• Philosophy and Spirituality
    Welcome Guest
    Posting Rules Bluelight Rules
    Threads of Note Socialize
  • P&S Moderators: Xorkoth | Madness

What makes a good man? Who's your role model?

Nixiam

Nixiam

Bluelighter
Joined
Feb 20, 2016
Messages
2,016
It may be nice to hear you guys talk about what makes a man agood man, or a woman a good woman, as well as who your role model(s) is/are. And yes, they can be of fiction.

I'll start,

I think what makes a man good is how he nourishes himelf and others. My role model is probably Socrates, or at least Plato's account of him.

There are members here I hold in incredibly high regard, as well.
 
George Carlin is/was my idea of a good human. He faced the truth and didn't bullshit. He brought it all out in public and he seemed like a nice guy to boot.
 
Last edited:
For doing lots of things to benefit the people: Mikhail Gorbachev, for ending the tyranny in Soviet Union, and even now at old age having the nerve to criticize Putin.

For intellectual ingenuity: Srinivasa Ramanujan, a poor Indian man who couldn't afford to go to school but was good at mathematics, and ended up literally reinventing differential and integral calculus all by himself, like Isaac Newton did. Later the British professor G.H. Hardy took him to Cambridge.

For doing something courageous: Buzz Aldrin is still alive and he was the 2nd person to walk on the Moon, so maybe him.
 
People are neither good or bad. Their actions can be interpreted however.

Captain Planet was pretty awesome. It's why I dressed up as him for Halloween.
 
polymath said:
For doing something courageous: Buzz Aldrin is still alive and he was the 2nd person to walk on the Moon, so maybe him.
Click to expand...

Sorry for commenting off-topic, but I find it weird that he's named the second person to walk on the Moon. The order they set foot on the Moon is a mere formality, for me they both are just the first two people to set foot on the Moon, without a particular order.
 
^ Yeah, it doesn't really matter who was the first. And that mission was probably about as dangerous for Michael Collins too, even though he didn't land on the surface with the others.
 
Another word for "someone who nourishes himself and others" could be constructive. I agree it's better to be constructive than destructive. But not always possible to do.
 
Since Jesus is a fictional character, when I'm in a difficult situaion, I sometiems ask myself what Brian Boitano would do.
 
I have a lot of heroes and role models, from my own mom and dad to lots of other ordinary people in my life as well as people I read about or am made aware of through the media. I admire people with big appetites for life. I admire people who are effortlessly kind. I admire people willing to listen to views that challenge their own and who take the time to explore the emotional side of their own thinking. I admire the courage it takes to keep eyes open to the horror and still love the world for all the beauty it offers. I admire poets who write about that (Adrienne Rich, Chase Twitchell and Gary Snyder come to mind). I really look up to my living son and I still look up to my late son. Both have taught me more than anyone else about myself and about life.
 
Someone with a balanced mind, integrity, well defined norms and ethics, honest, sincere, humorous, friendly, righteous, and warm.

Personally I feel a lot of love for people like the Dalai Lama, Mandela, and Desmond Tutu.

Most core values that most religions share, especially Buddhism, some parts of Confucianism, Christianity, Islam etc, I can really appreciate and love to see these values in other people.

At the same time I'm an extremely cynical bastard myself, when I take a good look around at my fellow humans I see not too much hope, I find it very hard to practice these values around people I seriously dislike...
 
Tough it is. I constantly remind myself that we a can't help our programming, childhood environment and genetics.
 
BlueMerlin said:
Someone with a balanced mind, integrity, well defined norms and ethics, honest, sincere, humorous, friendly, righteous, and warm.

Personally I feel a lot of love for people like the Dalai Lama, Mandela, and Desmond Tutu.

Most core values that most religions share, especially Buddhism, some parts of Confucianism, Christianity, Islam etc, I can really appreciate and love to see these values in other people.

At the same time I'm an extremely cynical bastard myself, when I take a good look around at my fellow humans I see not too much hope, I find it very hard to practice these values around people I seriously dislike...
Click to expand...

Too many coincidences are happening nowadays, I must consult Allah.

My psychologist just gave me a book today written by Dalai Lama.

I think it's called "Whats good for the heart", I dunno. I'll have to find where I put the damned thing.
 
You can use it as a coaster, or maybe read it I guess. :)

I'm not surprised that your psychologist gave you that book (incredibly nice person I assume), the Dalai Lama has a good understanding of psychology and human behavior, I think you might enjoy that book if you need some guidance.

I'm not sure if consulting Allah might help you (you were probably kidding I guess)), personally I'm not religious, but religious texts inspire me to, well, at least tend to inspire me, to become a better version of myself.

Maybe you'll also enjoy works by Dale Carnegie, also a man I deeply respect.
 
Ha! Yeah, I was definitely kidding about Allah. My psychologist is significantly nicer than my other ones.

Dale Carnegie you say? I'll certainly look him up.
 
How to Stop Worrying And Start living is definitely worth a try, helped me a me a lot, although it was temporary, I should pick it back up some time, it's all very common knowledge, but he really keeps pushing it with a lot of great examples.

Good luck.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top