ysabetwordsmith (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ysabetwordsmith) wrote2024-12-07 12:23 am
ysabetwordsmith) wrote2024-12-07 12:23 am
Entry tags:
Philosophical Questions: Evil
People have expressed interest in deep topics, so this list focuses on philosophical questions.
What is your definition of evil?
Here ya go! I wrote a whole article on this topic: "The Sword Without a Hilt: Concepts of Evil." As you can see, I have found many excellent descriptions for the various facets of evil.
What is your definition of evil?
Here ya go! I wrote a whole article on this topic: "The Sword Without a Hilt: Concepts of Evil." As you can see, I have found many excellent descriptions for the various facets of evil.
That's No Sundial...
It takes a special kind of someone to...man, there's a lot of stories about what Burton pulled, and they exist on a spectrum from "hilariously ribald" to "some people just want to watch the world burn".
Intellectually, I understand that he was a human man, who accomplished things technically within human limits of the period, but emotionally, I want to put him in the category of isekai protagonist or Level 16 Bard or time-traveling criminal.
no subject
Oh, and all the immigrants who walked barefoot from the Panama Canal to the Rio Grande are all barbarians and criminals who will rape our children, rob our homes, get our house pets addicted to drugs, and the tide of invading filth will destroy America!
Yesterday in New York City three "juveniles" asked several immigrants on the street whether they spoke English, and when they said they didn't, the "juveniles" stabbed the immigrants. Why doesn' teverybody in the world have to learn English, so as not to inconvenience American tourists who complain that nobody in Spain or France would do what they were told, because they didn't understand English. America rules the world anyway - make them all learn to obey the commands and demands of their conquerors.
How do we make it IMPOSSIBLE for people to want to kill and hurt other people (for any reason or no reason at all), or harm the environment. How do we overcome brutal and violent impulses and learn to live in peace? How do we convince the aliens that we are civilized enough to join interstellar society as full members? How do we learn to control the aggressive and destructive impulses that put us at the top of the food chain?
no subject
People have unmet needs. Good people and shitty people and everyone in between. My theory is that most anti-social behavior is a burst of feelings over unmet needs.
I can't actually break down the unmet needs that would lead to someone STABBING A STRANGER IN THE STREET THOUGH.
But, Like, tagging. Street art. I can imagine needs that would cause that impulse. A need for belonging, feeling like a space is yours. A need for self expression, for identity. Declaration that "I was here, I existed!" A feeling of challenging The Authorities or Powers That Be, especially if they're controlling and authoritarian. Sometimes is the soul crying out of a need for beauty (have you SEEN some of these urban murals?)
How we actually MEET those unmet needs, is complicated. But if we could start with the MOST BASIC needs: food, shelter, safety. Respect and agency.
Our shit is really broken in America. All I can do is a little bit where I am, maybe join groups that are doing more, put my shoulder to the wheel they've already got in motion.
I feel better when I'm able to do a little, at least. And staying out of despair is pretty hopepunk. 🌞
no subject
The only "need" they're filling is their infantile desire to MAKE SOMEBODY ELSE MISERABLE. Seeing people suffer entertains them, gives them a feeling of power.
Tell me more about hopepunk.I explain my beliefs by quoting Fred ("Mister") Rogers, a creative and very kind man who taught children kindness with his TV show where puppets acted out appropriate and inappropriate behaviors so children could learn which to choose, and how to make the choice..
I suspect the hooligans who stabbed three immigrants who didn't speak English thought they were doing the nation a service - removing these filthy foreigners who are overruning our country and eating our pets and robbing our houses and raping our women and addicting children to Fentanyl.
When you think of how most of those immigrants get here - they walk barefoot through the dust from the Panama Canal to the Rio Grande, preyed upon by human "coyotes" and sometimes abandoned inside a truck trailer in the desert sun with no water. I admire the courage they display, demonstrating how desperately they want to reach the Promised Land, where people have FOOD.
And Lady Liberty has always been one of my favorite goddesses - Mother of Exiles.
How can I not feel angry and frustrated and OUTRAGED to know that these outrages are taking place. It needs to be FIXED, and I don't know how to fix it. I voted for the good candidate, but the convicted rapist won. But how do I "teach the world to sing in perfect harmony" - prevent people from wanting to commit acts of violence and destruction? How do I tell them that when Jesus said "love thy neighbor", he forgot to add that EVERY PERSON ON THIS PLANET is your neighbor. No matter where they were born, what language they speak, what color their skin is, what religion they were taught, or who they have sex with and how, YOU STILL HAVE TO LOVE THEM. Just be a good neighbor, and remember things from preschool - don't hit people, don't call them insulting names, don't take away their stuff, and hold someone's hand when you cross the street. And don't run with sharp things.
My husband gets angry when I get upset over horrible things happening. I should suppress my anger and not start waving my arms and shouting about how we have to change things. When I woke up and heard the election results, I felt as if I'd been violently punched or kicked very powerfully right on my navel. And I had a nasty case of diarrhea and cramps for two weeks after that. Apparently outrage is bad for my health.
"Oh, Martin, dearie, don't get all worked up about segregation. YOu piss off white people when you say those things. Just keep quiet and stay out of trouble."
I was one of the people who marched in the streets and sang protest songs in the 1960s. Our protest songs ended a war and forced a president to resign. But it didn't give me a stomachache.
https://youtu.be/afIJ2p-Un5o?si=YQrQxilvwCX6XYYF
But ringing church bells aren't going to silence the cannons. Actually, Christianity is part of the cause of the atrocities that proliferate. I wish I could believe Longfellow's assertion that "THe wrong shall fail, the right prevail!"
no subject
Hopepunk is a movement I learned about explicitly over on Tumblr, and I propagate the ideas I learned there, out like a dandelion seed head does. Unkillable. Tough, determined, deep rooted. Easy to spread with very little effort, once the seeds are ripe.
I choose to spend more time in various 'punk places (solarpunk, cripple punk, steampunk as well as hopepunk) because they encourage me.
I was too young and too shy to act punk when punk was cool... Now I'm middle aged lady who you mostly would not know to look at me that I believe such subversive things as UBI and mutual aid.
I'm more punk on the inside 💠mostly
Thoughts
Yeah, me too.
>> I see all the cruelty, violence, prejudice, and destruction going on, and I want to FIX it,<<
After decades of activism, and trying many tactics, I have found the most successful is storytelling. It's no accident that Polychrome Heroics is my most popular series, about a world that's a lot healthier than here.
>> and make people stop hating and damaging what they don't understand <<
This one is best fixed with information, but can also be addressed with bait. Frex, one Scandinavian country set up affordable housing that they filled half with immigrants and half with locals (who were mostly young, single adults like recent college graduates). The affordability made it attractive to locals, and both the physical and social design encouraged the two groups to mingle and socialize. It worked. To do the same thing with children, just use something they enjoy -- food, sports, crafts, whatever -- then recruit from a diverse base.
>> Oh, and all the immigrants who walked barefoot from the Panama Canal to the Rio Grande are <<
... 80% more likely to start businesses and create jobs.
We're getting the cream of the crop. The lazy don't leave, and the weak rarely survive the trip. What comes out the far end of a refugee crisis, or even migration, are the survivors. Those are useful people to have around. So don't waste them. Again, information can help.
>>Yesterday in New York City three "juveniles" asked several immigrants on the street whether they spoke English, and when they said they didn't, the "juveniles" stabbed the immigrants. <<
Police do that sort of thing fairly often. It's hard to convince others not to when the "authorities" think it's okay.
>> How do we make it IMPOSSIBLE for people to want to kill and hurt other people (for any reason or no reason at all), or harm the environment. <<
You can't make it impossible to want things because you can't control emotions. Influencing actions is much more feasible. Adults don't shit on the floor because they trained out of it as toddlers, and if they did, other people would react with disgust. To quash violence, frame it as something disgusting, as a lack of control and maturity, not something to admire.
Environmental harm requires having older, more sensible people point out the drawbacks. If we trash the environment, it will fall apart, so then we would go hungry. Just point as what's happening now. You don't like hurricanes, heat waves, and bizarre outbreaks of invasive species? Take better care of the environment. As a larger issue, teach people to value more than just cash.
>> How do we overcome brutal and violent impulses and learn to live in peace? <<
Teach peace skills.
Peacemongering 101
Ways to Reduce Violence and Increase Peace
>> How do we convince the aliens that we are civilized enough to join interstellar society as full members? <<
I don't see that happening any time soon.
Re: Thoughts
One day, I'm probably going to end up pointing out that "if stabbing people to win arguments is wrong then why hasn't [my conversation partner] attacked me yet?"
If you can' beat 'em, be bluntly sarcastic.
>>You can't make it impossible to want things because you can't control emotions. <<
This is also unhelpful given how thoughts and feelings work. Human minds are inherently [at least a little] mildly chaotic, and thoughts/emotions can't really be controlled in the sense that we tend to use the word in this culture. A more accurate term would be to say that you can train/influence/encourage your own thoughts and emotions. With some variation of course.
Essentially, we will all occasionally have thoughts or emotions that are random, unwanted, unpleasant, inappropriate to current context, etc... and berating someone from being unable to control those things isn't helpful. (YMMV on if offering to help develop skills would be helpful or not - it is highly situation-dependent.)
Also, as a separate issue, people who completely lack the ability to cause any sort of harm to others tend not to last very long in the regular population. People who are merely unwilling...well, it takes awhile and some skill and experience to get to the point where you can easily defend yourself while a bit declawed. Especially in highly aggressive or competitive environments.
>>To quash violence, frame it as something disgusting, as a lack of control and maturity, not something to admire.<<
To violent people yes.
However if you are teaching someone already nonaggressive, then you might need to teach them to figure out how to assert themselves in a healthy and not-unnecessarily aggressive manner.
Doesn't nullify the importance of teaching that for-the-heck-of-it violence is not good tho.
>>>> How do we convince the aliens that we are civilized enough to join interstellar society as full members? <<
We can't make them talk to us if they don't want to, soo...
...same thing as therapy or romance, I guess. Work on fixing your issues, and general self-improvement. Eventually the other party will come around. Or maybe they won't, but at least you'll be in a better place yourself.