Challenging My Moral Beliefs

slum dog

Yesterday I decided I would challeng my moral beliefs. I went to the shop to buy my friend a phone as she couldnt do it due to her having an argument with the sales assistant that morning. She gave me the exact price of the phone and when I bought it the sales assistant discovered I qualified for a 30 pound discount. When I realised this, I realised my friend would be very happy once she discovered she had saved herself the 30 pound. Instead, I pocketed the money and never mentioned the discount to my friend even though I was so consumed with guilt. My friend was none the wiser. I decided there and then that I would no longer be bound to my moral beliefs, and at every opportunity I will ruthlessly challenge them. This for me raises alot of questions. Where do our moral beliefs come from? Is it birth, are we born with them or is just what we perceive as societies codes?

I believe our moral codes shape who we are and if we are to truly discover ourselves and embrace individuality, we need to abandon them at al costs!

Bloody Nipples

the tl;dr version: "I have decided to become a thief."

sollar

By your friend a pint to ease the guilt slum dog millionaire

Micky Dolenz

Thank fcuk I don't have sneaky mates like you. Or maybe I do and I don't know it. That's the worst thing about sneaky people, they are.....sly.

4zn76tysfajdxp

slum dog wrote: »

I qualified for a 30 pound discount.

I supposed we're gonna have to start calling you "slim dog" now, huh?

Seachmall

Not ****ing people over is typically innate but some concepts are abstract and don't really qualify (even though they might be intellectually the same thing they don't generate emotional responses).

stovelid

This is what happens when kids discover The Fountainhead during overly long school holidays. Time to reduce school summer holidays to a fortnight.

Sanjuro

Glad I don't have friends like you, OP.

The question you asked is nature vs. nurture. There is no answer, really. Just theories.

Sweatynutsack

Your friend was prepared to spend the money either way !!
I would'nt feel guilty, you done exactly what he/she would do to you

OutlawPete

slum dog wrote: »

She gave me the exact price of the phone and when I bought it the sales assistant discovered I qualified for a 30 pound discount.

So your friend wouldn't have got that discount? Your money so. If my mate was buying a merc for €20,000 and I could get it for €18,000 .. I'd tell him I could get it for €19,000, then everyone wins, lovely jubbly. You need to get in touch with your inner Del Boy mate.

Micky Dolenz

I blame your parent/s.

who the fug

Pass

BBDBB

you have an interesting definition of the term "mate"

MungBean

I dont know which is worse, the fact that you sold your morals for 30 quid or the fact that ya think it was a great idea.

Morals are based on social etiquette, if you act like a cúnt people will think your a cúnt and wont want anything to do with ya.

mackg

–noun
1. a person attached to another by feelings of affection or personal regard.

2. a person who gives assistance; patron; supporter: friends of the Boston Symphony.

3. a person who is on good terms with another; a person who is not hostile: Who goes there? Friend or foe?

You clearly used the wrong word here, friend does not apply to your relationship with this person, perhaps my "mark" or "target" would be more appropriate.

Logical Fallacy

slum dog wrote: »

I believe our moral codes shape who we are and if we are to truly discover ourselves and embrace individuality, we need to abandon them at al costs!

There is a lot of basic reading that you need to do before you can appreciate how true or flawed that statement is.

I would suggest starting with Cosmo, that will put your right.

Pretty_Pistol

Did your friend not see the discount on the receipt? I couldn't do that I'd feel too guilty.

kingtut

It was your friends money not yours! GIVE IT BACK! :mad:

slum dog

Pretty_Pistol wrote: »

Did your friend not see the discount on the receipt? I couldn't do that I'd feel too guilty.

no i destroyed it before she could find out

stovelid

On a serious note, it's hypocritical to jettison a cherry-picked instance of what you call morality to justify a single incident that is financially beneficial to you when you exist under the protective umbrella of many other ostensibly 'hypocritical' societal codes such as the ones that (mostly) facilitate the safe ownership of your own possessions and strive to protect you from assault, rape, or murder.

How are you fixed for the Junior cert next year?

OutlawPete

OP, on a scale of 1 to 10, how wealthy are you and how wealthy is your mate?

As, this is the crux of issue on whether you are going to hell, or are in fact .. a latter day Robin Hood.

kingtut

slum dog wrote: »

no i destroyed it before she could find out

and so if it breaks or she needs a replacement she has no proof of purchase.... now who is a clever boy then :pac:

slum dog

kingtut wrote: »

It was your friends money not yours! GIVE IT BACK! :mad:

technically she was willing to depart withe the 90 quid anyway. she got her phone, the shop got its money and i got a discount!

RedXIV

kingtut wrote: »

It was your friends money not yours! GIVE IT BACK! :mad:

Technically, and I stress this, its not his friends money. Had the process been carried out by the friend, they would have paid full whack. technically its the companies money he's taken but even still, to earn the discount, it would imply he's providing a service to the company he made the purchase from which would imply he's "earned" the discount.

Pompey Magnus

Bloody Nipples wrote: »

the tl;dr version: "I have decided to become a thief."

The OP qualified for the discount, not the friend. Why should the friend get the benefit of a reward the phone company gave to the OP for his past custom with them?

MitchKoobski

Call it your fee for having to deal with her issues.

She had an argument with the sales assistant, so she sent you in. Sounds to me like she rightly pissed off the sales assistant, wouldn't admit the argument was wrong, and so sent you in to do her work for her.

This entitles you to a "putting up with this bullshít" fee.

digme

slum dog wrote: »

no i destroyed it before she could find out

now i know your story is fake

Logical Fallacy

To be honest, this only becomes a true morality experiment if you tell your friend what you did.

The fact that you claim you have destroyed the receipt and kept the money implies you didn't want your friend to find out, so have some kind of guilt about things. As such, you are not as moral free over the issue as you claim.

sollar

You know how boards works by now OP. If you came on saying you give your friend the €30 discount... 90% of posters would be telling you you should have kept it.

slum dog

stovelid wrote: »

On a serious note, it's hypocritical to jettison a cherry-picked instance of what you call morality to justify a single incident that is financially beneficial to you when you exist under the protective umbrella of many other ostensibly 'hypocritical' societal codes such as the ones that (mostly) facilitate the safe ownership of your own possessions and strive to protect you from assault, rape, or murder.

How are you fixed for the Junior cert next year?

the idea had been lingering in my mind for quite a while now, and just had to find the courage within to go through with it.
been a nice guy in life gets you nowhere. its a dog eat dog world out there

MungBean

slum dog wrote: »

the idea had been lingering in my mind for quite a while now, and just had to find the courage within to go through with it.
been a nice guy in life gets you nowhere. its a dog eat dog world out there

And you think what you did was courageous ? lol jesus christ your messed up.

kingtut

slum dog wrote: »

technically she was willing to depart withe the 90 quid anyway. she got her phone, the shop got its money and i got a discount!

If your friend did not need the phone then you would not have been in the shop and you would have no discount. Look at it the other way, if someone did it to you would you like it (assuming you found out about it) ? I'd be pissed!!

RedXIV wrote: »

Technically, and I stress this, its not his friends money. Had the process been carried out by the friend, they would have paid full whack. technically its the companies money he's taken but even still, to earn the discount, it would imply he's providing a service to the company he made the purchase from which would imply he's "earned" the discount.

It is his friends money! Always was always will be!

OP - What was the reason for you getting the discount, are you a regular? Would your friend have received the same discount?

BBDBB

slum dog wrote: »

the idea had been lingering in my mind for quite a while now, and just had to find the courage within to go through with it.
been a nice guy in life gets you nowhere. its a dog eat dog world out there

are you writing these from your secret volcano lair?

slum dog

kingtut wrote: »

If your friend did not need the phone then you would not have been in the shop and you would have no discount. Look at it the other way, if someone did it to you would you like it (assuming you found out about it) ? I'd be pissed!!



It is his friends money! Always was always will be!

OP - What was the reason for you getting the discount, are you a regular? Would your friend have received the same discount?

i honestly dont know but Im assuming they knew I was buying the phone for my friend and this maybe the reason why...

MungBean

slum dog wrote: »

i honestly dont know but Im assuming they knew I was buying the phone for my friend and this maybe the reason why...

So you did steal the money then.

stovelid

slum dog wrote: »

its a dog eat dog world out there

Just wait until you move out. It gets worse.

Seachmall

I you had purchased the phone with your own money at the discounted price and then sold it on to your friend at the retail price then that is fine. You purchased and resold it for a profit.

However, I suspect your friend gave you money and asked you to buy the phone. You purchased the phone at a discounted price with her money and pocketed the extra. You stole it.

If she believed the price to be E120 but was in fact only E90 would you have pocketed the extra? It's the same thing regardless if the discount was only for you, it was not your money to decide to keep.

You did not purchase anything, it was not your money. You lied to your friend (albeit through omission) and stole their money. You are not a good friend, there is no moral justification as far as I can see.

slum dog

Seachmall wrote: »

I you had purchased the phone with your own money at the discounted price and then sold it on to your friend at the retail price then that is fine. You purchased and resold it for a profit.

However, I suspect your friend gave you money and asked you to buy the phone. You purchased the phone at a discounted price with her money and pocketed the extra. You stole it.

If your friend believed the price to be E90 but when you went in they were holding a sale and purchased it for E60 there is no moral justification for keeping the extra E30.

You did not purchase anything, it was not your money. You lied to your friend (albeit through omission) and stole their money. You are not a good friend, there is no moral justification as far as I can see.

moral justification? what is this you speak of?

Orando Broom

STOP HIM!!! He's thieving the internets!!!!

OP for what it's worth I think your story is bollox. Man up and have the moral courage to tell the truth. You never did that. You thought about it but didn't.

mackg

If I was your friend and you gave me back the 30e and told me what happened I would have brought us to the pub for a pint or two and a game of pool with the money...since you kept the money you should do the same.

Captain Darling

I was expecting some philosophical debate on the moral belief systems in society today. A stirring, engaging questioning of our values contrasted with those of different cultures.

What did i get? Some jam rag shafting their mate out of a few sheckels.

slum dog

Captain Darling wrote: »

I was expecting some philosophical debate on the moral belief systems in society today. A stirring, engaging questioning of our values contrasted with those of different cultures.

What did i get? Some jam rag shafting their mate out of a few sheckels.

funny you say that considering your background

Son Of A Vidic

OP - here's a suggestion, why don't you change your username from Slum dog to Scum dog. It certainly seems more appropriate for you.

Captain Darling

slum dog wrote: »

funny you say that considering your background

I always get my pound of flesh. :cool:

bnt

I favour the evolutionary hypothesis: the idea that immoral thieves in previous generations would have the crap kicked out of them. If they continued to be dicks, they would be, to put it politely, emasculated, this assuring that their dickishness would not pollute future generations of humanity. Killing them would do the job too, of course.

The point being: if you want to survive and breed, in a society, you need to co-operate and not screw over your fellow man. Now, if only we could enforce that, somehow ...

nozzferrahhtoo

slum dog wrote: »

Yesterday I decided I would challeng my moral beliefs.

It sounds like you did not challenge them, you broke them. That is a different thing.

slum dog wrote: »

This for me raises alot of questions. Where do our moral beliefs come from?

This link here might help you further, its something I wrote some time ago.

OutlawPete

bnt wrote: »

If they continued to be dicks, they would be, to put it politely, emasculated, this assuring that their dickishness would not pollute future generations of humanity.

I know women don't have dicks, but I'm pretty sure they can be dicks, so what was their punishment of the time?

slum dog

bnt wrote: »

I favour the evolutionary hypothesis: the idea that immoral thieves in previous generations would have the crap kicked out of them. If they continued to be dicks, they would be, to put it politely, emasculated, this assuring that their dickishness would not pollute future generations of humanity. Killing them would do the job too, of course.

The point being: if you want to survive and breed, in a society, you need to co-operate and not screw over your fellow man. Now, if only we could enforce that, somehow ...

you can also survive and breed through deception

pickarooney

So how did you get the discount? Does your using the discount now prevent you from availing of the same discount were you to purchase a phone for yourself later?

Actually forget that - what we all want to know is the details of the argument? Was there hair pulled? Did she get banned from the shop? Did you get pictures?

Seachmall

OutlawPete wrote: »

I know women don't have dicks, but I'm pretty sure they can be dicks, so what was their punishment of the time?

Rape.

Not joking, it was quite likely the punishment. I can't imagine anything else more demeaning than rape.

endabob1

It's clearly made up, op destroyed the receipt, yeah here's 90 quid for a phone but don't worry about bringing me the receipt because nothing could ever go wrong with it