whats the point in being a good person?

I don't believe in good people.

I think that's all a bunch of horse shit.

People have the characteristics of being human. People can ACT evil, but not actually BE evil.

People can Do Good Things, but that doesn't make them Good People.

A person is not a good person, a bad person, a hamburger, or a pint of vodka. A person = A person. Nothing more.
A person is not right while the other is wrong.

By the way, what is the point of ANYTHING?
I dunno I've seen true evil in this world. Karma comes back sometimes it just takes a minute for the bad to get back at you.
 
As others have said, if nothing else it allows a person to more comfortably get through life. Being a scumbag might be advantageous for various short-term goals, but over the longer-term it is exhausting and very stressful. And good luck really getting rid of your guilt and emotions - it's much easier said than done.

I don't believe in karma as any type of ontology, but I think that the approach of "I'll pretend that karma exists" is a pretty good way to go about living. It helps you do better things and it helps you see good things done by other people that you might not otherwise see.
 
Its not as much pretend as it is faith. Its ok tho I get jaded and cynical all the time. Just not right now. I'm good to people and my life is good right now. Better than it is when I Fuck people over on a regular basis
 
I disagree that the possibility of good people being on earth is "horsesh*t."

My grandmom is good people. I could never lump her name and "horsesh*t" in the same sentence...
 
Karma is not some sort of universal justice making sure 'bad people' experience the 'bad acts' they partake in.
I just think I get s hit for all the shit I've done. Hell I know tons of people living dirty and prospering. I dont consider myself bad but I deserve what ive gotten. I was kinda under the assumption that it is a kind of justice though. If someone screws me over eventually Id like to think they'll get Whats coming to them lol... If I don't see them first I'm not one of those people that shakes it off and thinks oh well. Ill deliver my karma if I see them for sure heh
 
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Because you probably don't stand to gain much from the "evil" you're thinking about, unless maybe you have some Ocean's Eleven type heist planned and in that case maybe you should go for it, and you'll get caught doing whatever you're thinking about at some point and either get arrested or beaten down by the people who you're stealing from or damaging their property, etc. etc.

That's just the rational approach to it. The answer for most people is just that they know that life is better for everyone and things run smoother if people use the "golden rule" in choosing the actions they'll take. But I think I've read that something like 5% or more of people are sociopaths, and so in their case the only deterrent would be the personal consequences they stand to suffer if they perform actions that hurt others.
 
I don't know if there is a point of being a good person, I certainly do not believe in karma or heavenly rewards, I believe those concepts were created out of connivence. But I feel inside me, as well as everyone, there is a desire for things to be right, which I think is like part of our biology. I don't know if it is there for a reason, like a purpose for human existence, but being unsure I would rather live as if there is a point than if there isn't. Thinking of myself as good is just a healthier way to live I think, I feel lighter.
I also think questioning if every action is always self serving is not the best use of thought. It makes you feel trapped and isolated inside your body, when you have to remember you are also like a cell in the larger organism of the human race, which is a cell in the larger organism of life in general. Don't you just feel that these should be positive things?
 
I've really appreciated all the earnest thought put into this thread. Thanks for starting it, chrisalt. It seems like people are a lot more diverse on the inside than they appear from the outside. I really like your username, RedLeader, and it suits you too from what I read. I've heard of people pretending to believe something as a way to test it, but maybe it would feel more honest to call it assuming. What I've distilled from my life are basic assumptions, which I sometimes refer to as "primordial assumptions" because the assumptions themselves would suggest that what they address encompasses all time. The most basic assumption I have found is this: Is my mind, or consciousness, produced by my physical brain, or is the physical universe happening in God's mind? It's easy to ignore topics like these as dry, irrelevant philosophy, but I was very serious in my suicide attempts when embracing the former assumption, because the pride and security it promised me came, I realized, at the cost of all that matters, of all meaning and value and hope. In my teenage angst I thought "nothing" was a fair exchange for the grueling depression and futility I was experiencing and anticipated. Everything that helped me from that point, I can't take credit for. The escapes I pursued were replaced by hopes I had given up. The goodness of anything can be ascribed to coincidence, but being older now I can see some care went into my life, and not just through human hands.

The problem with assumptions is that it's easy to make them and forget making them, while still being controlled by an unconscious part of the mind that remembers. I've become accustomed to living without much thought about much higher levels of intelligence, of mind, than what man has achieved or been given. Out of sight, out of mind, I guess, especially when our planet seems so cosmically neglected and chaotic. My impression of intelligence, or wisdom, is that it leads to fewer words, more focused communication, and often the restraint of communication. Personally, I've found it rewarding, so far, to look for evidence of the higher, benevolent intelligence behind our existence, which religions have promised is there. I don't believe it is hiding, despite how it may seem, rather that to have forsaken my awareness of it out of disdain in my own immaturity would be a better explanation. But if this loving hyperintelligence had anything to do with my own design, I must assume that my old brash decisions are somehow reversible and forgivable, and, most importantly, that this relief would apply to everyone else too, many of whom I have learned to love.
 
Karma is not do go things and good things happen, do bad things and bad things happen.
Karma is not some universal force of reward and punishment and justice.
Karma is cause and effect. Karma is mirror neurons.
If you’re a “good” person, and you spread good vibes, the people you’re nice to are more likely to be nice to the people they interact with.
If you’re a “bad” person, and spread bad vibes, the people you upset are more likely to be mean to the people they interact with.
There’s nothing mystical about it, and karma is nothing like this western misconception of justice and punishment.
No, Karma will not get them back.
No, Karma will not reward you for being "good"
I mean we could go into the difference between kharma and dharma, and how by helping others you’re helping yourself and hurting other you’re hurting yourself because we’re all interconnected as one being and yada yada but that is mystical Eastern ideology that lacks physical proof, unlike cause and effect.
Karma is real, and fuck you. Spreadin’ bad karma like a badass.
 
I've got a scenario.

For the first time, i finally met a girl that I like, and I thought she liked me. She promised me one night that she would call me to meet up, I waited for her the entire night, while my friends tempted me to go to a prostitute place, I didn't like it. So I told them I'm gonna wait for this girl to call me. I waited for her the entire night naively. She didn't call, as my friends went on with their business, I waited for them at the pub, the entire time thinking that the girl I finally like, the girl that I would change to be decent for once, but she didn't. I ended up going home feeling like a fool and question myself in this world full of indecency, what is the point in staying decent? I know the whole advise of telling myself; the Good in me is not worth it to be thrown away by a person who had mistreated me. But is there really a point as a single man, with no relationship, what is the point in staying decent hoping to find the right one, when my nature as man is calling for it? Is there a point in waiting for the person to come, or should I just get on by succumbing to be like the rest of my friends, and enjoy my life while it last? Maybe the romantic-relationship will never happen, and this is the REAL life, we are all alone at the end, and we should seek self pleasure in any possible legal way?
 
Im starting to lose the good person inside me, Life is sucking it out of my soul. Having thoughts think of being evil for the sake of being evil.


If there are no consequences after life why not?

You are laboring under the mistaken impression that we are all of one thing. Good guy or bad guy. However it's all there in us and will never leave the totality of your being in spite of which part is being favored at the moment. Relax and float down stream.
 
I'm a "good person" (in that I'm compassionate and have a good deal of empathy for other people, even strangers...empathy for others is the core trait of being a "good person", IMO) because I don't know how else to be. Even if I could go out and hurt other people with 0 consequences, I wouldn't do it because that's not how I am as a human being. Whether that's a result of biology/evolutionary processes, or some divine creator (you can find some variation of "the golden rule" in the core teachings just about all the major religions), or something else, I don't know, but the fact remains
 
I've got a scenario.

For the first time, i finally met a girl that I like, and I thought she liked me. She promised me one night that she would call me to meet up, I waited for her the entire night, while my friends tempted me to go to a prostitute place, I didn't like it. So I told them I'm gonna wait for this girl to call me. I waited for her the entire night naively. She didn't call, as my friends went on with their business, I waited for them at the pub, the entire time thinking that the girl I finally like, the girl that I would change to be decent for once, but she didn't. I ended up going home feeling like a fool and question myself in this world full of indecency, what is the point in staying decent? I know the whole advise of telling myself; the Good in me is not worth it to be thrown away by a person who had mistreated me. But is there really a point as a single man, with no relationship, what is the point in staying decent hoping to find the right one, when my nature as man is calling for it? Is there a point in waiting for the person to come, or should I just get on by succumbing to be like the rest of my friends, and enjoy my life while it last? Maybe the romantic-relationship will never happen, and this is the REAL life, we are all alone at the end, and we should seek self pleasure in any possible legal way?

I'm not exactly sure what you're referring to as being indecent. Do you mean casual sex? Do you mean paying for sex? Can you clarify?
 
Even taking a bullet for someone you love could be egotisical, because YOU don't want them to die. And depending on how it goes down, you might expect to die from the incident. And not feel any pain, but I could go on about good and bad right or wrong. Just try to be true to who you are, and not what you are is the best thing to do imo.

what happens if you dont know who you are yet, and still trying to find yourself? its been over 4 months no opiates for fucks sakes i just want to know if what im doing is right. i feel like most things are moving in a positive direction. sorry did not mean to intrude on thread my advice i guess karma or just the satisfaction of knowing "that was the right thing to do" is awesome. but i feel the same as OP right now if no one else cares then why the fuck should i? i still do because its a life/death pay the fuck attention job.
 
self respect

This.. In my mid twenties I had it all, beautiful girl, money, great job blah blah blah.. Then I spun out on opiates, benzos, RCs.. You name it. I lost the respect of so many of my friends, family, and indeed myself. Those bad memories you can never shake, they become part of you. Self respect dies as a result. I'm on the up again (slooooowly but surely), but that confident bloke I remember from my twenties who could take on the world is dead and gone.
 
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