One of the most common mistakes is assuming that political opponents are ignorant. If only they had the right education; consumed the right media; or had the correct experience, they’d surely see things properly. The error is believing that we arrived at our values through reason. Values like hierarchy or equity are adopted by a complex process of disposition, emotion, and experience. Reason may be a component of this process, it may be a value unto itself, but it cannot support values.
Even simple moral claims like “it’s wrong to steal” cannot be supported by logic. Give it a try and you’ll come up with arguments like: “stealing is wrong because it harms the victim”. But you’ve not solved the problem, just pushed it back a step because now you have to defend the claim “it’s wrong to harm”. You cannot use observations about how the world is to calculate how it ought to be. Justifying moral claims with other moral claims dooms you to circular reasoning and infinite regression.
For those of you clever enough to argue deontology or utilitarianism, I’ll point out that these systems are ethical. Only concerned with how one should behave; helpless to prove something just or wicked. The moral principles of deontology and utilitarianism are assumed, not proven. Both systems will endorse ridiculous, intolerable, and outrageous actions in particular circumstances.
Objective morality probably doesn’t exist and has never been justified.
It's wrong to harm because we have defined morally wrong to mean that which is harmful.
After watching a few nature documentaries I came to the conclusion that we inhabit an actual horror movie. Creatures are eating each other alive, eating their babies and raping others to death. It is a real fucking nightmare. Life is pain and suffering on a planetary scale. Good is whatever reduces this misery or makes it bearable for a time.
Well they don’t vote, they don’t have politics. They don’t have a store with ready made food in it they can go to. They don’t have medical science. They don’t have transport. They often don’t even live in shelter. They don’t have something that sweeps away shit and piss.
We have those things. We’re well beyond bearable and misery at this point.
Those are all good things and we have record rates of depression and anxiety to go with them. Yay!
FWIW i seem to lack the ability to feel joy in anything, as a result I only feel the pain of living which gives me an extremely skewed viewpoint. Enjoy whatever you can in life.
so long as you’re being realistic and owning it as a ‘you’ problem as It isn’t reality.
when meanwhile there are people living happily with stage 4 cancer with a positive outlook and hope while stabilizing it with modern medicine.
It’s a frame of mind.
we can observe reality in such comparisons to reach any conclusion we want to perpetuate and ruminate however we see to choose. Eg: googling and finding self perpetuating ‘facts’ to fit an internal dialog. If we want to believe the entire world is on fire, we could extrapolate anything to make it seem that way.
Record rates of depression can be linked to many things such as more exposure to media. A very skewed media. And with google at your finger tips to take you anywhere you want to go, anything is possible.
Half the battle is admitting that.
Hope you find the help you need to battle those demons.
I agree we're over exposed to all the bad stuff and echoey internet rabbit holes are a definite problem. Antidepressants haven't had any effect on me but i've learned to live without joy. I have no desire to take it away from others or judge their outlook on life.