Can a culture be abnormal, evil, neurotic?
- Thread starter Dinosaur
- Start date
It's wrong? Personally, I'm glad for it.
It is much cleaner. And I have no recollection of it. And I'm sure, when I was a baby, I forgot about it within a minute or so.
'Some say homosexuality is rampant in boy scouts, catholic system, prisons, military - is that a cultural thing?"
A circumstancial thing. Men are, usually, very highly sexual. So you put them in an extended time with only other men around, and what's gonna happen?
"Social governance is a product of a culture. That also creates starvation in some countries (especially African ones). Do we close our eyes because, it is none of our business?"
Morally, yes. If the majority of a population have decided one way, we have no right to intervene. Of course, if it's a minority that is hurting the vast majority, then I say ask the majority if they want help and if they say yes, go on in. America does not have a history of doing this though. America's greatest use of intervention has been to help itself.
"Certain group wants to kill the other group. As long as they do not come to our land, should we let them?"
How do you pick a side? And peace keeping doesn't do a lot (usually). Canada tries it, it rarely works well.
It is much cleaner. And I have no recollection of it. And I'm sure, when I was a baby, I forgot about it within a minute or so.
'Some say homosexuality is rampant in boy scouts, catholic system, prisons, military - is that a cultural thing?"
A circumstancial thing. Men are, usually, very highly sexual. So you put them in an extended time with only other men around, and what's gonna happen?
"Social governance is a product of a culture. That also creates starvation in some countries (especially African ones). Do we close our eyes because, it is none of our business?"
Morally, yes. If the majority of a population have decided one way, we have no right to intervene. Of course, if it's a minority that is hurting the vast majority, then I say ask the majority if they want help and if they say yes, go on in. America does not have a history of doing this though. America's greatest use of intervention has been to help itself.
"Certain group wants to kill the other group. As long as they do not come to our land, should we let them?"
How do you pick a side? And peace keeping doesn't do a lot (usually). Canada tries it, it rarely works well.
kmguru
Staff member
May be we should supply sheeps as the men go to the battle. Then again - the animal activists will get upset....
Tell that to the women. In this country women want men to have the same level of sexual feelings as the women. Women think, men will become rapists, abusers etc by viewing playboy or other visual items. When we have a female president, she may decree that no male shall masturbate using playboy or internet.
BustedCrutch
Registered Member
Ok Tyler. So, we shouldn't "police" the world. If Canada suddenly passes a law that mandates parents behead their first children, we should respect Canada's decision.
If the people of Scotland suddenly decide to castrate and blind all the newborn boys, we should sit idle and say to ourselves, "Boy, that's just to bad."
I'm doing no more here than taking your logic to its absurd extremes. It's not practical, and frankly, I think it's counterproductive to moral growth. As global communication grows, so does our need to find universal moral laws that are compatible with all creatures living in our age.
If the people of Scotland suddenly decide to castrate and blind all the newborn boys, we should sit idle and say to ourselves, "Boy, that's just to bad."
I'm doing no more here than taking your logic to its absurd extremes. It's not practical, and frankly, I think it's counterproductive to moral growth. As global communication grows, so does our need to find universal moral laws that are compatible with all creatures living in our age.
"Ok Tyler. So, we shouldn't "police" the world. If Canada suddenly passes a law that mandates parents behead their first children, we should respect Canada's decision."
Nope, then it infringes on the people.
"Morally, yes. If the majority of a population have decided one way, we have no right to intervene. Of course, if it's a minority that is hurting the vast majority, then I say ask the majority if they want help and if they say yes, go on in."
The question at hand is a moral one. I don't believe I have the right to choose another nations future. I believe in democracy. So if the large majority chooses to vote one way in another nation, I don't believe I have hte moral right to intervene and force my opinion on them.
If you've read much of what I've written, you'll notice I could care less about morals. If a large part of the population is being treated in a way that breaks basic human rights, I say ask the nation to straighten up or face me fighting to free their people.
However, like I pointed out, what about the gay issue? Should Canada attack America or try and force their opinions on America? Ditto abortion?
Nope, then it infringes on the people.
"Morally, yes. If the majority of a population have decided one way, we have no right to intervene. Of course, if it's a minority that is hurting the vast majority, then I say ask the majority if they want help and if they say yes, go on in."
The question at hand is a moral one. I don't believe I have the right to choose another nations future. I believe in democracy. So if the large majority chooses to vote one way in another nation, I don't believe I have hte moral right to intervene and force my opinion on them.
If you've read much of what I've written, you'll notice I could care less about morals. If a large part of the population is being treated in a way that breaks basic human rights, I say ask the nation to straighten up or face me fighting to free their people.
However, like I pointed out, what about the gay issue? Should Canada attack America or try and force their opinions on America? Ditto abortion?
Dinosaur...
Another question for you...
Is "our" culture abnormal, evil, neurotic?
...
Love,
Nelson
Another question for you...
Is "our" culture abnormal, evil, neurotic?
...
Love,
Nelson
Racism & anti-Semitism are evil and irrational, if not neurotic. However we are working on these issues and have been slowly curing ourselves. We inherited slavery, which is the basis of racism: We did not invent it. Furthermore, for well over 100 years, racism & anti-Semitism were practiced, but not written into our laws, which showed some sense of ethics.
I do not think that our entire culture can be condemned for these vices since they are not institutionalized as are the evils of various other past & present cultures.
There are certainly evil/neurotic individuals and groups in the USA. We have yet to develop a rational approach to government, although I would not call our system evil or neurotic.
We have an inherent flaw which might lead to an evil and neurotic system. Asimov summed up the nature of a politician in one of his scifi novels. One of his characters said the following.
The best we can say for our system is that it seems to be able to fix evils like racism and a view of women as property without resorting to revolution. It also seems better than any currently possible alternatives, although we seem to be drifting in the direction of communism & socialism in spite of the obvious evils and short comings of those philosophies.
I do not think that our entire culture can be condemned for these vices since they are not institutionalized as are the evils of various other past & present cultures.
There are certainly evil/neurotic individuals and groups in the USA. We have yet to develop a rational approach to government, although I would not call our system evil or neurotic.
We have an inherent flaw which might lead to an evil and neurotic system. Asimov summed up the nature of a politician in one of his scifi novels. One of his characters said the following.
Our politicians’ best interests are served by winning elections, which goal seldom comes close to being in the best interests of the nation.
The best we can say for our system is that it seems to be able to fix evils like racism and a view of women as property without resorting to revolution. It also seems better than any currently possible alternatives, although we seem to be drifting in the direction of communism & socialism in spite of the obvious evils and short comings of those philosophies.
Dinosaur,
And kids killing each other at school? Is that a sign of the decadence of our system? Isn't that evil, abnormal and neurotic?
And nuclear weapons that creates all this fear, which ultimatly controls our society? Isn't that evil, abnormal and neurotic?
And violence in big cities like Los Angeles, Detroit...? Isn't that evil, abnormal and neurotic?
And the fascism spreading in Europe? Isn't that evil, abnormal and neurotic?
And all the mental illness there is in this world... that have been increasing, mainly by the increase of stress (which is basically the most common illness of our society). Isn't that evil, abnormal and neurotic?
I could go on and on with the list...
Uuhhhmmm... are you sure...? :bugeye:
Love,
Nelson
And kids killing each other at school? Is that a sign of the decadence of our system? Isn't that evil, abnormal and neurotic?
And nuclear weapons that creates all this fear, which ultimatly controls our society? Isn't that evil, abnormal and neurotic?
And violence in big cities like Los Angeles, Detroit...? Isn't that evil, abnormal and neurotic?
And the fascism spreading in Europe? Isn't that evil, abnormal and neurotic?
And all the mental illness there is in this world... that have been increasing, mainly by the increase of stress (which is basically the most common illness of our society). Isn't that evil, abnormal and neurotic?
I could go on and on with the list...
Uuhhhmmm... are you sure...?
:bugeye: Love,
Nelson
Actually, our society is HUGELY ignorant...!!!
There's no evil... there's only ignorance. That's the key for "evil". Ignorance leads to fear, that leads to anger, imcomprehension, evil, neurosis and many other sicknessess of our society. We are not wise... the knowledge we have lacks the most important:
OURSELVES
:bugeye: :bugeye:
Love,
Nelson
There's no evil... there's only ignorance. That's the key for "evil". Ignorance leads to fear, that leads to anger, imcomprehension, evil, neurosis and many other sicknessess of our society. We are not wise... the knowledge we have lacks the most important:
OURSELVES
:bugeye:
:bugeye: Love,
Nelson
Quite decent Nelson, quite decent. Accept the existance of evil and you're on the right track....lose the huge red letters though -bloody annoying.
kmguru:
Which is like, about the same, right?
I'll forgive you that, given that you're located in the "Sawth" and soultherners are weird.
Be assured my non-American Sciforummers, it is not really like that.
TruthSeeker: Yes there are evil, abnormal, & neurotic people and groups in our society. That does not make our overall society evil, abnormal, or neurotic.
The majority of our teenagers do not go on killing sprees. The facists are in the minority. Riots and violence in our major cities is done by a small segment of the population.
Nuclear weapons have not be used for over 65 years. I guess that at least 10 countries have had them for 20 or more years. This suggests some level of rationality and/or ethics.
BTW: I have never understood the fuss over nuclear weapons. There were more people killed using conventional bombs in WW2 that killed by nuclear weapons. The deliberately created fire storms in a few German cities were particularly gruesome. Some people there died of suffocation due to fire consuming all the oxygen.
If you want to worry about something, look at the way governments have been encroaching on our civil rights for the last 60-70 years. While minorities and women have more civil rights that they had a century ago, all sorts of other civil rights are being slowly eroded.
Worry about the dangers posed by big government and the huge bureaucracies they spawn.
The majority of our teenagers do not go on killing sprees. The facists are in the minority. Riots and violence in our major cities is done by a small segment of the population.
Nuclear weapons have not be used for over 65 years. I guess that at least 10 countries have had them for 20 or more years. This suggests some level of rationality and/or ethics.
BTW: I have never understood the fuss over nuclear weapons. There were more people killed using conventional bombs in WW2 that killed by nuclear weapons. The deliberately created fire storms in a few German cities were particularly gruesome. Some people there died of suffocation due to fire consuming all the oxygen.
If you want to worry about something, look at the way governments have been encroaching on our civil rights for the last 60-70 years. While minorities and women have more civil rights that they had a century ago, all sorts of other civil rights are being slowly eroded.
Worry about the dangers posed by big government and the huge bureaucracies they spawn.
Asguard,
Is it wise kill someone?
I'm not talking about knowledge, I'm talking about wisdom.
Xev,
I accept the existance of evil... :bugeye:
Dinosaur,
Yes...
I've read an article that said that almost (or everyone...?) in Los Angeles walk with guns in the street because of the fear of being assaulted or killed, for example...
Who knows... :bugeye:
The major concern is about the nuclear weapons of the old Soviet Union... to win money, they might have sold many nuclear weapons to countries like Iraq, Palestine and so on. We don't know it, and that's the danger... Besides that, there are still nuclear weapons that can destroy the entire world all alone...
Good to see that you know it...
Yes, they are also evil, abnormal and neurotic... :bugeye:
Love,
Nelson
Is it wise kill someone?
I'm not talking about knowledge, I'm talking about wisdom.
Xev,
I accept the existance of evil... :bugeye:
Dinosaur,
Yes...
Not quite... the percentage seems highter...
I've read an article that said that almost (or everyone...?) in Los Angeles walk with guns in the street because of the fear of being assaulted or killed, for example...
Palestine, Iraq, India, China... do they have nuclear weapons...?
Who knows...
:bugeye: The major concern is about the nuclear weapons of the old Soviet Union... to win money, they might have sold many nuclear weapons to countries like Iraq, Palestine and so on. We don't know it, and that's the danger... Besides that, there are still nuclear weapons that can destroy the entire world all alone...
Good to see that you know it...
Yes, they are also evil, abnormal and neurotic...
:bugeye: Love,
Nelson
No Tyler...
A few groups... not a few members...
Many people are normal... but the ones who are evil, abnormal and neurotic already do a great difference...
Love,
Nelson
A few groups... not a few members...
Many people are normal... but the ones who are evil, abnormal and neurotic already do a great difference...
Love,
Nelson
Wisdom is the knowledge of oneself. It can only be attained by increased self-awarenes, through looking inside one's Heart and perceiving one's true divine nature. Through experiencing connection with Nature, one may pursue one's true nature and link this inner nature to the universe, through nature. In this way, the universe is discovered within and everywhere, and wisdom is attained.
Love,
Nelson
Love,
Nelson
Oh...
And Wisdom is essencial while knowledge is superficial.
And Wisdom is essencial while knowledge is superficial.