Ambrosia Software Web Board: Evil - Ambrosia Software Web Board

Do you regard the following things as evil?

Hypocrisy

Censorship

Adultery

Killing (not necessarily unjust)

Drugs

Waste


If not, why not?

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There are only 3 kinds of people: those who can count, and those who can't.

Hypocrisy is just silly.

Censorship can be bad, etc., although I try to avoid labelling things that actually exist as "evil," because "evil" does not exist. More on the censorship, it's sometimes bad, and can potentially be good.

Adultery would be bad in most situations, but again, it could potentially be good, somehow.

Killing's fine, only problem is it's hard to do it pain-free.

Drugs are fine, as well, although they generally do seem to mess people's lives up, and people generally shouldn't attempt to operate a car or heavy machinery while high.

And waste is inefficient, and it needs to be watched, and cut back on, if humans as a race want to survive for forever like they all seem to want to do.

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"Test the bloody thing, or it won't be the only bloody thing!"

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1. stupid but not really EVIL.
2. evil in most cases(national security an exception perhaps? can't have someone leaking those nuke plans to iraq can we )
3. yes
4. killing in self-defense is not evil. murder, however, is.
5. Drugs are not evil. In fact I've never heard even the most rabid antidrug crusader call penicillin or asprin evil The evil is in how they are used, not in the object itself.
6. It could be said that waste is evil, as it wastes resources that others might need now or in the future.

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GR/[url="http://"http://magleague.com/downloads/chat.html"]MaGChat[/url]: Col. El Patrick
#2 on MaG Ares season 1

Most of those things are too nebulous to just be defined as 'evil' or 'not evil.'

Hypocrisy sometimes can be beneficial to people. Other times, it isn't.

Censorship is pretty much as above. Yet usually, is most annoying.

Adultery I'm not even going to bother with.

I disagree that murder is always evil, and predictably, believe killing can sometimes be good, sometimes be bad.

Drugs, no.

Waste....morally wrong? I don't think so.



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1: When people speak they have a tendency to make themselves appear in the fairest and best possible way to others. Eliminating hypocrisy would either eliminate people speaking like that, or would eliminate people speaking like that and then refusing to follow through on what they say. I'm not sure what we have in exchange for hypocrisy, but since it is not regarded as evil then perhaps there's something we don't know about?

2: My old stance on this would be no if it's aiding my group, but I think that to get something we need to sacrifice something, and as yet I have no tabs good or bad on what life would be like in a censor-free environment. Also remember that if censorship applies to us then it must also apply to our enemies, such as right now Al Qaeda. That would certainly make it easier for us to track them down would it not?

3: What's more evil, sexuality or the loss of free will? Because I'm assuming without sexuality no one would have reason to have sex outside of marriage, so it depends on what you're preferences in the matter. Both free will and sexuality are very important.

4: In terms of intention, I would give far more 'weight' to someone whos intentions have less to do with killing the other person. There is also evil in the conditions which caused the death to occur. No one should have to die before their time for 'good' reasons.

5: This is a consumer based society with pleasure as it's prime object. People who take drugs are carrying their social indoctrination and their own feelings just one step ahead of us. To not think this is good would be to differ in the opinion that pleasure is the ultimate and only object in life.

6: Depends how much need and supply there is, and how much the waste threatens society. If we needed all the oxygen we could get, then wasting it would be evil, no? Also if the environment is a resource, then environmentalists believe that wasting it is evil.

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That's why I posted them.


Ok, I have a new question that I foolishly forgot to implement

7. Selfishness?

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There are only 3 kinds of people: those who can count, and those who can't.

I figured for something to be a truly evil act it would have to be something done consciously -- otherwise, one could say a cat is evil for killing a mouse not in self defence, when in reality, it just does it out of instinct.

And as there is no such thing as a completely selfless person, I'd say being selfish is also an instinctive act, and so couldn't really be defined as evil.


Hmmm, are you hinting at that whole 'sex outside of marriage is wrong' ideal, Joveia, or did I just read it wrong?

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Absolutly not. While selfishness can be a part of evility, it in itself is not evil, and more to the point, I believe selfishness can be very good.

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The Journalist- International Man of Markers

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When?

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On GR/AIM/MAGChat: Onii7
I Did it! I made it past 400!
The computer doesn't get slower, it's the newer computers that get faster. -Taylor

capitalism

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GR/[url="http://"http://magleague.com/downloads/chat.html"]MaGChat[/url]: Col. El Patrick
#2 on MaG Ares season 1

True true.

Remember the wise words of Socrates: "There is only one good, knowledge, and one evil, ignorance" (from Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers)

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"In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. But, in practice, there is."
- Jan L.A. van de Snepscheut

I don't think selfishness could be defined as good or evil. It's neutral. It can lead people to do "evil" things, but also good things. And, as Laguna pointed out, it is instinctual.

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"Test the bloody thing, or it won't be the only bloody thing!"

Depends on the circumstances. If it helps me, good. If it hurts me or something I care about, evil.

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"Companions the creator seeks, not corpses, not herds or believers. Fellow creators the creator seeks -- those who write new values on new tablets.' -- Friedrich Nietzsche
[url="http://"http://www.cafepress.com/homefish"]The Store of Bruce[/url]
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Selfishness doesn't originate through emotions or other 'natural' pursuits, it arises purely from logic. Because we know that humans have been encouraged my nature to always work together and to form bigger and bigger groups, and become more powerful. We have tons of sociological and psychological existentia that makes selflessness possible.

So eradicating selflessness would essentially be eradicating logic as undertaken by a single person. Until we get collectivity then selfishness cannot be evil, unless logic and the ability to think rationally is evil.

On the limits of selfishness. I think that selfishness has a natural limit imposed on it from without (the group) because if people stepped over that limit they would threaten the existence of the group, so all our social conditioning is in placing those limits (one such limit is morals.) As long as you don't step over that limit the group has no reason to persecute you. So within the limits it is good, outside of the limits (heinous selfish acts) it is evil.

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Evil is certainly not more than the emphasis people place upon it, but it is still a powerful influence. In that sense, it does exist. In the sense that it can somehow exist OUTSIDE of the psyche, of a person that is myth.

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SHUT THE **** UP.

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There are only 3 kinds of people: those who can count, and those who can't.

[This message has been edited by Joveia (edited 08-24-2002).]

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Why the anger?

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"Companions the creator seeks, not corpses, not herds or believers. Fellow creators the creator seeks -- those who write new values on new tablets.' -- Friedrich Nietzsche
[url="http://"http://www.cafepress.com/homefish"]The Store of Bruce[/url]
[url="http://"http://www.sourcecod.com/~homefish"] Return of the Webboard Theory Site [/url]

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It's my strange Australian sense of humour... what I meant to say is that I like what your saying, but I don't really think that you could decide that's it's good based on helping just you, also are you sure that you would divide your sense of good and evil wholly into what affects you and your friends? (Of course, I could be ignoring that you consider your country as something you care about.) I don't really know much about you, much to my loss.

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There are only 3 kinds of people: those who can count, and those who can't.

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How long did it take you to compose that?

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The Journalist- International Man of Markers

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I just have alot of this philosophical stuff up my sleeve, so I'm really re-iterating what I've been through before now... that said about 5-10 minutes.

I also like the fact that people replied to this. Sort of change my stance a bit, I think I learned something. I also knew that posting this topic would be a bad idea in some way, but I'm not sure (how?) yet.


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There are only 3 kinds of people: those who can count, and those who can't.

Groups vs individuals.

Comments?

[This message has been edited by Joveia (edited 08-30-2002).]

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That's amazing to the point of scaryness

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The Journalist- International Man of Markers

That I can remember philosophically related material?

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There are only 3 kinds of people: those who can count, and those who can't.

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No, that you can use it in a relevant argument without driving people up the wall. Or do you want to drive people up the wall?

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The Journalist- International Man of Markers

I am a maker of corn.

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There are only 3 kinds of people: those who can count, and those who can't.


[This message has been edited by Joveia (edited 09-02-2002).]

Hey, this is rice making territory, bud. Get with things or get out!

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"Typical Americanism. Somebody else does it so we have to do it wrong."

No, no no! We must grow grass!

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"Nobody pays attention anymore"
"What?"

Agricultural discrimination. Help.

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There are only 3 kinds of people: those who can count, and those who can't.