Evil

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yeah, I think you can probably boil evil down to a weird outgrowth of self-absorption, an inability to see beyond the limits of one's own personal gratification, a failure to empathize. In that sense, its strictly a human social construct.

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 10 February 2006 18:39 (eighteen years ago) link

Both OTM.

― chap who would dare to be completely sober on the internet (chap), Friday, 10 February 2006 19:20 (eighteen years ago) link

Then what to do about it?

― kingfish has gene rayburn's mic (kingfish 2.0), Friday, 10 February 2006 19:21 (eighteen years ago) link

I wish I knew.

― chap who would dare to be completely sober on the internet (chap), Friday, 10 February 2006 19:22 (eighteen years ago) link

i don't know, but i think to see it clearly there has to be some kind of recognition of bits of it in yourself.

― Maria (Maria), Saturday, 11 February 2006 05:55 (eighteen years ago) link

You can't do anything about evil itself, all you can do is fight evil in your personal sphere. For example, try to not be evil yourself. But evil will always exist as long as good exists. I think its part of western Christian myth to feel like we must always be fighting evil in the world, but really as Neitshze pointed out evil is our own concept and somewhat relative. We coudl also just say evil exists and so what.

― Mr Jones (Mr Jones), Saturday, 11 February 2006 06:43 (eighteen years ago) link

I don't know. Some things I think are undeniably evil. Like harming a child. If anyone harmed someone in my family, I wouldn't hesitate to say what they had done was evil.

Evil is the absence of good. Evil is a violation.

But I do like what Ghandi said about confronting what was evil in ourselves before we fought evil outside of ourselves.

Then again, I don't think this goes against the Christian myth. In fact I think it is consistent. Ghandi did say in his autobiography that he thought Christianity was perhaps the one perfectly true religion. Unfortunately he experienced racist Christians, and was disenfranchised as a result...

― Freud Junior (Freud Junior), Saturday, 11 February 2006 06:57 (eighteen years ago) link

Then again, I am probably taking this thread way too seriously. ;)

― Freud Junior (Freud Junior), Saturday, 11 February 2006 06:57 (eighteen years ago) link

I think "evil" is a religious idea. It would be better to say "undesired things". Besides, evil is an ambiguous concept - supose someone harmed a child while thinking they were helping the child. Is that evil?

― Mr Jones (Mr Jones), Saturday, 11 February 2006 07:01 (eighteen years ago) link

Serious is evil? ;)

Couldnt we also say natural evil exists and that many good things flow from confronting it, ie it allows people to be at their very best (or worst), what about the role of evil in character formation, could we not argue that far from being a non issue evil allows ouselves to be fully human?

― Kiwi, Saturday, 11 February 2006 07:02 (eighteen years ago) link

What do you mean by "natural evil?"

― Mr Jones (Mr Jones), Saturday, 11 February 2006 07:06 (eighteen years ago) link

If you're a long way from home,
Can't sleep at night.
Grab your telephone,
Something just ain't right.
That's evil,
Evil is goin' on wrong.
I am warnin' ya brother,
You better watch your happy home.
Well, long way from home and,
Can't sleep at all.
You know another mule,
Is kickin' in your stall.

That's evil,
Evil is goin' on wrong.
I am warnin' ya brother,
You better watch your happy home.

(Spoken: You better catch him, 'cause somethin' wrong, in your home.)

Well, if ya call her on the telephone,
And she answers aweful slow,
Grab the first train smokin',
If you have to hobo.

That's evil,
Evil is goin' on wrong.
I am warnin' ya brother,
You better watch your happy home.

If you make it to your house,
Knock on the front door,
Run around to the back,
You'll catch him just before he go.

That's evil,
Evil is goin' on.
I am warnin' ya brother,
You better watch your happy home.

--"Evil" by Howlin' Wolf

― Mama Roux, Saturday, 11 February 2006 07:07 (eighteen years ago) link

mr jones, lots of undesirable things are not evil. the classic distinction is between human actions and natural disasters, for instance. evil's usually particularly applied as a moral judgment on human actions, and that doesn't necessarily make it a religious judgment.

i guess emotionally it seems religious though. the idea of evil seems more fitting and less horrendous given the idea of an overwhelming good.

― Maria (Maria), Saturday, 11 February 2006 15:07 (eighteen years ago) link

I don't think evil as an absolute can logically exist without some kind of external moral force (ie God, in whom I don't believe). It's just a personal moral judgment.

This doesn't mean I think murderers, rapists, dictators etc. are anything other than absolute bastards, just that it's not at all useful to explain away that kind of behaviour by saying 'They did because they are EVIL!'

― chap who would dare to be completely sober on the internet (chap), Saturday, 11 February 2006 15:18 (eighteen years ago) link

seven years pass...

waaaah evil

^^^the last 3 days on this fkn website

― imago, Wednesday, 17 July 2013 22:16 (ten years ago) link

Evil is defined by bad deeds done for no reason
Like putting powder in the restaurant seasoning

― Pingu Unchained (dog latin), Wednesday, 17 July 2013 22:51 (ten years ago) link

The most hard for the least good

― mundane peaceable username (darraghmac), Wednesday, 17 July 2013 23:31 (ten years ago) link

two years pass...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/08/31/its-now-or-never-texts-reveal-teens-efforts-to-pressure-boyfriend-into-suicide/?tid=pm_pop_b

― j., Tuesday, 1 September 2015 01:31 (eight years ago) link

I saw that on Gawker, really having trouble understanding why she would do that. Evil sounds right.

― Iago Galdston, Tuesday, 1 September 2015 01:37 (eight years ago) link

I was wondering if she couldn't have genuinely believed he was better off dead. grim thought but maybe the kindest interpretation idk.

― deejerk reactions (darraghmac), Tuesday, 1 September 2015 04:29 (eight years ago) link

jfc that is disturbing read
maybe sthing of munchausen-by-proxy to it
but i'm fine with calling it evil

― drash, Tuesday, 1 September 2015 04:48 (eight years ago) link

“Not yet LOL,” he replied.

― drash, Tuesday, 1 September 2015 04:48 (eight years ago) link

yep, that's definitely evil.

also evil: when people on the internet start calling her family with death threats, which has probably already happened, because lol, the internet.

― rushomancy, Wednesday, 2 September 2015 11:38 (eight years ago) link

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