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"Good and bad is in the eye of the beholder and what you value." - Now put your hand on a hot stove and say that again. Nature forces some values. (quote from a

"Good and bad is in the eye of the beholder and what you value." - Now put your hand on a hot stove and say that again. Nature forces some values. (quote from apoverton but the principle, vs Hume, applies to many other comments here.)

rxhernandez 9y ago
And some people would view getting put on a hot stove as a fun and exciting thing, so no, not really. Unsure of why I'm getting downvotes.. Are people completely unaware of the fact that some people enjoy pain?
- TwelveNights 9y ago
  You made a pretty contrived comment to refute the parent poster, considering how unlikely it is that someone would find it a fun and exciting thing to do.
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- kelnos 9y ago
  You make a good point that there are rarely any absolutes, but your example ends up reinforcing the parent's point: everything that "we" consider good or bad amounts to collective opinion. You can probably find a fringe group that has just about any opinion you want to dream up, but if it's rejected by the vast majority of the population, it's going to be considered "bad". You can also examine things from other perspectives. Darwinian, perhaps: does enjoying pain give any kind of evolutionary advantage? Maybe in a few niche areas, but overall, no, since pain is a way for our brains to signal damage, or future damage if we keep doing what we're doing. Ignoring pain up to a certain threshold can be useful, but enjoying pain to your detriment is not. Or maybe just economic: does enjoying pain give any kind of economic advantages? And so on... I think it's important to acknowledge that there are no absolutes when it comes to opinion, but sometimes you just have to observe near-unanimity and go with it.
anigbrowl 9y ago
The fact that some values are forced by nature tells us very little about how to prioritize those which are not. For example, what is the best color? Many people have strong color preferences, but the question doesn't admit of a single objective answer.
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rxhernandez 9y ago

And some people would view getting put on a hot stove as a fun and exciting thing, so no, not really. Unsure of why I'm getting downvotes.. Are people completely unaware of the fact that some people enjoy pain?

TwelveNights 9y ago
You made a pretty contrived comment to refute the parent poster, considering how unlikely it is that someone would find it a fun and exciting thing to do.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
kelnos 9y ago
You make a good point that there are rarely any absolutes, but your example ends up reinforcing the parent's point: everything that "we" consider good or bad amounts to collective opinion. You can probably find a fringe group that has just about any opinion you want to dream up, but if it's rejected by the vast majority of the population, it's going to be considered "bad". You can also examine things from other perspectives. Darwinian, perhaps: does enjoying pain give any kind of evolutionary advantage? Maybe in a few niche areas, but overall, no, since pain is a way for our brains to signal damage, or future damage if we keep doing what we're doing. Ignoring pain up to a certain threshold can be useful, but enjoying pain to your detriment is not. Or maybe just economic: does enjoying pain give any kind of economic advantages? And so on... I think it's important to acknowledge that there are no absolutes when it comes to opinion, but sometimes you just have to observe near-unanimity and go with it.

anigbrowl 9y ago

The fact that some values are forced by nature tells us very little about how to prioritize those which are not. For example, what is the best color? Many people have strong color preferences, but the question doesn't admit of a single objective answer.

deleted 9y ago
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