that destitutes show goodness and yet are impecunious. What they don’t comprehend is that the notion of karma and “like brings like” don’t necessarily have to happen right after a good or bad deed has occurred.
Let me give you a hypothetical scenario to better explain the notion. There is a poor widowed woman with 10 children. She is homeless and runs the family on donations made by people on the street. Every day, she approximately makes $100 for the entire day. With that, she has just about enough money to get her kids 1 Big Mac Meal each and 1 cheeseburger for herself as well as other supplies. She would rather feed the kids until they are full and educate them so they can succeed later in life than to evenly split the $100. She knows that her kids got a long life ahead while she doesn’t. This way, she is being a good human being and especially a good mother. She may not get the fruit of her goodness immediately. She might have to survive this way and wait until her kids are older so they can support her with a job or two. Some people might see the notion of destitute kids supporting mother as an obvious act of common sense and kindness, and not as the result that karma brought to her for being good. Keep in mind that the result of karma doesn’t necessarily have to be a radically unimaginable act. The result of karma can be as simple as a job acceptance or a salary raise. If the poor mother had not been so caring, she might not have gotten help from her children or her children might not have been able to financially provide for her.
Whether something is right or wrong can be measured by whether the deed he/she executed helped the majority or harmed the majority. One can commit a crime that might help the criminal but would be deleterious to the majority of people there.
I admire people that are nice but not all people will be and that’s something to understand. You can either choose to be nice to people or not. If you do good for others I believe that good fortune will come back to you. Life is fair. We are all born into this world either healthy or with a birth defect. In our infant age is where we can detect how our behavior will translate to be when we get older. You behavior depends on who surrounds you. At an infant we can’t really make that choice. Entering elementary school we have a choice of who to surround ourselves with now. You can either have a good group of friends or have a group of friends that are knuckleheads. We have the authority to dictate where our future goes, especially in High School. In High School is where people are really tested on whether or not they are good or bad. Most of the people that I associate with are good people. I can tell because of the way they present themselves and act in the way that they do. As I said earlier if you do good ‘ good fortune will come back to you. “So then as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone”(Galatians 6:10). Not all the time does the good guy win though. In many cases good people get taken for granted and that’s the truth. People take advantage of others kindness. Nowadays it seems like no one really cares anymore. You still must keep your composure and do whats right because you’ll be rewarded sooner or later in life. What's right and what's wrong can be hard and easy thing to figure out. Knowing that your right can be right to you but not others. But who cares its your opinionso go for it.
ReplyDeleteThere was a senior who played football at Gateway High School. He had absolutely 0 D1 offers by the time he graduated. He had good grades and was a good man. He decided to be a walk on at Iowa State University. After showing his talents he ended up getting a full ride scholarship to attend Iowa State University. At the end of his collegiate career he enderter the NFL Draft. He became the 2nd round pick for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He had a very successful NFL career. His whereabouts as of right now, he has retired from the sport of football and has a family of his own. Someone's situation could be way different than his though. There’s really no answer except things in life can go really good or really bad for you.
My parent taught me that people fall into two sides, good or bad. If you are kind, friendly, lively and always do the right thing, you fit in with the good side. If you are evil, mean, vile and always do the wrong thing, you fit in with the bad side. Tv shows and movies usually support this claim. The main protagonist almost always the hero of the story and he/she must face the villain. Sometimes it is vice versa. I believe people fall into one of the sides but can join the other side multiple times. Like no one stays on one side forever. No one is perfect nor nefarious.
ReplyDeleteWhen a baby is born, no one can tell what side it belongs. Only the family and the baby’s environment sets up what side it will fall on. As the baby mature and becomes older, he/she can switch sides depending on how he/she feels every day. Like the person feels cranky and grumpy, the person most likely would commit bad things and would fall on the bad side that day. While the next day, the person would feel happy and friendly which means that he/she most likely would do nice and helpful things. Everyone has a little of both good and bad in themselves.
There is no good or bad. It is only what you perceive as good or as bad. I used to be an avid gamer, especially with the game Super Mario Bros. Now we all know in this game, the giant crocodile and turtle infused creature named Bowser captures the beautiful Princess Peach once again; as he’s done countless times. Then good old denim wearing Mario comes to save the day once again as he always does and defeats the evil Bowser and is loved by Princess Peach once again. What if I told you Mario is the bad guy. You’re probably cringing, saying no that can’t be true. Mario is the good guy. Well in some ways, he is, but in others he’s not. Looking from Bowser’s point of view, Bowser sees Mario as a threat or the bad guy. Mario always tries to “save’ Peach back from Bowser, but maybe Bowser captures Peach because he wants to confess his love to her through some nice Netflix and chill. But every time, Mario is one step ahead of Bowser and takes back Peach for his own doing. Bowser see’s his actions as good, just as the same way Mario see’s his own action as good also. It all depends on the environment you are surrounded in and how you interpret or are taught the “good” way.
ReplyDeleteThere’s never a clear answer to what’s good or bad. A person must figure that out for him/herself. When a time comes where there is only equal agreeance in the world, then all people will know from good or bad. You can get awarded a prize for being good, but usually a person who does a kind or good deed will only want the prize of satisfaction. He/she does not need an object to feel worthy of their actions. They do it for the feeling.
ReplyDeleteThere is no correct answer to the question of whether people are mostly good or bad. There are people who are totally on the left side and are saints. There are also other people on the right side who are malicious and evil. Then, there are many, many people in between the good and the bad. They are good and bad. Yes, they may lean more toward a certain side nevertheless they are both good and bad. There's nothing that really outlines what's good and what's bad. It's more of a general understanding. Eventually, that understanding becomes our conscience. Most humans are taught this understanding and know the difference. If they choose to do wrong, their mind still tells them that they are wrong. However the human beings that are never taught the difference between good and bad and right and wrong, don't have a conscience. They have no inner feeling or voice that acts as a guide to the rightness or wrongness of their behavior.
In the movie Edward Scissorhands, Edward had no conscience in social terms. He somewhat knew right and wrong but not in the way society expects it. He tried to help people, even when he was actually hurting them. Edward saved a little boy from being run over and, in a panic to see if he is okay, began to cut his face by accident. Thinking that he was trying to hurt the boy the neighbors formed a mob to chase Edward back to his mansion. The neighbors couldn't understand that not everything is black and white. There's no clear cut way of determining whether or not billions of people are good or bad. There are too many variables to consider when answering a question of that nature.
I have always believed that the good always win, whether it happens instantaneously or not, they will eventually conquer. Maybe this is because I believe in karma, that the wrong or the bad will get what they deserve. Im sure everyone heard of the saying “what goes around comes around.” Meaning the things the person committed will someday be affected by it. This is the reason some don’t even bother to get revenge back on the “bad guys” because they know they will be hit by it sooner or later. At least that's what I always thought and it has always done me
ReplyDeletejustice.
In today’s world people try to be good people for the most part. From what I noticed people have realized the good are always benefited more than the bad. I am not saying that bad things never happen to the good because life is all about obstacles, discouragement, and downfalls. My point is that because the good deserve better they will eventually earn better if they continue to do positive things.
There was this time where a boy who was always up to no good. He never payed attention in class and never did what he was suppose to. When the day of the test came he had no idea what was going on. He thought it was okay to cheat off the person next to him. When the test results came back the teacher noticed that the two students had the same answers. They both ended up getting zeros for that test which obviously wasn’t fair. The other students always did his work and was a good student. The teacher soon realized that things were not right and the student who cheated eventually confessed. He ended up getting a referral with the zero for the test while the other student got the grade he actually deserved.
There also was an incident with my friend where she once again pulled me into one of her “bad acts.” There was a student with a bunch of Silly Bands on the bus and everybody knows back then they were mad cool. She decides while we are getting of the bus to grab them. I was always known as the better behaved friend I always tried to do the right thing. The next day I get called to the office, not my friend. I wasn’t going to snitch or anything and say it was my friend so innocent me got in trouble. However, after a while the kid realized it wasn’t me is was another girl. Sorry to say but that made my friend get in trouble and have to return the silly bands back.
As I was saying the my view of the world is that the good will always win in the end no matter what. People may disagree but nothing yet has proven my belief wrong.
Nia--please try to get your comments in by the due date. No penalties today, but for the future, please adhere to the calendar so you don't lose credit.
DeleteOkay, thank you
Delete