How we experience good and evil in the world

[dfnj]

At any moment in time, there's an equal amount of "evidence" for good and evil. I believe for most people, people experience reality based on their own bigotry and prejudice. People only see and experience what confirms their preexisting convictions and expectations.

And if you obsessed with evil, all you see and experience is evil. The same thing with sin. What I find amazing is the people who are obsessed with sin turn out to be the ones committing the most sins. It's like the Japanese saying, "The first person to raise their voice in an argument, loses." So it's like the people who are not obsessed with evil are just being good without thinking about it.

The other thing I've seen old people do, is people who are sick and dying project their own condition as the status of the world. Old people don't see a bright future because their future is short.

 

[PureX]

This is sometimes true, but not often enough to be taken as axiomatic. I think you should be careful about that.

We do tend to see whatever it is we're in the habit of looking for. If we look for the good in life and in people, we can see it all around us pretty much all the time. Because it's there. And if we're in tha habit of looking for evil and misfortune in life and in the world around us, we will see this all around us pretty much any time as well. Because it is also there.

The truth is always going to appear, to us, to be paradoxical like this. Because the truth is bigger than we are. It's bigger and more complex than our binary minds can comprehend. So we can only see the dichotomies. Not the whole.

It's a big life lesson coming to understand this, and learning to accept it. And how to find a good functional balance within all the apparent dichotomy.

 

[Quintessence]

It seems much more complex than that. It's not difficult for me to remember contrary examples from folks I've known. Then again, I myself don't really believe in "good" or "evil" so there's also that...

 

[Nakosis]

At any moment in time, there's an equal amount of "evidence" for good and evil. I believe for most people, people experience reality based on their own bigotry and prejudice. People only see and experience what confirms their preexisting convictions and expectations.

And if you obsessed with evil, all you see and experience is evil. The same thing with sin. What I find amazing is the people who are obsessed with sin turn out to be the ones committing the most sins. It's like the Japanese saying, "The first person to raise their voice in an argument, loses." So it's like the people who are not obsessed with evil are just being good without thinking about it.

The other thing I've seen old people do, is people who are sick and dying project their own condition as the status of the world. Old people don't see a bright future because their future is short.

I don't really identify with sin as sin is breaking the commandments of God specifically the God of Abraham. Jesus, as God to some had two commandments, put God first and love thy neighbor. Don't know of God so wouldn't know how to put them first and while I certainly like my neighbor/have nothing against them, wouldn't claim to love them. So a failure on both accounts.

Evil however is not the same as sin. Evil is really causing harm to others for the pleasure of it. So one could be sinful according to religious doctrine but not evil or even evil but not sinful if they could still figure out how to get pleasure by causing harm yet keep the commandments of their deity.

 

[dfnj]

I don't really identify with sin as sin is breaking the commandments of God specifically the God of Abraham. Jesus, as God to some had two commandments, put God first and love thy neighbor. Don't know of God so wouldn't know how to put them first and while I certainly like my neighbor/have nothing against them, wouldn't claim to love them. So a failure on both accounts.

Evil however is not the same as sin. Evil is really causing harm to others for the pleasure of it. So one could be sinful according to religious doctrine but not evil or even evil but not sinful if they could still figure out how to get pleasure by causing harm yet keep the commandments of their deity.

What I think is interesting is the idea of the Principle of Alternative Possibilities. If you have no control over your list of choices you have to choose from, then are you truly morally responsible for any choice you make.

 

[Nakosis]

What I think is interesting is the idea of the Principle of Alternative Possibilities. If you have no control over your list of choices you have to choose from, then are you truly morally responsible for any choice you make.

Court cases usually take this into account for example if one acted out of ignorance or out of coercion.
God OTOH,

 

[SalixIncendium]

Was the OP intended to be ironic?

 

[Secret Chief]

Was the OP intended to be ironic?

Only old people are concerned about the global climate emergency and Holocene extinction.

 

[Twilight Hue]

At any moment in time, there's an equal amount of "evidence" for good and evil. I believe for most people, people experience reality based on their own bigotry and prejudice. People only see and experience what confirms their preexisting convictions and expectations.

And if you obsessed with evil, all you see and experience is evil. The same thing with sin. What I find amazing is the people who are obsessed with sin turn out to be the ones committing the most sins. It's like the Japanese saying, "The first person to raise their voice in an argument, loses." So it's like the people who are not obsessed with evil are just being good without thinking about it.

The other thing I've seen old people do, is people who are sick and dying project their own condition as the status of the world. Old people don't see a bright future because their future is short.

Maybe people like those things. Gets a buzz off of it.

 

[Vinayaka]

At any moment in time, there's an equal amount of "evidence" for good and evil. I believe for most people, people experience reality based on their own bigotry and prejudice. People only see and experience what confirms their preexisting convictions and expectations.

And if you obsessed with evil, all you see and experience is evil. The same thing with sin. What I find amazing is the people who are obsessed with sin turn out to be the ones committing the most sins. It's like the Japanese saying, "The first person to raise their voice in an argument, loses." So it's like the people who are not obsessed with evil are just being good without thinking about it.

The other thing I've seen old people do, is people who are sick and dying project their own condition as the status of the world. Old people don't see a bright future because their future is short.

Assuming good and evil exist outside a certain mindset, in reality.
As for old people, I do nothing all day long, and the world gets worse, but then I have very little time left so what's the point?

 

[shunyadragon]

At any moment in time, there's an equal amount of "evidence" for good and evil. I believe for most people, people experience reality based on their own bigotry and prejudice. People only see and experience what confirms their preexisting convictions and expectations.

And if you obsessed with evil, all you see and experience is evil. The same thing with sin. What I find amazing is the people who are obsessed with sin turn out to be the ones committing the most sins. It's like the Japanese saying, "The first person to raise their voice in an argument, loses." So it's like the people who are not obsessed with evil are just being good without thinking about it.

The other thing I've seen old people do, is people who are sick and dying project their own condition as the status of the world. Old people don't see a bright future because their future is short.

I believe the perspective of view the nature of our existence and humanity in terms of good and evil is an archaic view of ancient cultures. Ancient tribal peoples had a biased perspective as to what is evil. It often translates as to the nature of the 'other' tribes and natural hostile world they did not understand. This translates to the beliefs of many ancient religions, and often a negative hostile view of ;other tribes as evil, and even the sciences of evolution today is considered evil by some.

I view the nature of our physical existence naturally as is without good or evil. Humanity is naturally as it is despite not being admirable even at times terrible as far as their tribal behavior persists.

 

[Ignatius A]

At any moment in time, there's an equal amount of "evidence" for good and evil. I believe for most people, people experience reality based on their own bigotry and prejudice. People only see and experience what confirms their preexisting convictions and expectations.

And if you obsessed with evil, all you see and experience is evil. The same thing with sin. What I find amazing is the people who are obsessed with sin turn out to be the ones committing the most sins. It's like the Japanese saying, "The first person to raise their voice in an argument, loses." So it's like the people who are not obsessed with evil are just being good without thinking about it.

The other thing I've seen old people do, is people who are sick and dying project their own condition as the status of the world. Old people don't see a bright future because their future is short.

That Japanese saying has nothing to do with what youre talking about. Sin and evil are nothing701382 like one another. Humans have the capacity to do good and evil but good or evil we all sin. The thing we struggle with most as humans is overcoming our own self interest. We are self focused and thats our Achilles heel.