Evil?

[Malufa]

What is the definition of evil? Can it be an universal condition or is it a matter of individual perspective?

 

[GST_Nemisis]

Well on the new fandangled evil-omiter produced by Dan Corp you get an evil rating of 528.37777779 William so, erm I dunno what that means

No, I think that evil is what we perceive as an "extreme wrong". Because we naturally separate things into what is right and wrong and an evil deed or an evil person would have characteristics of an "extreme wrong" or "unjustifiable wrong". The other thing to consider is what is "right" or "wrong." They are just words. What is wrong to someone may be be different to someone else. so I think wrong should be classed as the generalisation within your society (because we might think eating sheep eyes is wrong but it is a delicacy in Turkey). So there you have it, agree or disagree...

((Gee, who could have edited and fixed this post?))
Gee, who would have edited and fixed an "edited and fixed" post?

 

[Malufa]

I concur with you Dan, I believe that most forms of evil are a matter of self-perception, not an universal "truth" as some claim. Although I am loathe to do it, mainly due to my own lack of knowledge on the full subject, I will use Star Wars as a good example of this philosophy.

In the Star Wars universe the Sith are seen as evil due to their dedication to the "Dark" Side, while the Jedi are good since they are devoted to the "Light" Side of the magick. Yet why is this? Just because the Sith do not deny their emotions they are wrong? Because they allow for passion and creativity to be in their lives they are seen as filled with simple wrath?

What about how the Jedi are willing to lose themselves in an effort to become more "holy". Why is that seen as such a good act?

Who "fixed" the 'an' to the incorrect 'a'?

 

[GST_Nemisis]

Like how the Catholic church used to kill heretics (I don't know the spelling) and people used to believe that was good. These days we think it's bad to kill someone just because of their beliefs. So our view of evil has changed over time as well.

(haha beat you Malufa )
(Haha, you missed stuff )

 

[Malufa]

Something similar to that. Does anyone else have any opinions? Anecdotes? I am surprised people are not quoting religious texts, or that more people do not mention their own views.

Who here thinks of the Decepticons as evil? What about Cobra from GI Joe? Who thinks of Melkor or Sauron from the LotR to be evil?

 

[GST_Nemisis]

Lol I'm liking the competition you guys are putting into correcting my spelling and grammar (which could be twice as worse with this crappy excuse for a keyboard) but I do think some other people's views would be nice. One idea is vegetarians who think it is evil to eat meat. Does that mean that all carnivorous or omnivorous animals are evil? If not, why doesn't it justify humans eating meat, considering the fact we are omnivores ourselves.

 

[The_Taxidermist]

I did watch a show on channel 4 today, called "the root of all evil?" (I'm almost 100% certain that question mark is influenced by political correctness )

The host was putting forth the argument for why he believes that religion, and the ideals of good and evil created tension, hatred and conflict.

I thought it was a broad generalisation, although he did talk to a lot of fundamentalists, and it made his point seem a lot more agreeable.

 

[Malufa]

Well speaking from a biological standpoint, Dan, humans evolved to be vegetarians, not omnivores. There are two main factors that are accounted for in this belief\standpoint.

The most obvious piece of evidence is the way in which we metabolize our food, not just in how we break it down but also in our internal organs. Human beings have long digestive tracks, just like deer (not as long but a deer is a good example) which is clearly not even a partial meat eater. The reason for this is that plants can be broken down over a long time and cause no ill to the body, the longer it is digested the more nutrients are gained from it. In a carnivore, or even an omnivore, the small intestines is very small and rather short as raw meat is not exactly very healthy thing for anything eating it if it spoils while inside.

The second thing to look at, which is not so readily apparent, is the nutrient need of the human body. While it is true that protein and B3 is needed, the quantity needed is very small. Beans and nuts are more than suffecient to fulfill this miniscule amount, whereas meat is far oversaturated with it.

 

[Malufa]

*sighs*

Taxi, by deleting my editing of your post you have made it look stupid, please stop being so petty and accept the corrections, it is a part of a duty as a moderator.

 

[The_Taxidermist]

I'd say I'm being more silly than petty. :roll:

 

[GST_Nemisis]

mm mabey so but i personally couldnt get very far without meat it definatly something i have become acustomed to. having said that im not a fat bastard who eats burgers everyday, something really weird actually is that i hate the taste of raw salt, i never put it on chips or my food because its disgusting.

 

[Malufa]

I used to like salt when I was younger, now I do not like the taste of it as well. Salt was considered a part of the life cycle to the Indian subcontenant until very recently, but to the Roman era average citizen it was one of the great treasures to be collected and kept. Indeed the word for salt, salarum (noun), is where we get the word for salary.

Back to the original topic, do people know they do evil or do they justify it and others say they do evil? Take for instance nerve gases. To the creators it is just a job to make and distribute it, to their government it is a resource, to the people it affects it is seen as a punishment, to bleeding hearts it is seen as an act against humanity.

 

[teza89]

to me there is no such thing as evil there are just people hungry for power every where no matter where who every one will want more power in some form and they will do anything to get itbut then you have people who are there to combat these people and very soon most will go "corrupt" and turn into the very people they were trying to stop hence evrey one seeks there own kind of power

o crap i just rambbled aot of stuff

 

[Malufa]

But is seeking power evil? Is it the power that is evil to you, the fact that they want it, or that they might get it?

 

[Shados]

Good and Evil do not exist, they are just invented perceptions. Most people would agree with me if I said that some guy who went around killing random people was evil but I doubt that the murderer would think of himself as being "evil". And how do we know that doing actions we perceive as "good" will really turn out being "good". We might do something "good" that would have horrible "evil" repercussions hundreds of years later, would that act be "good" or "evil"? A lot of the things we consider "real" are just perceptions we have that have no basis in reality except in our minds.

 

[maxi1]

I agree with shados. American spoken word: kill one its a murder,
kill a thousand its a tragedy,
kill a million and your a hero!

In second World war for example were german medics fighting to keep wounded (both german wehrmacht and sovjet-russian army)alive, when the wounded were transported back to better hospitals or on wounded-vacation, the trains they were in were ambushed by russian guerillas and were stabbed in the throat by them.They were helpless = evil doing.
But when they would have returned they would have been killed in combat = not evil.

So "good and evil" are simply words we speak to justify our actions and are depending on our angle of view.
They are just a disguiese for the weird duality of human immorale.