Big Think

Joel Hollingsworth on February 3, 2008, 9:53 PM

Goodness is a quality that builds or maintains systems like the ones we inhabit. Evil is a quality that dends to destroy such systems.

The feeling allows one to intuitively identify goals and entities that will help the system and/or the individual to survive. Like other senses, it can be fooled: the sense of temperature can be manipulated using chili and mint, the sense of gravity can be tweaked using a centrifuge, and the sense of good and evil can be warped by superficial perception. Interacting with something over the long term, though, tends to destroy any of these illusions.

As an abiding principle, though, evil is somewhat less real, because it doesn’t tend to build itself up. In fact, it destroys the good systems on which it depends. Most of the things we call evil trace their roots to good things, simply because evil things (as I’ve defined them) don’t tend to produce much of anything.

A greater good is one which builds up a larger system, with a broader time scale and/or a broader definition of what it is to be “like”.

Joel Hollingsworth on February 3, 2008, 10:14 PM

Edit:

Goodness is a quality that builds or maintains systems like the ones we inhabit. Evil is a quality that tends to destroy such systems. To some extent, your notion of good will depend on which systems you think you inhabit. The best of us know that we’re all in this together.

The feeling of morality allows one to intuitively identify goals and entities that will help the system to survive. I believe this gives the individual a survival advantage, more often than not.

All senses can be fooled: the sense of temperature (warm and cold) can be manipulated using chili and mint, the sense of gravity (down and up) can be tweaked using a centrifuge, and the sense of morality (good and evil) can be warped by superficial tokens of familiarity or otherness. Interacting with something over the long term, though, tends to destroy any of these illusions; ethics is a systematic way of thinking about these interactions in the long term, in the same way that thermodynamics is.

Evil is somewhat less real than good, because it is ephemeral. It doesn’t maintain itself; instead, it destroys the good systems on which it depends. Most of the things we call evil trace their roots to good things, simply because evil things (as I’ve defined them) don’t tend to produce much of anything.

A greater good is one which builds benefits a larger system. It may consider a longer time scale, or spring from a broader definition of what it is to be “like”.

Edward C on February 3, 2008, 11:29 PM

Evil is Hipocracy.

We all agree that Hipocracy makes us feel disgusted in our guts, this is because when you act in Hipocracy you destroy Energy – two opposing energies collide within your own mind and instantly that energy is gone, they cancel eachother out.

For example:

A: Mr. Smith enjoys the feeling of being safe in his own mind and he values his own “free-will”.

B: Mr. Smith rapes an unknown woman against her “will” and he enjoys the act of violence and pain.

A – B = 0 (a zero sum gain, a disipation of both energies, a Hipocracy)

“As Above, So Below, As Within, So Without”
- Ancient Hermetic axiom

In my words:
Love yourself and the universe will love you, Love the universe and you will love yourself. Hate yourself and the universe will hate you, Hate the universe and you will hate yourself. We create our own reality.

Thilina B on February 4, 2008, 9:21 PM

Good and Evil is a subjective standard set by the average feeling towards an act by society.
The average person may feel good about doing something good but others can feel good about doing something everyone else considers evil.
its simply societies feelings towards an act.