What an awesome quote! Love that!

When it comes to defining things, particularly the words “good” and “bad”, I think it becomes difficult because so many different perceptions (as you mentioned) get thrown into the mix. Just out of curiousity I looked up both words in the dicitionary and was shocked to see that each of them had nearly 50 different definitions. Somewhat crazy!

Is there really a true definition of each of these words, I truly can’t say.

Who gets to decide which definition is used and how is it deemed “right” or “wrong” for the whole world? Attempting to ponder this sends my brain into overdrive. Perhaps I should think on it some more and share later

Love these discussions! This place is amazingly unique and I love that!

Awesome quote! Gotta love Katherine Hepburn!

I wouldn’t really know how to answer that question. I mean it depends on what a person thinks good and bad is. Because if that person thinks it’s good and he believes it’s whats good and better for everyone he’ll decide. I don’t know why but when you asked on which is good for humanity it made me think of a president or a governor of a country. It made me think if a president had to make a decision and that decision could affect his whole country? He has to decide what is good for his country but in the end it might not be what people think is right.

So I think that in the end, here I am going to what I say in the last post, it goes down to choice.

Sometimes what you think is right is not necessarily what is good for you. But you know how we are, we want something so much and so bad that we don’t really care if it’s good for us or not. To us it feels right and we decide that it’s good for us.

Xo

Maria

Well how do you know the “rules” are indeed what you think they are, would be my question. What if the rules of life and this universe, in respect to humans, are actually to break the rules we use to constrain ourselves (not every time mind you, as the rules are there for valid and mostly logical reasons, but enough to keep things fresh as it were), so as to create the spark needed for necessary change? Thats how I look at it.

And Gnome,

From what I’ve been told, the definition of “Sin” is “missing the mark.” So the bowling analogy applies.

Hey Allison, I can completely agree with the quote. Sometimes you got to break your barrier and just have fun, but take it to a clean and acceptable level. Good and bad are very clear definitions, but everyone has their own opinions on what’s good or bad, so it’s hard to say. Some people will completely agree that one thing is good or the other is bad but our opinions and thoughts differ which makes us individually intelligent and human. I think it’s quite impossible for the whole world to agree on one statement. “Is there a definition that does not rely strictly on perception, but on that which is good for the whole of humanity?” I am pretty sure deep down that everyone wants some good for humanity but everyone has different opinions on what could be good so I guess in a complicated way, yes.
Good topic! As always! Much love, Britt

Hey, awesome quote I love it!

I want to share something with you from on of my all time favorite fims PSYCHO by Alfred Hitchcock, I know you’ve heard of him he’s awesome! Or/…was because he’s dead…

Marion: I’m looking for a private island. (He leans forward.)
Norman: What are you running away from?
Marion (frowning): Wh-why do you ask that?
Norman: People never run away from anything. (changing the subject) The rain didn’t last long, did it? You know what I think. I think that we’re all in our private traps, clamped in them, and none of us can ever get out. We scratch and, and claw, but only at the air, only at each other. And for all of it, we never budge an inch.
Marion: Sometimes, we deliberately step into those traps.
Norman: I was born in mine. I don’t mind it any more.
Marion: Oh, but you should. You should mind it.
Norman: Oh, I do. (Laughs and shrugs) But I say I don’t.

————————————–

This is how I feel… I know Im of subject. I know!!!!!!!

Im sorry…

Figuring out the definition that does not rely strictly on perception, but on that which is good for the whole of humanity is not easy…While thinking about what’s good for humanity my mind came across CRIME

Crime is big in all cities… more than 1.7 million Americans- 1 out of every 155 residents of the US are behind bars…. Maybe more than that Im not so sure, but I think that What is good for all humanity is for there to be less crime…. It’s gotta stop… We live in a world of Rights, am I right? So? We’ve fought for them! We don’t want to lose our rights just for one stupid idiotic mistake..It’s the choices we make!!!. Figuring out the meaning of crime and the motivations of criminals and whether crime arises from defiance, desperations, or the appeal for justice is never easy either…. The motivations and meanings of crime are as varied as are the people who engage in criminal conduct.. They are mysterious as any of the mysteries of the human soul..

There is perhaps no greater indication of the current state of our thinking about crime, justice, and punishment than the fact that the US today has considerably more than one million people in jails and prisons…The whole worlds response to crime hs movd from an effort to deal with its causes to coping with its consequences.. geting tough on crime means more people are going to jail for longer periods of time.. once there, criminals find that the overrinding penal philosophy has dramatically change!

I am completely againts crime… But I am also againts incarcerating these criminals! Look…. we incarcerate rather than rehabilitate those who violate our laws, and the conditions of that incarceration can be very harsh….

Some prisons… are old, overcrowded, and violent..It;’s really sad what we chose to do with our lives, in this world, and for the world.. My question to you all is Are we a safer society as a result of these chnges? And, more important, are we a more decent society?

Oh dear David Hayes…

Through your post I came to conclusion that I’ am a complete sinner… Or a totally sucker on bowling…

At least this blog and your wisdom are helping me to see those fails…

I just have to decide that if it’s a good or a bad thing…

Hehehehe

I tried not following the rules but it doesn’t work.
People don’t understand a good stand up comedy and they just kick you out of the memorial ceremony. they don’t understand the yellow flower on your purple pants and they just hire someone else as the CEO of the company. I even invented my own language but people just don’t understand inovation and creativity. Have I made my point yet?

Arash,

I don’t get your point at all … but maybe that’s because I have ignored convention and read your post with my ear.

And Gnome,
I don’t watch the news anymore who was the ex-ass of CBC ?

I love Katherine Hepburn too! I think we define good and bad by our culture, and then our culture within our culture. When teaching “values” in school, we try to stick to the ones that help society as a whole, but even those could be debatable if the parents truly called us on it.

Hey arash,

I don’t know his name, but I believed that he has passed away due a creative overdose.
Total lame….. poor guy…

obeying the rules…

to each their own.

I guess rules don’t even matter in spelling anymore:

“Mipellssed Wdors”

Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a total mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh?

Hello Allison “)
Well first of all I think that the point of haveing rules is to break em as well as fallow them, Sometimes it’s healthy sometimes it just takes the fun out of surten things. Like for example: Being at Barns & Novels, I know it’s sort of like a library and for a some reason my friends and I love to hang out there but anyways we know that we are sopous to be silent while we are there but the thing is we can’t! We talk and we laugh harder then the usual which I’ve been thinking the “rule” is to shut up so I’m like just thinking about the fat we have to shut up and be cauget makes us laugh and talk lauder then we nomaly do it’s very wierd haha, Also my world history teacher brought something up today and well my class never shuts up and it’s kind of funny but anywhos my teacher said that she had no rules because we have had rules seens well forever so she said “we should” already be mature enough to behave no come on we are teenagers we still need guide lines and rules even though eventualie we will break em but seriously not everyone is mature enough to be good I mean you could be 45 and still be imature or you could be 12 and be mature really age dosen’t matter at all in my opinion. Rules are good sometimes but I have to say it’s alot funner to break em. tehehe

-V,

I don’t think there will be a clear cut definition of “good” and “bad” programming. I think it is how we use the information thrown at us from others, the media, etc. that defines what type of people we are.

Yes, we can be conditioned to act in certain ways, but we can also break free from that conditioning if we make the effort to do so.

That leads to the concept of heuristics, aka shortcuts that the brain uses to compartmentalize information. It is a very efficient way to for the brain to work. I have learned that the brain likes to group things into nice and neat categories and if an object, person, idea fits the majority of the criteria for that category. But, this way of thinking can lead to destructive consequences when it pertains to grouping complex beings known as humans into these neat categories. Then, we all know what happens next: racism/prejudice toward a certain ethnicity, sexual orientation, religious group, etc.

Obviously, we can “reprogram” our brains to think differently if we choose to do so and we should when it comes to situations like these where it leads to prejudging others.

I’m a big fan of nature, but I am also just as much a fan of nurture. I seriously believe that it is 50/50 when it comes to how much each affects different tenets of our lives.

Sometimes I believe that they are both so intertwined with each other, that it is nearly impossible to find the root of the cause of some part of our lives.

What are your views of nature vs. nurture? Do you favor one over the other, or do you hold a more “on-the-fence” viewpoint?

Thank you for the post, and take care!

Aysha

Hi Allison and everyone,

I guess sometimes there are good decisions for ourselves and good decisions for others and sometimes they do not always match.

I’m in the proccess of rejoining the police service, with which I genuinely hope to make a difference in the community again, to do good if you will.

However, the thing I take from the quote by Kathrine Hepburn is some times we all need to break our own rules, to not be told what to wear or how to look, to be bold and rebel against whatever authority is in our lives,to scream and shout, be it parents, older siblings, our bosses and even ourselves, it’s what makes us feel alive!

Sometimes it feels great to not br a sheep and follow but throw a spanner at works…

…however part of learning what IS the right thing is part of maturing and we all have to make decisions based on what’s best not just for ourselves but for our families, friends and the people around us.
We all place rules on ourselves, in effect place limitations on what we do in life, I must admit I face going back into a job full of rules with much trepitation, like most of us, all we want is to have fun in our lives, make a difference and do good and be able to look back on past experiences with a laugh both good and bad!

Rules are made by man, therfore are not perfect, they need constant challenging, testing and updating, rules are created by as a reaction to events and as such always behind the action of life.

Sorry i’ve gone off on a tangent here.

ive found the answer to all!
haha

“There ain’t no reason things are this way.
Its how they always been and they intend to stay.
I can’t explain why we live this way, we do it everyday.”
-Brett Dennen Lyrics (from the song ‘Ain’t no reason’)
(you guys should listen to him…. hes absolutely amazing)

the program is the programmer is the programmee. where would we be without a program or maybe where would the program be without we? where does this world end and a program begin. can It be traced to It’s origins in the first bit of information or is some deiform at work? It hasn’t told me yet but when it does i’ll probably be the last one to know. are the questions more important than the answers? in this program can sad be deleted?

Its hard to determine good and bad. I think it depends on the person. Some things are good for some people, and some things are bad for those people. Its hard to determine just what is good and bad for people though. Like sometimes I probably like my way is the right way (which isn’t the right mindset to have of course). Some of the things I do might not be what’s ‘right’ by people’s standards, but if I do them, there’s probably a good reason why I did it…at least I hope so.

I really like the quote that you’ve posted. I’ve only seen two of Katherine Hepburn’s works (The Philadelphia Story and Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner), but from what I’ve been told, she was a phenominal actress.

I might have written this before, but I do feel like the rule that she is talking about is just ‘rules’ that society makes for us. Sometimes i feel like we’re pressured into doing things that will make us cool, or something else along those lines. I’m sure some of these rules are necessary, but sometimes I feel like its just rules for us to conform to norms. Here is my question though: What is the definition of “Cool”?

Some people may have a different definition of that than others do. I always try to follow my heart and not go by what society tells me to do. Alot of the things that I do (the shows I watch, the activities I do, the way I do things) aren’t necessarily the ‘norm’. I always make sure that what im doing is safe and not harming (either physically emotionally), but I try to do things because I like to. I love to take pictures, and i LOVE candid shots. Unfortunately, my friends don’t understand this and either a.) tell me to get rid of them or b.) want me to take a basic posed photo. I don’t think people quite understand that a candid shot shows just as much emotion (if not more) than a posed one. Its natural, genuine, and not planned. In my opinion, its truely capturing the moment.

The point im making is that sometimes the rules that “society” gives us may prevent us from actually enjoying something. ‘Act this way, do this, be friends with these people, etc.’ That’s still what i hear as a college student. I try to do things my own way. Has it been a popular decision? Not always. Does it make me happy? Most of the time it does. Am I being helpful to others while I do it? Yes.

In the end, I think we should follow our hearts and what we think is right. You posted a great quote that goes with this subject. We do things we think are good and that still allow us to have fun. It kind of reminds me of the poem by Robert Frost:

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Thanks for posting this Allison. It really got me thinking about it. I hope that I didn’t get too off tangent with the post. I’d really like to hear your thoughts on this topic.

Anthony

Are there still paths less travelled by? There are so many paths now (and most of them paved) that you can hardly make a new one without trampling on some endangered species.

The timing of that quote is perfect because I’ve been breaking all my old rules this past week in my continual effort to live it up a little! And I’m glad I’m breaking them.

“It is absurd to divide people into good and bad. People are either charming or tedious.” Oscar Wilde

“Is there a definition that does not rely strictly on perception, but on that which is good for the whole of humanity? ” Yes. Bill and Ted got it right. “Be excellent to each other.”

Good programming vs bad programming. You see it in computers all the time. You see it in people. Bad does not necessarily equal evil/morally wrong. It can mean poor design, ineffective, illogical, counter productive. A car with square wheels might work, but it could quite easily be classified as a bad design.

At least that’s how I see it… then again I believe in the wisdom of Bill and Ted, so people maybe shouldn’t be listening to me….

“… Kal-El Lillies are in bloom again.” That there’s good stuff. I usually don’t care for my own sense of humor, but that one I like.

[Just looked. Can’t find the Kala Lilly quote in the movie clips on YouTube … just Katherine talking about little flowers that she can’t remember what they are called. I did find the “Knight in shining armor” quote … I thought that was from the twentieth Dark Knight sequel.

Oh contrare! Less damage to the roads because no one would be driving their cars.