Good, Bad
Before lunch, I wanted to write a blog post about a guy I know whos been the object of frequent discussions with my family this week. I wanted to talk about 'good' and 'bad' people, and how to classify them. This post will focus on that, but I want to mention something that happened right after lunch. I was reading this book that starts talking about time and space and metaphysics, and goes on to link that with morality and, eventually, God. After reading all that I realised two things:
i] The nature of God and the universe can only be so infinitely complex that its impossible for any human being to understand even the most abstract framework of how it all works. I guess we all already know this, but its an interesting reminder.
ii] More relevant to this post, 'good' and 'bad' are so much harder to define than how we use them in our everyday thoughts and words.
Anyway, all that deserves a post in itself, and right now I don't have the time. About this guy, he's quite a good friend of mine, I like him a lot. I wouldn't describe us as close, but we do hang out, when we're both in the country. Anyway, I was talking to my mom about him, and she's like so is he a good guy?
First reaction: yeah, of course hes a good guy...
Second reaction: ...or maybe not.
What makes a good guy a good guy? This guy's done all the shizzle: drink drugs sex etc. Its becoming increasingly common to find people like that, and I've learned not to judge people in such a way. Sure it reflects badly, but the only damage their doing is to themselves. It most certainly does not make them 'bad people'.
So, in my head I defined what doesnt make someone bad, what DOES make them bad? Doing bad acts, of course, acts that hurt others. Does that mean doing good acts, acts of charity and the like, does that mean people who do good acts are good people? Maybe!
What about people who dont do neither bad nor good? Are they bad or good people? In my mind, I decided that they were neither bad nor good :p They were 'alright', 'decent', whatever. This particular guy strikes me as the type. He doesnt go out of his way to hurt people (although he will occasionally have a laugh at the expense of others, as I suspect we all do now and then!), but he doesnt go out of his way to help them. In fact, I dont think he goes out of his way at all, ever.
Not bad, not good. Its funny how we like to group people like that. I suppose its not so easy after all.
Posted by illogicist at 6:17 AM
5 Comments
Am good, bit weird but good.
I think it is simpler than you think to classify people. If just depends on their actions , does it reflect a white or a black heart ? :)
However , I do believe that there is good and bad in every one of us.
it*
@SR - sounds like a good strategy. Should try it out sometime, especially since I seem to be a pretty bad judge of character, personally. Thanks for passin by.
@Lym: I was rereading my post just now, and I was thinking, should I even be 'judging' these people? Its very PC nowadays to say we shouldn't judge people, but I think the fact of the matter is it DOES help...especially when the people in question are people we have a choice about whether to interact with them or not. What do you think? (not that that was directly relevant to ur post, but you just made me think of it)
Note one thing Z, when you are around a person alot .. you are judged by his actions wether you like it or not.
So basicly, to decide wether the guy is good or bad, you should think: wether I would like to be labled with the things he does?!
Life is not fair, its a game we have to play. Yes Idealy we shouldnt judge at all, but its impossible .. the first moment you meet a person you start classifying them .. its something you dont even intend to do .. it comes naturally.
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