par4dcourse Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 I'm a pretty tender hearted old fart. I love kids and animals and old people, have done my best to be good to all most my life, and think anybody who hurts any of the above should be drawn and quartered. Unfortunately in my life, I have met those who would take advantage of anyone anywhere, and were just downright mean inside. Since I don't believe in the supernatural in any form, I'm wondering where the difference lies. I'm naive enough to believe most people are decent, but what makes the bad bad? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chefranden Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 I'm a pretty tender hearted old fart. I love kids and animals and old people, have done my best to be good to all most my life, and think anybody who hurts any of the above should be drawn and quartered.Unfortunately in my life, I have met those who would take advantage of anyone anywhere, and were just downright mean inside. Since I don't believe in the supernatural in any form, I'm wondering where the difference lies. I'm naive enough to believe most people are decent, but what makes the bad bad? The Just World Theory Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noob Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 My very first thought – what makes bad bad? Hemorrhoids! My second thought – florduh asks a tough question to end 2008 and par4dcourse asks a tough question to begin 2009. What is it with you two? I think we all have the potential to be good or bad. I believe that genetics and environment both play a big role in the final outcome. For example, I raised my nephew from the time he was 2 years and nine months old until adulthood. He was rarely around his birth father, but sometimes he acts so much like the man, it is eerie. But, he is also so much like me (in all the positive ways!) that many people find it hard to believe that I did not give birth to him. Environment can create personality disorders that enable people to cross over into the “bad” zone. (Please note: the following is used for example purposes only. I am not saying that my sisters behave badly towards others.) I have two sisters. One is two years older than me and one is two years younger. My older sister has an eating disorder. She has had gastric bypass surgery and after losing over 100 lbs. she managed to gain the weight back. My younger sister has a substance abuse problem. After a lifetime of drug addition, she had electroshock therapy treatments at age 40 and now she lives her life as a semi-zombie. As the middle child, my obsessive compulsive behavior manifests itself in over-achieving. This behavior appears “good” compared to my sisters' obsessive compulsive behaviors, but given free rein, it can be just as deadly and damaging. But… (and here I hopefully get to the answer) no matter what behavior I am exhibiting, I always feel as if I have a governor (a control that maintains a steady speed in a machine) of sorts that keeps me from going too far. I’ll gain weight to a point, and then my brain goes, whoa – enough is enough – and I lose weight. I will imbibe in too much alcohol to a point, and then my brain puts on the brakes. I believe that people who can be cruel to animals, children and elderly people have a genetic disposition or something in their environment that influences them negatively. And then, for some reason unknown to me, they do not have a governor or control over their behavior to stop them from behaving badly towards others. So... there is my "too much time on my hands" answer to your "too much time on your hands" question!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Realist Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 I'm a pretty tender hearted old fart. I love kids and animals and old people, have done my best to be good to all most my life, and think anybody who hurts any of the above should be drawn and quartered.Unfortunately in my life, I have met those who would take advantage of anyone anywhere, and were just downright mean inside. Since I don't believe in the supernatural in any form, I'm wondering where the difference lies. I'm naive enough to believe most people are decent, but what makes the bad bad? What separates good from bad? Here are my 2 cents! Firstly I guess define what IS “good” or “bad”? Is this not likely to draw a different response from different people from different walks of life? Is it not what one judges in their OWN mind which determines what THEY regard as good or evil? For example … a few years back any one of us when still Christians would have regarded this as an EVIL site! What has changed? The perception in ones own mind. I guess all I am trying to say here is that to ME evil or good is something quantified in the individuals OWN mind. There is nothing in particular that acts as a measure over which boundary something becomes good or evil. I guess only extremes are the cases easy to quantify. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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