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Aaron suggests that is childish to think evil people do evil things intentionality. But isn't actually the notion of good and evil completely childish? Arnt ban

Aaron suggests that is childish to think evil people do evil things intentionality. But isn't actually the notion of good and evil completely childish? Arnt bankers just predators and their victims just prey? The banker isn't even thinking "I'm good" they are just thinking "I'm hungry" Realistically adults don't think about the morality of their actions much at all.

fmjrey 7y ago
In a pyramidal society it all depends where you stand. Most people function from a partial narrative, biased towards some local/invented optimum. The higher you go in the pyramid, the more conscious evil you can find. And usually you can only go high in the pyramid because you have proven yourself capable of evil.
oska 7y ago
> Realistically adults don't think about the morality of their actions much at all. If you're basing this on personal experience then either you or I are atypical because I think of the morality of my actions all the time (and sometimes makes judgement calls which are different to social norms).
- natecavanaugh 7y ago
  I think you're both right here. From the outside, it seems like most people don't consider the morality of their actions, but I believe it's a matter of degrees and instances. For instance, I've been told by many in my social circle that I tend to think more deeply than most about the morality, direct or implied, of my actions/beliefs, than the average person, but when I speak to people, there's always some code they're holding themselves to, even if they don't articulate it as such, but then there are also people who will have sex with anything in sight, but will engage in extreme handwringing over every food choice and environmental impact. Even if someone isn't weighing the morality of their own actions, they're acutely aware of how others' actions comply or contradict their moral code. Practically everyone has some common moral code that they abide by, while ignoring other parts because of convenience, desire, etc. People who are highly morally consistent tend to be seen as ascetics, extremists, idealogues, or the like. Like intelligence, moral IQ is a spectrum that probably most don't consciously think about until a conundrum comes up, but that generally centers around a mean, and spans multiple areas that overlap across cultures and generations and behaviors.
fourthark 7y ago
Morality is childish? What?

fmjrey 7y ago

In a pyramidal society it all depends where you stand. Most people function from a partial narrative, biased towards some local/invented optimum. The higher you go in the pyramid, the more conscious evil you can find. And usually you can only go high in the pyramid because you have proven yourself capable of evil.

oska 7y ago

> Realistically adults don't think about the morality of their actions much at all. If you're basing this on personal experience then either you or I are atypical because I think of the morality of my actions all the time (and sometimes makes judgement calls which are different to social norms).

natecavanaugh 7y ago
I think you're both right here. From the outside, it seems like most people don't consider the morality of their actions, but I believe it's a matter of degrees and instances. For instance, I've been told by many in my social circle that I tend to think more deeply than most about the morality, direct or implied, of my actions/beliefs, than the average person, but when I speak to people, there's always some code they're holding themselves to, even if they don't articulate it as such, but then there are also people who will have sex with anything in sight, but will engage in extreme handwringing over every food choice and environmental impact. Even if someone isn't weighing the morality of their own actions, they're acutely aware of how others' actions comply or contradict their moral code. Practically everyone has some common moral code that they abide by, while ignoring other parts because of convenience, desire, etc. People who are highly morally consistent tend to be seen as ascetics, extremists, idealogues, or the like. Like intelligence, moral IQ is a spectrum that probably most don't consciously think about until a conundrum comes up, but that generally centers around a mean, and spans multiple areas that overlap across cultures and generations and behaviors.

fourthark 7y ago

Morality is childish? What?