Good vs. Bad
PAGE IN PROGRESS
What you see here is a page of my hypertext book Me, Looking for Meaning. Initially empty, it will slowly be filled with thoughts, notes, and quotes. One day, I will use them to write a coherent entry, similar to these completed pages. See this post to better understand my creative process. Thank you for your interest and patience! :)
What you see here is a page of my hypertext book Me, Looking for Meaning. Initially empty, it will slowly be filled with thoughts, notes, and quotes. One day, I will use them to write a coherent entry, similar to these completed pages. See this post to better understand my creative process. Thank you for your interest and patience! :)
good vs bad or good vs evil are one of the most unhelpful binaries that humankind has created
Hamlet to Rosenkranz and Gildenstern: « [T]here is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so… »
Have you ever experiences frustration of trying to decide if a person is "good" or "bad". For example, you know somebody who has been nice to you, so you think about this person as "good". But then she does or same something that goes against your values or moral judgement. So is this person bad after all? You will likely have cognitive dissonance trying to figure our how to think and feel about the person in question. Figuring this out is essential for us, as we want to ascribe meanings to people as much as any objects and phenomena we encounter.
I much prefer to avoid dividing people into good and evil. Rather, following Brené Brown's suggestion I talk about people making good or bad choices, rather than being intrinsically bad or good. This is what I teach my kids, yet I see how the good vs. evil division embedded in our culture when I see my 4-year-son pretending he is a "bad guy" (then I need to chase him around the floor). Of course, good vs. bad (aka good vs. evil) is another instance of our brain's tendency to enjoy binaries. This is one of the most core binaries that we have, embedded in worldviews of culture around the world. Any culture has stories about heroes and villains. And since the modern media is a business, it inevitably taps into this binary to make profits, which - as it can be argued - makes its even more embedded in our brains.
That said, plenty of people do acknowledge that the world is not black and white, that "villains" have complex motives and that "heroes" are not simply perfect saviors.
https://www.teenvogue.com/story/johnny-depp “Despite what seemed like progress in the #MeToo era, the way this trial has been picked apart online, the ridicule and vitriol Heard has been subjected to, and the utter disdain for a woman who claims a powerful man abused her, all seem proof that we never progressed past the idea of good vs. bad, of perfect victim vs. evil abuser. As we continue to reinforce that narrative, that there’s no room for nuance for assault victims, it’s the abusers who have everything to gain.”-“”amber-“Because Heard harmed Depp, her own alleged abuse experiences are being discounted — as if she’s automatically lying about being abused because she too has done harm… If the spectacle produces awareness of a problem, there is a growing concern it may also drive survivors back into silence.” heard-verdict-spectacle-of-abuse
sky playing in good guys and bad guys
there Are a lot of conversations about media representations of gender, race, sexuality, different cultures… Not much is said (as I see) about the fact how media representations have so many good guys/bad guys in them [connect to media representations]
brene brown explaining to her kids that people are not good, they just make good or bad choices (but that’s also a simplification because whose to judge)
Harari chapter 11
» An Universitäten und in der Politik wird gern versucht, die menschliche Kultur vom bösen imperialistischen Erbe zu läutern und zu den guten, vermeintlich ursprünglichen Kulturen zurückzukehren. Das ist bestenfalls naiv und schlimmstenfalls Ausdruck eines bigotten Nationalismus. Es gibt keine wirklich ursprünglichen Kulturen mehr. Alle Kulturen stehen zumindest teilweise auf den Schultern von Imperien, und keine wissenschaftliche oder politische Operation kann das imperiale Erbe entfernen, ohne den Patienten gleich mit zu töten. »
from Harari: dualistic religious vs monotheistic religions - the problem of good vs evil
most people imagine the world as divided into good people and bad people, with most problems coming out of actions of bad people
About this project: Start page
Hamlet to Rosenkranz and Gildenstern: « [T]here is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so… »
Have you ever experiences frustration of trying to decide if a person is "good" or "bad". For example, you know somebody who has been nice to you, so you think about this person as "good". But then she does or same something that goes against your values or moral judgement. So is this person bad after all? You will likely have cognitive dissonance trying to figure our how to think and feel about the person in question. Figuring this out is essential for us, as we want to ascribe meanings to people as much as any objects and phenomena we encounter.
I much prefer to avoid dividing people into good and evil. Rather, following Brené Brown's suggestion I talk about people making good or bad choices, rather than being intrinsically bad or good. This is what I teach my kids, yet I see how the good vs. evil division embedded in our culture when I see my 4-year-son pretending he is a "bad guy" (then I need to chase him around the floor). Of course, good vs. bad (aka good vs. evil) is another instance of our brain's tendency to enjoy binaries. This is one of the most core binaries that we have, embedded in worldviews of culture around the world. Any culture has stories about heroes and villains. And since the modern media is a business, it inevitably taps into this binary to make profits, which - as it can be argued - makes its even more embedded in our brains.
That said, plenty of people do acknowledge that the world is not black and white, that "villains" have complex motives and that "heroes" are not simply perfect saviors.
https://www.teenvogue.com/story/johnny-depp “Despite what seemed like progress in the #MeToo era, the way this trial has been picked apart online, the ridicule and vitriol Heard has been subjected to, and the utter disdain for a woman who claims a powerful man abused her, all seem proof that we never progressed past the idea of good vs. bad, of perfect victim vs. evil abuser. As we continue to reinforce that narrative, that there’s no room for nuance for assault victims, it’s the abusers who have everything to gain.”-“”amber-“Because Heard harmed Depp, her own alleged abuse experiences are being discounted — as if she’s automatically lying about being abused because she too has done harm… If the spectacle produces awareness of a problem, there is a growing concern it may also drive survivors back into silence.” heard-verdict-spectacle-of-abuse
sky playing in good guys and bad guys
there Are a lot of conversations about media representations of gender, race, sexuality, different cultures… Not much is said (as I see) about the fact how media representations have so many good guys/bad guys in them [connect to media representations]
brene brown explaining to her kids that people are not good, they just make good or bad choices (but that’s also a simplification because whose to judge)
Harari chapter 11
» An Universitäten und in der Politik wird gern versucht, die menschliche Kultur vom bösen imperialistischen Erbe zu läutern und zu den guten, vermeintlich ursprünglichen Kulturen zurückzukehren. Das ist bestenfalls naiv und schlimmstenfalls Ausdruck eines bigotten Nationalismus. Es gibt keine wirklich ursprünglichen Kulturen mehr. Alle Kulturen stehen zumindest teilweise auf den Schultern von Imperien, und keine wissenschaftliche oder politische Operation kann das imperiale Erbe entfernen, ohne den Patienten gleich mit zu töten. »
from Harari: dualistic religious vs monotheistic religions - the problem of good vs evil
most people imagine the world as divided into good people and bad people, with most problems coming out of actions of bad people
About this project: Start page
