
Originally Posted by
Llamas
If we do everything for our own personal gain, the person who helps an old lady cross the street because it makes them feel good is better than the person who robs a bank because it makes them feel good/they like the adrenaline and the risk.
Hmm, ok. But then what about someone who secretly wants to do really bad things. Like a guy who has rape/murder fantasies and would be considered a high risk for acting on those impulses one day. But so far he has managed to restrain himself, and since he feels conflicted about these thoughts he tries to regain some "positive karma" or something by, I don't know, feeding the homeless or something.
I like the way you look at it, I just wonder if it's too simplistic. Not a criticism, really. With a subject like this the goal should be to whittle it down to its simplest form. I just wonder if you might have whittled slightly too far.
In my example, the guy enjoys the idea of doing terrible things, and would almost certainly enjoy the experience too. That should make him a bad guy according to your system. But in reality he has done nothing wrong, and in fact does things society deems good. If only actions are taken into consideration then he would be considered a good person. Clearly, that system would also be too simplistic. I think we need a combination of actions and motivations. Then, my guy does good things, but not because he likes doing good things. He does them out of guilt and fear. Being nice doesn't inherently make him feel good. He's trying to compensate for thinking really bad things. Is he good or bad? Now the question itself is perhaps too simplistic.
I didn't plan any of this post out, I just sort of rambled as it came to me because I thought it could be fun. Now that I've worked through the idea a little I think I like your system when applying it to relatively normal people in relatively normal situations.
I've strayed way off-topic but I don't think bighead would mind. This seems like something he'd be interested in.
“Today a young man on acid realized that all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration, that we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively, there is no such thing as death, life is only a dream, and we are the imagination of ourselves.” – Bill Hicks