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Personally, I've found the following heuristic to be very accurate: if you wouldn't do it in front of a toddler AND allow them do it themselves, then you probab
by tabeth 10y ago
Personally, I've found the following heuristic to be very accurate: if you wouldn't do it in front of a toddler AND allow them do it themselves, then you probably shouldn't do it, ever. There's likely no value in doing it (I intentionally say likely and don't claim an absolute. There are exceptions, e.g. having sex).
1. Drinking
2. Smoking
3. Drugs
4. Stealing
5. Cheating
6. Cursing
(needless to say, it's a long list).
- Quarrelsome 10y ago> then you probably shouldn't do it, ever. You must be fun at parties. That's a great means of clean living but as a rule for everyone to follow I think its a touch strict. Also our culture has some curious ideas about children and what about the world to shield them from. The dastardly lie of Santa and the general premise that innocence should be preserved instead of teaching them the truth of the world is one clear example of our strange interactions with our progeny. Often concerns about swearing especially are very redundant around children and arguably selfish. One doesn't swear around children because they might use the word with frequency and embarrass the parent not because there is any detriment in the child being exposed to swearing.
- tabeth 10y agoCan you explain this "you must be fun at parties" comment I see often? And I am very fun at parties. I fail to see what cursing, drinking, smoking, etc has to do with being a fun person.
- Quarrelsome 10y agoThe youthful idea is that parties are to be debauched to an extent. So being strictly straight laced makes people less comfortable about being debauched. Ultimately though it comes down to your post: > then you probably shouldn't do it, ever. assuming (somewhat, not much but a little, the "personally" at the start saves it) that people should be like you. Conversely I feel that everyone should be everything they want to be. Drunk, smoked, high, clean, religious, atheist, etc. There is no "better" because there is no one objective context, there is just different and many.
- Fnoord 10y ago> The dastardly lie of Santa and the general premise that innocence should be preserved instead of teaching them the truth of the world is one clear example of our strange interactions with our progeny. It breeds them so they get ready to accept the lie of [a] God (and a prophet). I, for one, want to raise my children to think critical of such folklore, religion, and cults (pretty much the same to me anyway).
- oskarth 10y ago7. Fucking (Reductio ad absurdum?)
- Fnoord 10y agoI assume you are referring to drinking alcohol. Are you saying we should never drink alcohol? Of your list, drinking alcohol in moderation is the one thing which is accepted in our Western societies. How do you do this on birthday parties? You quickly hide the booze when John & Mary with their 3 year old enters the party? I call bollocks. Drinking in moderation is the right example, even for young children. The amount of joy is worth the slight age/health loss. Keyword is moderation. Also, you forgot to bring up sex!
- choward 10y agoNumber 6 is not like the others. The other ones cause harm to yourself and/or others and have actual consequences. Cursing is just bad because society seems to think it's bad. The only negative consequences that come of it are because some people get offended for some reason.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]