Do you know what good behaviour is, do you know what is bad? Like I, you may have intuitions as to what constitutes this but like me, you are probably wrong. There really is no such thing as good and bad if we look from the universal/natural view. There is possible/impossible and since the impossible is impossible, it is a non-starter for universal consideration.
However, from a societal standpoint, there are such things as good and bad as there are sets of social rules that dictate what these things are but, the system is far from perfect so, it is always changing. Hopefully, it is changing for the better.
When the rules are made, not every aspect is considered and at times, many are actively ignored. Once the rule is acted upon, one could say that they are acting acceptably but does this make it true? Nope. For example, slavery required a whole range of active ignorances (many continue today) in order to be able to create laws that would oppress and harm many, many people. The caste system in India does the same to a large degree.
What is bad though? Well, one might be born into an environment that actively causes harm to others to benefit oneself and may think nothing of it but, once one discovers the harm being done, one now has ethical questions. It need not be against a person, it could be toward the environment.
If one sees the harm that they do and still chooses to act that way, I would consider that bad behaviour. Ignorance is only an excuse that will get you so far and once the information (or even the possibility) that actions are harmful, one must take a step back and consider changing behaviours otherwise one is knowingly causing harm. Would you consider someone who actively causes harm ill-mannered?
Now, this is the problem we all face as often, there are 'questions' due to the claims of harm and various lobby groups can throw doubt into the mix. What this does is create options to choose from and many people will choose the options that benefit them the most by choosing the option that minimizes the appearance of the harm they cause.
Think about climate change where people argue over whether it is man-made or natural, although it doesn't matter. Climate change affects us all and we should be doing what we can to combat it, not arguing why we should be allowed to continue with the same behaviours or not. In my opinion, those who are arguing for staying the same are behaving badly. Funnily enough, those who don't want to change are the ones who are benefiting the most from not changing. What a surprise.
And, this is the crux of the matter isn't it? If one acts in self interest at another's expense knowingly, does that make them bad? The issue is that they can still work within the legal and social framework.
Think about smoking and nicotine. Even though every doctor on earth will testify to its harm and the very, very, very, strong correlation to cancers, the tobacco lobbying and tax incomes mean that they are not only still able to be sold, in developing countries they can be heavily advertised. It is almost unanimous and undisputed that it causes cancer, are the tobacco companies behaving badly considering they are knowingly advertising to minors and bribing officials?
Do you have to justify your actions, do you have to say 'well, the system allows it'? Have you considered that even if the system allows it, it doesn't mean that the behaviours are good. Once upon a time some systems allowed men to rape and beat their wives. Good behaviour? Oh, that still happens in some places today. How do you feel about that ladies? well, the law is the law.
There is no true definition of what is good or bad, ethical or moral that all can agree to so, it is up to each individual to take responsibility for their own actions. This doesn't mean no harm is caused however so when it is apparent or when there is the chance that what one does is harmful, pay attention and investigate rather than find excuses not to change.
Almost all people in this world want a better world yet, most are unwilling to change their behaviours to make it so instead. They will actively ignore the evidence and fight tooth and nail so they don't have to be the ones to change.
You see the issue don't you? Be the change you want to see in the world is the advice to make this world better yet no one wants to be it, they want everyone else to change first. Good behaviour? Well, perhaps that what people are doing. They are changing themselves to get exactly what they want no matter the cost to others. It seems what people want to see in the world is more suffering, as long as it isn't them.
Yeah, this didn't answer the questions nor was it a guide on good and bad but perhaps, it will raise some questions in your own behaviours and the way you look at those of others. Just because a system allows it, it doesn't make it good and continually accepting it as such means that things are unlikely to change soon.
We need continually better as this world is a long way from being the kind of world most of us want. What is your role in this mess, are you picking up trash or throwing more down?
Taraz
[ a Steemit original ]
@tarazkp Wow one of your best posts/thoughts ever. I was at the exact same point. But you can only talk to people about this if they are ready for the objective view on good and bad, who understand that "the universe" doesn't know good and bad/right and wrong and valueing of any kind, just causality. Most people don't even want to think about it because they strawman your point with the idea that you have said there is no right and wrong and that you said it's ok to kill somenone, which you simply didn't. You just wanted to show how the linear binary concept of good and evil is man-made and needs a lot of analysis and open-mindedness to not do bad in the name of good. There are just a few people who think that deep. Those people are rare as fck. That's why i absolutly am in love with you now, man!! 😍😆👍
Yeah, ¡One More Time! I think 'one thousand words' are of relevancy on this post too. :)
The messy life of those who know.
¡Definitely! :)
If you are seeking morality deriving from this plane of existence, you will never be able to define "good" and "evil." From a purely rational perspective, morality is not real; that is the reason for secularists using the term "ethics." Ethics is just a series of rules agreed upon by members of society, no different from legal statutes; neither has any authority or legitimacy other than via application of force.
In the modern Western cesspool that has excised God from their society, the only authority and legitimacy derives from force and power. The strong does what he can, and the weak suffer what he must. That is reality and truth.
That is a pretty bleak view of it. I think that even a person alone who has never experienced a society would still create a set of rules with which to govern their life. Thy wouldn't require a god either.
The set of rules created ex nihilo has no value, legitimacy, or authority than paranoid delusions of a schizophrenic. Just because a collection of men document their wish list does not make such a list imbued with universal values. Morality cannot exist without invoking the divine.
It does matter wheter climate change is man-made or natural.
It is important to know whether we have the power to change our planet's climate.
Interesting question to ask is this: If it somehow turned out that we have no power to influence the Earth's climate, that we are too insignificant to make those drastic changes... how many of those environmental activists would keep fighting?
We have the power, that is unanimous as all it takes is a few nuclear explosions at the poles. Whether we can improve it is a question.
Activism is the new religion of the secular humanism. Would the Faithful abandon their religion were they presented with information that contrdicts their religious belief system?
Good and Bad are very loosely tied to law. Law is a set of rules used to keep order in society using standards dictated by the ruling class of that society. The good and bad are moral definitions and they differ from man to man. In my opinion a good person is someone who doesnt intentionally cause harm to another person. This definition is possible only in our modern comfortable society. I do my best to be a good and moral person - my intuition guides me but for that you have to have a conscience , that a lot of people living in survival mode around the world don't have yet. Thank you for making this post it really got me thinking
It is very loosely tied but can never be enacted by a law although laws may try. Good and bad must be a self-governed position where an individual chooses their path. Force will only ever lead to more force.
Sometimes the terms "good" and "bad" are relative too. There may be some things which are considered good in a certain culture and bad in another culture and vice versa.
That's why we have to be open-minded and very carefully with valueing things. What might be good for humanity could be bad for the flora and fauna. What might seem good short term could be bad long term. What priviledges the one group discriminates another group. Dangerous it becomes when bad is paired with believes and good and bad become to good and evil and people go on a witchhunt dong the worst to people thinking that they actually do good. And i don't mean just religion, could be any kind of ideology..
The 'self-image' is the key to human personality and human behavior. Change the self image and you change the personality and the behavior. Beautiful picture though.
self-image might be the reason for so much suffering.
Apvot and follow @mahdisaputra94
Good and bad behavior depends on how someone is free with someone because it arises from your promiscuity
you think so?
This is an EXCELLENT post - I hope it reaches far and wide across Steemit. I'll be sharing it on my Facebook.
This naturally makes me want to talk about why I'm vegetarian. I always say that eating animals 200 years or so from now will be seen in the same light as what slavery is seen in today.
And if ever there were an ethical area in which one can see wilful ignorance, it's in this one. My own wife accompanied me as I did the research before deciding to become vegetarian. She cried while watching the videos of the factory farms and the documentaries describing the problem of how, while animals are seen as products, are products, they will be treated as such. The faster those cows can mature, the better. What is McDonald's daily quota for beef worldwide? And the chickens whose bones are so weak they're unable to move. Some places tear off the beak and shove a tube down their neck to force-feed them.
Anyway, we watched all this and she truly suffered, and didn't eat meat for a month. But after that, she started again, despite knowing what she is contributing towards.
The same thing happens everywhere... Myself included - sometimes I eat a piece of chicken still. And I was vegetarian for 5 years long ago, before relapsing for another 7 years.
As long as things are accepted socially, people will generally not mind behaving badly.
I think that what Memphis Meats is doing is going to give hope to the problem... (In-vitro meat! - Just needs to get a little cheaper..)
On steem it goes by "code = law" blindness... :/
I have thought about good and bad quite a lot of times in my life. Since there is no universal ethics code, you cannot define pure good and pure bad. But I think that good does exist in those who act guided by love and respect towards themselves and all others.
Even when I reflect upon my deeds, I find bad in some. Do I regret them? Most yes, some I can't no matter how hard I try. There are certain people for example I can't sympathize with, I simply can't because I don't feel they deserve it. I won't wrong them or harm them, but I won't feel sad if anything happens to them, I simply don't care.
Good and bad is a personal option and point of view. And what you said before, if you discover bad in your actions and don't change them. Have you thought the reasons for not changing them? Example: Are you in a job where you do bad things, but if you quit it you'll have no money to feed your children? Then I would say you have almost no choice. But if this jobis not the only option and you keep doing it, then yes, you're not acting guided by good but personal profit.
It's all so relevant...