3 ms·

There's just no such thing as an amazing person. All people are of equal worth. It's a terrible concept.

MrVandemar 3y ago
To pick two highly disparate people, in your calculus 1 x Ghandi is equal to 1 x Adolf Hitler. Now I'm pretty sure both were complex people both smaller and larger than the imprint they have on history: pretty sure Ghandi had many days when he got out of the wrong side of the bed and wasn't amazing, and probably even Hitler did some laudable stuff (history is silent on whether he ever, eg, helped an old lady across the street or similar small moments of useful behavior that most of find ourselves doing). Anyway, I definitely know an amazing person; and I'm married to them. :-)
- quesera 3y ago
  [flagged]
  - yieldcrv 3y ago
    My understanding is that Hitler lost and I don't agree with the industrialized killing machine he enabled or deliberately pursued. I am capable of seeing how my understanding would be different under a different regime, where it would be merely edgy for me to evaluate the constitutional merits of an event that was merely a footnote about a gap in the census population between 1939 and 1945 and beyond. Such is life.
    - quesera 3y ago
      I feel like you're insinuating something absurd here, but I just can't identify the point you're trying to make.
    - throwawayqwk 3y ago
      Difference between Hitler and Churchil was not much. One killed millions of Jews and another killed millions of Hindus. Who won the war decided their legacy. Power by any means is the deciding factor
      - quesera 3y ago
        Both were responsible for very bad things, but the difference between them is immense.
  - jimsimmons 3y ago
    Gandhi was a racist early on but throughout his life he continually grew as a person. His non standard sex activities are known only because he himself shared all about his life with everyone. And he stopped when people pointed it out. Gandhi by standards of his days was probably one of the least misogynistic leaders. Lots of heroes aren’t worth worshipping. But let’s not throw the baby with the bath water.
sokoloff 3y ago
All people are of equal worth in terms of how society should by default interact with them, in terms of how the government should respect and protect their rights, etc. All people are not equally talented. I'm not of equal worth to Messi in soccer, Brad Pitt in appearance, and on and on.
- barryDerringer 3y ago
  [flagged]
dang 3y ago
"Eschew flamebait. Avoid generic tangents." https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

To pick two highly disparate people, in your calculus 1 x Ghandi is equal to 1 x Adolf Hitler. Now I'm pretty sure both were complex people both smaller and larger than the imprint they have on history: pretty sure Ghandi had many days when he got out of the wrong side of the bed and wasn't amazing, and probably even Hitler did some laudable stuff (history is silent on whether he ever, eg, helped an old lady across the street or similar small moments of useful behavior that most of find ourselves doing). Anyway, I definitely know an amazing person; and I'm married to them. :-)

quesera 3y ago
[flagged]
- yieldcrv 3y ago
  My understanding is that Hitler lost and I don't agree with the industrialized killing machine he enabled or deliberately pursued. I am capable of seeing how my understanding would be different under a different regime, where it would be merely edgy for me to evaluate the constitutional merits of an event that was merely a footnote about a gap in the census population between 1939 and 1945 and beyond. Such is life.
  - quesera 3y ago
    I feel like you're insinuating something absurd here, but I just can't identify the point you're trying to make.
  - throwawayqwk 3y ago
    Difference between Hitler and Churchil was not much. One killed millions of Jews and another killed millions of Hindus. Who won the war decided their legacy. Power by any means is the deciding factor
    - quesera 3y ago
      Both were responsible for very bad things, but the difference between them is immense.
- jimsimmons 3y ago
  Gandhi was a racist early on but throughout his life he continually grew as a person. His non standard sex activities are known only because he himself shared all about his life with everyone. And he stopped when people pointed it out. Gandhi by standards of his days was probably one of the least misogynistic leaders. Lots of heroes aren’t worth worshipping. But let’s not throw the baby with the bath water.

sokoloff 3y ago

All people are of equal worth in terms of how society should by default interact with them, in terms of how the government should respect and protect their rights, etc. All people are not equally talented. I'm not of equal worth to Messi in soccer, Brad Pitt in appearance, and on and on.

barryDerringer 3y ago
[flagged]

dang 3y ago

"Eschew flamebait. Avoid generic tangents." https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html