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Why be good?

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Comments

  • #92
    s7ryf3925pivug
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,007 ✭✭✭s7ryf3925pivug


    Most people are nice enough online. You just dont notice people being nice enough and not saying much when there are a few people ranting non-stop mixed in with them.


  • #93
    Tell me how
    Registered Users Posts: 21,517 ✭✭✭✭Tell me how


    SharpshooterTom wrote: »
    Most people are assholes online, I actually asked this question over a month ago here, obviously the anonymity factor is huge coupled with the fact that there are no repercussions for dickish behaviour.

    But I do believe why so many people are rude and obnoxious online, lacking any empathy, is indicative of what most people actually are when the mask is taken away from them.

    My online interactions especially on twitter following politics has made me increasingly misanthropic.

    It's an interesting concept. My gut reaction is to disagree with it because I think, instinctively, we are more inclined to want to be part of a group than to be isolated and so being nice is more conducive to that. There are of course outliers to this. Not everyone wants to be part of a group, but, generally more do than don't I think.

    I do think the anonymity factor does influence online behaviour, but not sure if it is to mean that people reveal their true colours, or just that people are seeking to stand out and that it is easier to do so by being argumentative or rude.


  • #94
    JaCrispy
    Registered Users Posts: 627 ✭✭✭JaCrispy


    Zebra3 wrote: »
    Faith? You mean believing in something that does not exist. Easier if you say it that way. Reveals it all for the swindle that it is.



    Prove I'm not "God".


    Bigotry is alive and well on boards.


  • #95
    joe40
    Registered Users Posts: 3,811 ✭✭✭joe40


    SharpshooterTom wrote: »
    Most humans are inherently bad when pushed, we're a terrible species and it wouldn't be the worst day in the world honestly when the human race ceases to exist.

    Ah now, we're not that bad.


  • #96
    Potential-Monke
    Registered Users Posts: 13,798 ✭✭✭✭Potential-Monke


    Deleted User wrote: »
    So, I'm generally good because of the law of attraction. Doing good, attracts good things to happen.

    I used to believe this, but it took me a long time to realise that the good I was giving was not being reciprocated, and indeed my goodness was being taken advantage of. Go forward a few more years, and due to working as a Garda and dealing with scum, and seeing mostly the bad in life, has left me a good bit colder, and quite pessimistic about life and humanity.

    As an example, I genuinely believe that the vast majority of people who do good is because of option 4, because it applies to everyone even if they picked 1, 2 or 3. It makes you feel good: personal gratification. Because otherwise society would disintegrate: benefits you. Because God told me to: so I can get into heaven/on the good side of my chosen deity. It's like those folks who post that they've donated to charity, or who share those horror stories from other countries and throw in a line about how hard it must be, all the while posting on their latest iPhone connected to Wi-Fi in their first world society, it's all done for personal gratification and want of other people to tell you how good you are.

    Now, I'm basically a hermit. I'm still good to people, but the amount of people is very small in comparison to what it used to be, and it's mainly friends and family (which is still bordering on the one-way street thing). An example, I give my of-age nieces lifts to/from pubs/clubs/gatherings. It works for me, because I work/live nights, so when I'm not working I'm awake anyway. Aside from the odd time the nieces give me money for fuel, the parents give me feck all for saving them the bother of having to do it/pay for taxis. They did get me a stand for my PS4/PSVR and accessories last Christmas, which I genuinely didn't expect, so that was nice, but still a fraction of what I did for them (including bringing their drunken loud asses home on occasion). You could say that I'm just bitter for giving and not receiving, but isn't that the crux of this thread?

    A lot of give and very little receipt will wear one down eventually. That's what happened with me. And I genuinely think the vast majority of humanity are takers, with little to no concern for their fellow humans outside of their own little cliched circle. I know there are exceptions, not everyone is like this, and you actually find nicer people in poorer places, but first world countries are littered with self entitled, self important liars, who would quickly turn to you for help but turn their back when you need it.

    Hermitism for life! And basically, the only reason I'm good these times is because I just couldn't be dealing with the fallout from being bad. So, self gratification still.


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  • #97
    PTH2009
    Registered Users Posts: 37,712 ✭✭✭✭PTH2009


    TV glamorouis criminals (shows like Love/Hate, Shameless and the likes)

    Esp in this country some bad people get left off easy for there crimes. Dodgy people have there ways of sneaking through life while good people who try and do right get ****ed

    I'd rather just be good in life, live it well, try my best and be happy. There will be always be pricks who try and put you down


  • #98
    Rubberchikken
    Registered Users Posts: 5,083 ✭✭✭Rubberchikken


    I behave as I so because it's the way I am. I consider myself decent and reasonably honest/fair etc, and am always willing to acknowledge my failings.

    Treat me fair and civilly and I'll return the favor.
    Don't, and I wouldn't pi$s on you if you were on fire in front of me.

    And of course there's a god. And he hasn't done a bad job overall.


  • #99
    garyscargo
    Registered Users Posts: 121 ✭✭garyscargo


    Because E.T. said so. You know, right before or after he fingered that kid (can't remember which).


  • #100
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭[Deleted User]


    Potential-Monke wrote: »
    I used to believe this, but it took me a long time to realise that the good I was giving was not being reciprocated, and indeed my goodness was being taken advantage of. Go forward a few more years, and due to working as a Garda and dealing with scum, and seeing mostly the bad in life, has left me a good bit colder, and quite pessimistic about life and humanity.

    As an example, I genuinely believe that the vast majority of people who do good is because of option 4, because it applies to everyone even if they picked 1, 2 or 3..

    Well, I haven't given everything up "to the universe". It's mostly a nice idea that I use as a frame for what my routine is in regards to life. As for seeing people in a bad way..... I was a credit controller (similar to a debt collector) for well over a decade, whereby my job was to listen to people lie to me. Then I became a teacher, which often felt that my job was to be some kind of clown while many tried to cheat around me, because they were cleverer. Which they rarely were. You can frame people any way you want.... that's a lesson in itself.

    For example, On a personal level, I cut away the users and abusers. The people who constantly demand my attention so that they can complain about their own life, or others. Those kind of people are energy vampires who suck the joy of life out of others, because their negativity is constant. Been there, done that, and no interest tolerating it again. So I tend to surround myself with friends/relationships, which don't make me want to murder anyone.

    I don't try to categorize people into groups, in fact, I rarely think about them at all, simply falling back on my instincts to determine whether they're someone I want to spend time with. After some practice, instinct can be a powerful guide about the people I meet in life. (I live in a predominately non-white nation, with an extremely difficult language to learn).

    Honestly, I don't think much about people anymore. Oh I did when I was younger, confused by their behavior (and my own), angry or bitter at the wide range of negative experiences. However, now in my 40s, I no longer feel that way. I've learned to simply "let go". Very little bothers me anymore.

    As for whether people are generally good... err... I don't think it really matters because of how changeable most people are.


  • #101
    8kczg9v0swrydm
    Closed Accounts Posts: 119 ✭✭8kczg9v0swrydm


    Deleted User wrote: »
    I find it really weird and quite disturbing that some people need to imagine there's a god looking over their shoulder in order to be good people. Does that mean they are suppressing a darker side of themselves to please their God and receive some reward in the afterlife but don't actually have a true and natural desire to live a good life and be kind to the people around them?!

    I not sure it quite works that way. I think many religious people seek to do good not out of a fear of God, but to please Him, as He is the good Father of all humanity. It would be similar to doing something kind to your biological sibling to please your dad who loves you both.

    Although, a consideration of the justice of God can be a good initial teacher of morality or a last line of defense against yourself and your disordered passions. I think that most of us are aware of situations where we knew something was very wrong, but there was massive internal or external pressure to nevertheless 'go for it'. For a Christian, the knowledge that the action will result in turning our back on God in a serious way could just make the difference.

    As for a natural desire to do good, I would agree that it is there (again, for a Christian it would just be another sign of God's handiwork). However, this is so general and vague, that without a serious moral education a person can persuade himself that everything that he does is 'good'. Circles will be squared. The goodness in the human being has to be channeled properly, so that the good is an objective one, not merely subjective and therefore relative.


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