Thread: Good vs. Bad

"There is no good or evil, but thinking makes it so."

-Shakespeare.

Synchronicity works both ways. You see something three times in an hour, once in a week, you remember it more than you would had you seen it once every two days for a week. You dump coffee in your lap while peeling a winning sticker from the cup, you remember it more than you would had you just won a free breakfast sandwich, or had you just dumped coffee in you r lap (well, dumping coffee in your lap is pretty memorable...)

No. I don't think it works that way. Selfishness breeds more selfishness, generosity more generosity.

Good and bad are really only a matter of preference or perspective, though some things are universal, like love, generosity.

Originally Posted by poog

Not to make this thread turn into a religious thingamajig, but...

Do you believe that the amount of good events in this world are equal to the amount of bad events?

Example: You pour scalding hot coffee on yourself, but later on in the day you find a twenty dollar bill?

I don't know, bad example but you get what I'm saying.

Because it is so hard to classify things as either good or bad, I would say yes, the good probably equals the bad. But not forcing classifications onto things, events just happen, the good or bad in them is totally dependent on who is talking about the event.

Example: Your pet lion mauls some guy who was attempting to kill you in your sleep. For you, this would be good. For the guy who was trying to kill you, this would be bad.

Probably an even worse example than yours. I think the classifications of good and bad can change depending on what you're referencing, and on who is making the classification. There are various degrees of good and bad, but when you look at the middle of the spectrum, good or bad is a lot harder to slap on something.

Waving at strangers could be considered good, as it is a way of being friendly. But someone could see you wave at someone else, and go on a jealous rampage killing 9 people. OK, maybe not that extreme, but they could think you waved at them, and get excited and wave back, only to notice too late that you were waving at the person behind them. Then they would feel like a retard, and your waving at a stranger could be considered a bad thing. But if you wave at someone and they just wave back friendly, I'd consider it a good thing.

There is no such thing as good or evil - just our perception of it. Shakespeare's quote explains this well.

(In my opinion) there are no such things as absolute morals, so good and evil don't exist. They are totally subjective.

Originally Posted by Pensive Patrick

There is no such thing as good or evil - just our perception of it. Shakespeare's quote explains this well.

(In my opinion) there are no such things as absolute morals, so good and evil don't exist. They are totally subjective.

I agree.

Maybe some people even like getting coffee dropped on their lap. Maybe they find it kinkey. Point being: Concepts of good and bad are simply human terms, they also greatly shift during the centuries. (Luckily, a woman wearing a skirt that doesn't reach her ankles isn't bad anymore, like it was in Victorian times.)

So to talk of a 'balance' is, besides not possible because there is no absolute good or bad, still unlikely. Why would some force make it so that there is as much good and bad in the world? Not because it sounds nice if it were true, I think.

There really is no good or bad, though some things are universally considered good and bad. Love, generosity, pleasure. There are some things human beings tend to hold common at least for the most part.

BUt I agree, that balance is not like good in bad in the way we think of it. Balance is just cause and effect. But if you commit "good" deeds, this will usually cause "good" effects. But at the same time if enough "evil" or injustice is commited, someone will probubly come along and be appalled and decide to try to "fix" the situation. So balance does work in a way, though it is very complex and can not be so simply explained.

I believe that, like mentioned before, that both "good" and "bad" aren't real. They are just terms that are thrown around by the ego in order to find a particular classification of an event or person etc.

Without perspective there would be no "good" or "bad", it is the perspective that classifies these terms and generally assigns the meanings to the individual person.

Take the coffee situation for example. For you, spilling the coffee would be seen as bad, but for someone else who it made laugh and be happy, it would be seen as a good occurence.

Not quite sure if I'm getting my perspective across properly but it should be all there

Originally Posted by Neruo

I agree.

Maybe some people even like getting coffee dropped on their lap. Maybe they find it kinkey.

Ha ha.

Yeah I am with the "good and evil are opinion" group here. Though to try and answer the question I will say "good and bad" from my perspective, or rather, my natural response to events also depend on the situation, but I, like Heraclitus, believe in the unity of opposites. Just as some things are necessary, so are others.

This is practically a non argument, good and evil don't actually exist, or so I believe. They are human concepts so of course the number of good things equal bad things... if you really want them to.