The World today

[gideon]

How do you feel about the world today?

Gideon

[gideon]

How do you feel about the world today?

Gideon

The world is great but also an ingrate.

[verum]

The World today is slowly declining. People are becoming greedy and disturbed. Its just going downhill. Thats what I personally believe. Its something I see walking down the hall every day.

[blazeofglory]

The world today is the way it has to be, and we need not wonder as to why it is the way it is. We all account for it.

[verum]

So do you account for the madness and evil?

[mayneverhave]

So do you account for the madness and evil?

Define evil.

I don't think people today are any more greedy or avaricious than they were in previous centuries. I would say that contemporary society is considerably more consumer-oriented however.

This does not bode well for artists

[verum]

Define evil.

I don't think people today are any more greedy or avaricious than they were in previous centuries. I would say that contemporary society is considerably more consumer-oriented however.

This does not bode well for artists

I agree with you. and by evil I mean the complete loss of respect. There are becoming more and more people who hold absolute no respect for the human race, killing mercilessly and not even blinking. Its startling, and frankly, disturbing.

i do agree with you though. the consumer rules the world, and a change in taste or preference can flip the world upsidedown in a flash

[PoeticPassions]

I would have to agree with mayneverhave... things haven't changed much. People are just as disrespectful, greedy, or "evil" as they ever were. However, due to modern technologies now one can eliminate more people at one time... And because of the sharing of information we hear about more atrocities than we were aware of before. (ie Internet, media sources, mobilty, etc)

Yet, there is much beauty to this world. So much love, humility, and selflessness. War will always continue; but it must in order to have peace. We must have hate in order to have love; must have "evil" in order to have "good."

Like Blake said, it is a "Marriage of Heaven and Hell"... the contraries must exist. And they all exist within us. There is always the potential for all of us to commit horrifying deeds. Yet, for some, Jekyll not Hyde, prevails.

[verum]

I agree with you somewhat. I still see how the bad outweighs the good, but I do agree that there is still a lot of good. We do need one to have the other.

[rhei_27]

How do I feel about the world today?

No matter how life is unfair and the chaotic the world is...it still depends upon you on how you perceive life...

[NikolaiI]

It is going uphill and downhill in many, many different smaller systems.

It is not getting more evil, not more evil than it has ever been, that is for sure.

In America, up until 1970, it was legal to beat your children in any way- that could be a spanking or a horrible, bloody fistfight in their face. It could be burns, cuts, anything. Finally we got child services, which worked against the evils of child abuse, but also brought in other evils.

I hope this helps to illustrate how things have not been getting more evil all the time. Think about the horrible abuse that blacks used to go through in our country (I'm sorry that I am speaking America-oriented). I know less about other nations, but I think prehistoric man was a rapist. I'm sorry if that is offensive, but surely it makes sense to some?

I think it was very rare in certain times, but in all times, logically speaking, there must have been some people who, against all odds, did not act this way, but I think in our history, and especially prehistory, we were more brutish. Think about a lower animal, how it grins, how it kills, and now give it a little more intelligence and you have an evil human. Fortunately we've risen out of this A LOT. Take a look at Norway. Tell me things are going downhill.

I'm sorry, I just always have thought that we are coming out of a history of violence, in many, many ways. Of course, even if the majority are coming out, there are still counter-currents dovetailing downward. This is the natural struggle, and all things following natural law, which will never change.


How do I feel about the world today?

No matter how life is unfair and the chaotic the world is...it still depends upon you on how you perceive life...

Good point, and this is a timeless, universal truth. It's all a state of mind.


I would have to agree with mayneverhave... things haven't changed much. People are just as disrespectful, greedy, or "evil" as they ever were. However, due to modern technologies now one can eliminate more people at one time... And because of the sharing of information we hear about more atrocities than we were aware of before. (ie Internet, media sources, mobilty, etc)

Yet, there is much beauty to this world. So much love, humility, and selflessness. War will always continue; but it must in order to have peace. We must have hate in order to have love; must have "evil" in order to have "good."

Like Blake said, it is a "Marriage of Heaven and Hell"... the contraries must exist. And they all exist within us. There is always the potential for all of us to commit horrifying deeds. Yet, for some, Jekyll not Hyde, prevails.

Precisely. In a way, pain and joy are two sides of the same thing, simply, a disturbance from tranquility.


I agree with you. and by evil I mean the complete loss of respect. There are becoming more and more people who hold absolute no respect for the human race, killing mercilessly and not even blinking. Its startling, and frankly, disturbing.

i do agree with you though. the consumer rules the world, and a change in taste or preference can flip the world upsidedown in a flash

I see and understand your point. There are criminals in our society who beat horribly and rob homeless people who are thrown out of the hospital and get very little help, we have downtrodden who need but don't get help, and criminality breeds criminality. In a way, I think the world always progresses forwards. And it would be wrong to label all prehistoric societies as more brutish than us, or less cultured. This would seem to be, an old trap of prejudice fallen into. After all, Whitman was probably not the first to surmise that Civilization corrupts Man.

[Auriga]

I find it hard to believe that "evil" is an intrinsic aspect of human culture. Good and evil are such arbitrary concepts. We don't use these labels when we describe the actions of other animals in the animal kingdom. When a lion brutally bites into the neck of its victim, allowing it to bleed to death, we do not call it an evil creature. In fact, we glorify this act and put it on TV, describing in every anotomical detail the way they crush the larynx, cutting off the circulation of air and blood to the brain.

As a result, I find it hard to believe that humans are the only creatures on this planet important enough to deem this dualism between good and evil. Though, some may argue that its our ability to rationalise through situations which breeds evil; a conscious decision to go against percieved moral truths and commit a "crime" deemed "evil" by our peers. This may be the case, however, I'm not entirely convinced by it. I do not believe that we are born with an intrinsic dualism between good and evil. We are, however, born, like I said, with an ability to rationalise.

Reason is important because it implies that people do the things that they do as a result of a calculated decision based on experience, not necessarily inate moral truths, which is what's suggested when we talk about "good" and "evil". Good and evil implies that some people are inherently good, while others are inherently evil. Even more frightening, is that people may have the capability of both good and evil within them, and that they choose which to pick. This latter view may be true... I'm not sure, obviously, as these terms are so abstract and fundamentally arbitrary.

[kilted exile]

I find it hard to believe that "evil" is an intrinsic aspect of human culture. Good and evil are such arbitrary concepts. We don't use these labels when we describe the actions of other animals in the animal kingdom. When a lion brutally bites into the neck of its victim, allowing it to bleed to death, we do not call it an evil creature. In fact, we glorify this act and put it on TV, describing in every anotomical detail the way they crush the larynx, cutting off the circulation of air and blood to the brain.


Not in agreement with this analogy. The lion does what it does as a matter of survival. It has to kill to eat, and seeing as it cant use tools it uses its powerful bite. Anything done as a necessity to survive really cant be described as evil - now of course if the lion just does this for kicks and giggles it becomes evil.

[Granny5]

How do you feel about the world today?

Gideon

I believe this question has been asked for centuries and the answer has always been the same. We're worse off than we ever were. The world is what we make it. Mine is pretty nice right now, but who's to say tomorrow won't be better or worse. I take it as it comes for the most part.

[Auriga]

Not in agreement with this analogy. The lion does what it does as a matter of survival. It has to kill to eat, and seeing as it cant use tools it uses its powerful bite. Anything done as a necessity to survive really cant be described as evil - now of course if the lion just does this for kicks and giggles it becomes evil.

Granted, which is why I find it confusing when vegetariens call humans evil for hunting or eating meat.

[NikolaiI]

Not in agreement with this analogy. The lion does what it does as a matter of survival. It has to kill to eat, and seeing as it cant use tools it uses its powerful bite. Anything done as a necessity to survive really cant be described as evil - now of course if the lion just does this for kicks and giggles it becomes evil.

Sorry to butt in but Auriga wasn't calling it evil.

[jon1jt]

Isn't there a song called We Are The World done by a bunch of 80s artists who got together to raise money for Africa? I think George Michael was part of it, and Michael Jackson. And I bet Bono was there, he's always there. Um...the OP reminded me of that song, yeah.

[pussnboots]

Isn't there a song called We Are The World done by a bunch of 80s artists who got together to raise money for Africa? I think George Michael was part of it, and Michael Jackson. And I bet Bono was there, he's always there. Um...the OP reminded me of that song, yeah.

yes you are correct

[Virgil]

Contrary to all the pessimists, the world has never been better. There is less poverty across the world. There is more to be done, surely, but there are less people in third world status today. Modern drugs and medicine has improved and lengthened our lives. We communicate across the world at almost no expense through this wonderful medium of the internet. We enjoy more free time than ever before in the history of mankind, allowing us to be more creative and fulfilling. We can travel and experience all different cultures. And people are way more educated than ever before. To all the pessimists, get with it.

[jon1jt]

Contrary to all the pessimists, the world has never been better. There is less poverty across the world. There is more to be done, surely, but there are less people in third world status today. Modern drugs and medicine has improved and lengthened our lives. We communicate across the world at almost no expense through this wonderful medium of the internet. We enjoy more free time than ever before in the history of mankind, allowing us to be more creative and fulfilling. We can travel and experience all different cultures. And people are way more educated than ever before. To all the pessimists, get with it.

I'm with Virge, right on. Sure, we can do better, try harder, and we are. Pessimism is the only way for some people to try to sound intelligent, as if they have insights that everybody around them does not. :rolleyes:

[Auriga]

Pessimism is the basis of skepticism, which is usually the catalyst to change.

[Virgil]

Pessimism is the basis of skepticism, which is usually the catalyst to change.

Is it? If you're a pessimist, what's the point of doing anything, it'll lead nowhere. Frankly optimism is the basis for progress, which is the catalyst of change.

[Auriga]

I'm not saying I'm a pessimist nor a skeptic. However, if you concider how things are changed, it's because people were skeptical of the accepted truths of a given point in history. Also, notice how I didn't say skepticism promoted progress, simply change. Marxism grew out of a skeptical ideology about the innevitable decline of rights within the working class. That, however, developed into a form of government highly controled, reducing rights even more. So, as a result, we wouldn't concider this form of change as progress, unless you're a devout follower of communism :P

[NikolaiI]

The catalyst of change is just the universal law of change or impermanence. When something goes up, it goes down. Everything that is manifest, came from an unmanifest beginning and goes to an unmanifest end.

There's always a battle between potential pessimists or optimists. Personal experiences shape us, since our family life in the beginning of our life is the total experience we have of the world. So naturally we think the world is like whatever our childhoods are like. If we have an inaccurate scale-model of the rest of the world, eventually we will encounter things foreign to us.

[jon1jt]

Pessimism is the basis of skepticism, which is usually the catalyst to change.

Pessimism is the child who sneezes in his hand and runs down the street with the hand out yelling, "Mommy mommy, look, I got pessimist!"

[Auriga]

Pessimism is the child who sneezes in his hand and runs down the street with the hand out yelling, "Mommy mommy, look, I got pessimist!"

... Huh?

[NikolaiI]

You can't really tell a person who has had a life rough beyond a certain point not to be pessimist.

[Auriga]

Granted, life experiences determin the philosophical outlooks on life, that's not really the point of this thread, though, is it?

[NikolaiI]

Well it's related becuase the status of the world is determined by the actions of individuals acting alone or collectively whose actions are partly based on their outlooks of life-- which is also related to what they know, what kind of people they are, etc., although what kind of people they are you can't really say and is also always changing, and infinitely complicated, as it is based on their actions. I would say the world would be best if there were no crime, though others would disagree. I am idealistic and so I look at it simply, and I just want everyone to be serenely happy. I feel that this is stupid, and yes I know there's a difference in people, and I am separated by this, perhaps. I actually just feel that it might be judged stupid, again by people from whom I am separated. Anyway, none of us know the world, unless we try to know it analytically-- there are infinite factors so it can't be written down, but we can intuitively know all of the factors...perhaps. Other than that we can never know the world, we can only know sub-sets and sub-systems. And even those are infinitely complex.

Instead of philosophical outlook, I'd use the term sense of life.

[blazeofglory]

How do you feel about the world today?

Gideon

The world today goes on and on and our reactions to it are not of significance. I simply like to witness every phenomenon, not reacting or even feeling part of it.

[blazeofglory]

The World today is slowly declining. People are becoming greedy and disturbed. Its just going downhill. Thats what I personally believe. Its something I see walking down the hall every day.

Yes you are right. But even in the past also people were greedy and I do not believe we are greedier than our ancestors.

[blazeofglory]

Define evil.

I don't think people today are any more greedy or avaricious than they were in previous centuries. I would say that contemporary society is considerably more consumer-oriented however.

This does not bode well for artists

I subscribe to your idea

[blazeofglory]

How do I feel about the world today?

No matter how life is unfair and the chaotic the world is...it still depends upon you on how you perceive life...

Exactly. If we see the world with a very sinful eye the world is a place of sinners but have a look at it through a sacred angle it will seem different, a sacred one.

[blazeofglory]

The catalyst of change is just the universal law of change or impermanence. When something goes up, it goes down. Everything that is manifest, came from an unmanifest beginning and goes to an unmanifest end.


Indeed there both sides, good and bad and one can not exist without the other. Maybe by the same token, God does not exist without the Devil

[Virgil]

I'm not saying I'm a pessimist nor a skeptic. However, if you concider how things are changed, it's because people were skeptical of the accepted truths of a given point in history. Also, notice how I didn't say skepticism promoted progress, simply change. Marxism grew out of a skeptical ideology about the innevitable decline of rights within the working class. That, however, developed into a form of government highly controled, reducing rights even more. So, as a result, we wouldn't concider this form of change as progress, unless you're a devout follower of communism :P

Well, this is true. I'm certainly no believer in communism. Actualy just the opposite. Commiunism is probably the greatest evil to come across human history in the last two hundred years, when one considers the murders and deaths aross the world, and for its denial of individualism. So if some thought that as progress, which some did and some still do, then yes that would not be a cause of optimism. But communism has pretty much been stamped out (except for a bunch of radicals mostly in universities) and things have gotten better. It's not a question of ideology (actually it's the ideologues who seem to be the biggest pesimists) it's a question of facts. people are living healthier lives, longer lives, with more education, more enrichment, at greater standards of living. Those facts are undeniable. Is it possible that it will reverse and push us into a dark age? I guess anything is possible. That's probably what the environmentalists want anyway, but it won't happen. No, despite the simplicity of many people, I don't think the modern world will ever regress. So cheer up. Life is as good as it's ever been.

[Auriga]

Well, this is true. I'm certainly no believer in communism. Actualy just the opposite. Commiunism is probably the greatest evil to come across human history in the last two hundred years, when one considers the murders and deaths aross the world, and for its denial of individualism. So if some thought that as progress, which some did and some still do, then yes that would not be a cause of optimism. But communism has pretty much been stamped out (except for a bunch of radicals mostly in universities) and things have gotten better. It's not a question of ideology (actually it's the ideologues who seem to be the biggest pesimists) it's a question of facts. people are living healthier lives, longer lives, with more education, more enrichment, at greater standards of living. Those facts are undeniable. Is it possible that it will reverse and push us into a dark age? I guess anything is possible. That's probably what the environmentalists want anyway, but it won't happen. No, despite the simplicity of many people, I don't think the modern world will ever regress. So cheer up. Life is as good as it's ever been.

I agree that education and health is spreading like wild fire around the world. However, we have to wonder about the methods at times these "wester world views" are being transmited. For one, we're forcing democracy on a people who never asked for it, because we believed that democracy is the ideal form of government and all others are barbaric. Is this progress? And education is spreading around the world, but government is trying to make it so that creationism is to be taught in science courses. Is this progress?

The point I'm trying to make here is that we see progress all over the place, but progress in one direction often times has regression in other places to compensate. Health and hospitals has increased, we have found cures for all sorts of naughty viruses. However, with that progress, we see an increase in health fanatics taking douzens of pills a day for things they don't have, destroying their immune systems for when they actually do get something. And this kind of thinking is pumped out through the media, to take all sorts of drugs for things you don't have. Can't have sex with your wife, take this drug that will give you stanima for 13 hours. Though, some side effects include high blood pressure which can lead to heart failure.

[1n50mn14]

We're not allowed to discuss politics, so I can't say a whole lot here.

[1n50mn14]

I agree that education and health is spreading like wild fire around the world. However, we have to wonder about the methods at times these "wester world views" are being transmited. For one, we're forcing democracy on a people who never asked for it, because we believed that democracy is the ideal form of government and all others are barbaric. Is this progress? And education is spreading around the world, but government is trying to make it so that creationism is to be taught in science courses. Is this progress?

I SO agree with this completely! The Western worlds idea of progress is not necessarily right.

I'm disenchanted with our technology, personally. I think we could do wonderful things with it, but we don't. Instead we've bred generations of people who go home and sit and do nothing but watch T.V (which COULD be a wonderful tool), or surf the Net. We're de-evolving by technology.

We could really benefit from a good eugenics program, but since the Nazis, people shy away from the word 'eugenics', which doesn't have to be based on religion or race. We've let natural selection slip away from us, which is something we really, really need.

I have to wonder what kind of world we're living in where we wage selfish wars and kill civillians, yet only care about our own casualties, where we're not aware of the world despite the apparent 'global village', where children recognize Ronald MacDonald before they recognize Ghandi or Jesus, or important political figures.

Ranting.

My views are too wide to even try to encompass in one post.

[Auriga]

We could really benefit from a good eugenics program, but since the Nazis, people shy away from the word 'eugenics', which doesn't have to be based on religion or race. We've let natural selection slip away from us, which is something we really, really need.

This is a good point. Science and medicine has made it so that weak genes in human society are made to survive longer than nature would allow. This creates far too many people in the world who, naturallistically speaking, shouldn't be around sharing genes that nature would deem worthy of screening out. Again.. this is hard to say whether it's progess or not. Though, all I know is that we are in the processes of manipulating our own evolution, which is a bit of a wierd concept.

[1n50mn14]

: Another thing I've thought of that I don't agree with in the world today.

Genetic modification.

How can we even begin to justify Grapples? (The Apple That Tastes Like a Grape!) and companies such as Monsanto? We have t-shirts made. They say "Thanks, Monsanto! Now I pee blood =]"

[dramasnot6]

Oh,what a world!
I feel as though the many technological and intellectual advancements and progress we have made is bittersweet. As far as the human condition is considered, we have not changed and retain our primitive nature. However, as a society it is impressive as to the degree we have advanced, even if much of this is a result of incredible bloodshed, greed and corruption. We can never achieve that "perfect world", but I think there is a lot in the world today that many of us should be proud of. The fight for democracy and justice has organised into many wonderful and increasingly powerful non-profit organisations, and although there is still much work to be done, many groups of people who previously in history didn't seem to "stand a chance" have now been given more rights and are allowed a lot more equality in some places in the world.
I am optimisitic that,no matter what new "evils" may arise in the modern world, be they in the form of institutions, media,politics,etc., as a race we will continue to persevere. And the braver of us will overcome and continue to strive to make "the world today" a better world.

[Auriga]

The fight for democracy and justice has organised into many wonderful and increasingly powerful non-profit organisations

I find this statement to be one of the worst ways to look at democracy, or the advancement of democracy. It's this kind of looking at things that leads to wars in Iraq and Afganistan. Why should democracy be a form of government worth fighting for. Or worse yet, why should it be a form of government worth imposing on other nations using force? I think the Republican candidate Ron Paul said it best when he was confronted with the issues of the Iraq war. He said something along the lines of America is a great country, but we shouldn't be imposing it using force. We should be spreading Democracy through positive actions, making a good impression on the world.

Forcing the hands of other nations to follow the norms of western society is a bad idea.

Though, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that you believe we should be waging wars based on democracy. It was just the statement and I guess the wording used that is very prevelant in modern media when it comes to issues like this. Please take no offence.

[Oniw17]

The world is changing. There's tons of pollution and giant metal birds roam the sky. Technology continues to improve, and the wilderness areas are shrinking. War is fought much differently than it has been for most of recorded history, and cotton is used as currency instead of rare metals. Governments continue to get bigger, and tribal communities continue to disappear. However, the people in the world today are just as they've always been: greedy; selfish; creative; conformist; undereducated; compassionate; with the only change since neolithic times being that we are rather unhealthy globally.

[dramasnot6]

I find this statement to be one of the worst ways to look at democracy, or the advancement of democracy. It's this kind of looking at things that leads to wars in Iraq and Afganistan. Why should democracy be a form of government worth fighting for. Or worse yet, why should it be a form of government worth imposing on other nations using force? I think the Republican candidate Ron Paul said it best when he was confronted with the issues of the Iraq war. He said something along the lines of America is a great country, but we shouldn't be imposing it using force. We should be spreading Democracy through positive actions, making a good impression on the world.

Forcing the hands of other nations to follow the norms of western society is a bad idea.

Though, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that you believe we should be waging wars based on democracy. It was just the statement and I guess the wording used that is very prevelant in modern media when it comes to issues like this. Please take no offence.

I am sorry you misunderstood my statement- by democracy I was not referring to the imposition of a type of government . When I said non-profit organisations, of course I was not reffering to the American government but organisations like Amnesty International, which does not try to impose specific political ideologies, but instead promotes a higher standard of human rights and justice in various countries,including western countries such as America, Australia and the UK.

Please take note it is against the forum rules to discuss political issues such as the Iraq war. I just wanted to explain that my statement more clearly, it was not a reference to political controversies.

[dramasnot6]

The world is changing. There's tons of pollution and giant metal birds roam the sky. Technology continues to improve, and the wilderness areas are shrinking. War is fought much differently than it has been for most of recorded history, and cotton is used as currency instead of rare metals. Governments continue to get bigger, and tribal communities continue to disappear. However, the people in the world today are just as they've always been: greedy; selfish; creative; conformist; undereducated; compassionate; with the only change since neolithic times being that we are rather unhealthy globally.

So true!

[Auriga]

Oh, seriously? We're not allowed to discuss political issues? Why is that?

[Metanoia]

Oh, seriously? We're not allowed to discuss political issues? Why is that? Because it would spark to many heated debates. Just as most threads about homosexuality are deleted.

[Nasser]

The world is .. FUN!
Believe it or not, there are planes and elevators, you'd probably be toiling with a donkey travelling miles, now its... ehmm.. magic!

[Auriga]

We also have smart auto seeking warheads whcih take out entire cities... There's a give and take.

[blazeofglory]

I think the world today has changed or gone through a great deal of transformation in point of fact.

Values are changed and we do not think along the same lines as our ancestors did.

We are more of a rational creature and we rationalize things.

Today we are more in for reasons and rationalizations.

There is little space for emotions and passions.

Life is getting more and more competitive today, more mechanized than before.

[naomi moon]

The world is fine even if it is falling apart.

Materialism took over, no more space is left for emotions but hatred and despise.

[blazeofglory]

The world is fine even if it is falling apart.

Materialism took over, no more space is left for emotions but hatred and despise.

Materialism was always there and now it is defined and taken through a different perspective. Not that materialism did not exist before.