| So today I finished watching the third season of Teen Wolf (if anyone watches it let me know, would be nice having someone to talk to about the show), and in the last episode a quote really stuck into my mind. This isn't word for word, since I structured it differently so it doesn't sound like a conversation: "Regression to the mean - No matter how bad or good things get, they always go back to the middle. Things will always even out." This invoked the concept of balance into my mind. I've always been thinking about balance and order in the world. That it is seemingly better to live a life of balance. For example, I have a friend who is really into art. And I know that he does art for a huge portion of his day, especially even more now, since he is in university. And when he does take a break and play games, he tells me that he makes sure that he doesn't play more than an hour. So I usually tell him that he needs to have balance in his life. He needs to balance out his artwork with free time. Since, I'm not even sure he does art for the enjoyment of it now, but rather he does art and works on his art in a sense that he is working rather than enjoying a hobby. The concept of balance also made me remember Aristotle's theory of virtue ethics. Where it is better to be in moderation (in the middle) of two vices, or in other words, to be in the middle of two extremes. So for instance, to be in the middle of being selfless and selfish. I haven't read virtue ethics in a while, so I may be wrong when I say this but, I think that Aristotle believes that you only become a virtuous person when you actively and habitually live and act virtuously. To achieve this, you act in moderation between two extremes. It makes be believe that balance is essential in life. For what is a world where there is only good? (a world without evil) And what is a world where there is only evil? (a world without good) Can these worlds even exist? There is no balance in these worlds, does this make it a good thing or a bad thing? (Kind of ironic asking about whether it is a good or bad thing when I'm talking about worlds of only good or only evil) The notion of being in between two vices makes sense. Take for example good and bad. There is no one in this world who has not committed bad acts. Nor are there any people in this world who have only committed good acts. We as humans, commit a mixture of both good and bad acts. Though, you may argue that some people commit more good than bad acts. If this is the case, then on the scale of goodness and badness they would be more near the good side. To counter argue, you may think that this is false. And people are still in the middle of good and bad, because even though they commit more good acts than bad, their thoughts are likely to be filled with evil thoughts. In a nutshell, balance brings about order in the world. Discuss |
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| i can confirm, i was aristotle |
RandomChampion said: i can confirm, i was aristotle Can confirm that he was Aristotle, I was Plato. |
Poitato said: RandomChampion said: i can confirm, i was aristotle Can confirm that he was Aristotle, I was Plato. Can confirm he was Plato. I was Socrates. |
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| Don't take life lessons from Hollywood. |
| Proud founder of the 20+ virgins club. Please visit my manga blog for manga updates and more! Mup da doo didda po mo muhfuggen bix nood ^ Need someone who can translate this. Pm me pls. |
| Define balance. If a world that is all "good" were to set a balance, then natural "goodness" would be the middle. Overwhelmingly saccharine goodness would be one end, and "slightly troublesome do-gooder" on the other. The same goes for a world of evil. They just set the two extremes differently. And that's the problem. What is an extreme? What is balance? It's only defined by us peopletons. There may be a world out there with a "balance" completely different from ours, yet still completely in order. ================== In other news this is a load of bullshit. Aristotle didn't realize that being high 24/7 and not doing shit is the best life ever. Hedonism ftw. Addictions are awesome. And as far as I know, order is pretty much maintained. |
Soren333 said: Poitato said: RandomChampion said: i can confirm, i was aristotle Can confirm that he was Aristotle, I was Plato. Can confirm he was Plato. I was Socrates. How'd the hemlock taste? |
Poitato said: Soren333 said: Poitato said: RandomChampion said: i can confirm, i was aristotle Can confirm that he was Aristotle, I was Plato. Can confirm he was Plato. I was Socrates. How'd the hemlock taste? Will have to ask the pre-socractics about that one matey. |
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MellowJello said: Define balance. If a world that is all "good" were to set a balance, then natural "goodness" would be the middle. Overwhelmingly saccharine goodness would be one end, and "slightly troublesome do-gooder" on the other. The same goes for a world of evil. They just set the two extremes differently. And that's the problem. What is an extreme? What is balance? It's only defined by us peopletons. There may be a world out there with a "balance" completely different from ours, yet still completely in order. ================== In other news this is a load of bullshit. Aristotle didn't realize that being high 24/7 and not doing shit is the best life ever. Hedonism ftw. Addictions are awesome. And as far as I know, order is pretty much maintained. What do you think I mean why I say balance? Balance is a self explanatory word so I thought that I didn't need to include it in my post. Defining balance never really came into my mind when i was thinking about this. So I'm using balance in a more dictionary definition than anything else. But I can understand that in the context of this topic I should refine the definition of balance to further clarify my post. |
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| I did watched teen wolf, only first season though. But, as far as the quotation, I don't believe this is true, nothing in this world will have a balance. I think you either become really successful in life or become unsuccessful. I guess I'm comparing it to social class a little bit. But, money now a days does determine whether you are a successful person or not. |
Nyaaaria- said: You really are the king of marathoning  |
Soren333 said: Stop. |
| Proud founder of The Official Anti-Ging Freecss Fan Club Join now! Kellhus said: GuusWayne said: there is a limit to the suspension of disbelief And it's the fan that did it. Not the smoking porn reading rubik cube genius rape ape with a magic boat. |
| regression to the mean is why people think homeopathy works so it's kind of dangerous in that sense. As far as balance in the world goes, I've never understood the idea that you need evil to appreciate/see the good. What's wrong with everything being good? It's not the way the world works but I don't think that makes it an impossibility. What I remember from ethics (it's been a year so probably a bit off) virtues are the golden mean between two extremes. Courage is a virtue because it falls between cowardice and foolhardiness. I think Aristotle had the right idea that not everyone can become virtuous, you need to be raised in the right environment. With that thought it's easy to explain why there are good and bad people in the world. I think Aristotle might fall short on explaining the actions of individuals when they commit both good and bad acts though. From what I remember, virtuous people automatically do good acts, there isn't a huge conscious effort on right and wrong. Someone more knowledgeable than me can probably give a better explanation. |
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| There doesn't need to be a "balance" of anything. It's just armchair philosophy overcomplicating how the world really works. It won't go away, but not out of any driving natural law. People will be good, people will be bad, therefore there will a mix. I think it's completely possible for there to be 99% good and only a sliver of evil. Will it happen? Perhaps not. Or maybe it could go the other way, too. |
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