Right or Wrong - who determines that? - Page 2

Originally posted by: Gauri_3

"shouldn't" or "should"?   shouldn't, there is no typo there....

so,  r u saying it's irrelevant whether one thinks or percieves as they still won't be able make right from wrong w/o asking an elder person?

what's right for an 80 year old grand ma may not be right for a 20 year old grand daughter if we take into consideration things that fall outside the morality/ethics bucket.  say for example, the widowed 80 yr old granny is approached by her widowed 23 yr old grand daughter seeking advice on re-marriage.  granny may think it's not appropriate.  should she agree with granny's thinking in this case?  i think your interpretations are skittling away from the point I am trying to make...

Originally posted by: return_to_hades

The dictionary definition distinguishes them as two distinct words. However, they are not mutually exclusive but interdependent. Our thoughts influence our perceptions and our perceptions influence our thoughts. We all have a unique thought process and think things in a different way, which leads to difference in our perceptions. The environment we live in creates perceptions and notions in our mind that influences the way we think.

Interdependent only if you are scientist.. for most the common people and situations, the difference in perceptions is not due to difference in thoughts but more because the pre-conceived notions through upbringing which contribute largely to the perceptions...

Like I said if you "think",  there should be nothing like right or wrong...😊

Edited by qwertyesque - 16 years ago

Originally posted by: qwertyesque

.....and what exactly is the point u r trying to make here?.....that if u "think" then there should be nothing like "right" or "wrong"!!!

wouldn't it be same as what i had up in my post.......that our judgment of "right" and "wrong" is influenced by choices we make in life......the way we lead our lives.

since our thought process is largely influenced by our imagination/ideas about what we have in mind for ourselves and what we desire to achieve ultimately; we all will judge right from wrong differently...especially those huge grey areas that fall outside the black and white morality/ethics principles.  therefore, if one is career driven, they may feel it's right to spend time away from their family while building up their career to reach that goal they have in mind for themselves whereas someone who's totally family focused may set the career goals lower in order to spend more time with the family. 

now, who's right and who's wrong depends on the goals people have in mind for themselves but society, at large, will support the former if they happened to be male and latter if they happen to be female.  u swap the genders and u'll see society coming down hard on both.

 

 

Edited by Gauri_3 - 16 years ago

Originally posted by: Gauri_3

.....and what exactly is the point u r trying to make here?.....that if u "think" then there should be nothing like "right" or "wrong"!!! right

wouldn't it be same as what i had up in my post.......that our judgment of "right" and "wrong" is influenced by choices we make in life......the way we lead our lives.. the choices not necessarily influence our judgement rather the notion of right or wrong should influence our choices.. just cos a 13 year old takes drugs doesnt make his judgement of 'drugs being right' right,  is it?

Originally posted by: qwertyesque

 the choices not necessarily influence our judgement rather the notion of right or wrong should influence our choices.. just cos a 13 year old takes drugs doesnt make his judgement of 'drugs being right' right,  is it?

that's why i said our thinking pertaining to the decisions falling in that huge grey area that falls outside of the traditional right and wrong stuff.  taking drugs is bad...this is no brainer. 

in a utopian world, right and wrong should influence our choices.  unfortunately, we don't live in a perfect world.  most of the time it's our choices that influence our perception of right or wrong.  most of the people now a days do not lead their life based on what's right or wrong...except for some of the stuff like 10 commandments as mentioned by someone on this thread.

Edited by Gauri_3 - 16 years ago

Originally posted by: Gauri_3

that's why i said our thinking pertaining to the decisions falling in that huge grey area that falls outside of the traditional right and wrong stuff.  taking drugs is bad...this is no brainer.  no but if you think you would realize drugs are not bad...

in a utopian world, right and wrong should influence our choices.  unfortunately, we don't live in a perfect world.  people were perfect like 50 years ago and now suddenly they have problems!!???most of the time it's our choices that influence our perception of right or wrong not at all.. ok give an example....  most of the people now a days do not lead their life based on what's right or wrong...except for some of the stuff like 10 commandments as mentioned by someone on this thread. a lot of them do.. because inherently we know carry this info irrespective of actions.. if the choice is bet' good and evil. its almost always goin to be evil thats going to win.. and morality in that case is lost....😊

we cocoon ourselves in domain of the right and then want our choices to make the statement which seems familiar... and then make a big talk about choices...!!!??? Right and wrong is not relative. it has to be absolute... which is what it has been... otherwise.. you have criminals...walking on the roads cos somebody perceived their motives for crime right...😆

Edited by qwertyesque - 16 years ago

Originally posted by: qwertyesque

we cocoon ourselves in domain of the right and then want our choices to make the statement which seems familiar... and then make a big talk about choices...!!!??? Right and wrong is not relative. it has to be absolute... which is what it has been... 😆

lol, sure.😛 an "absolute" that keeps changing over time, as we keep discovering new things, at times reversing previous notions of "absolute right or wrong". like the world before galileo. they sure thought they knew which end was up, didnt they?😉

but u're right about absolut vodka.😆 always the "right" stuff to take if u wanna get a buzz. if u can get the other fizz to add down right😉

 

Edited by chatbuster - 16 years ago

societies, nations, governments, individuals, families, social groups, religious denominations, corporations, armies all have their own belief systems about what's right or wrong. history books even have their notions of who was right or wrong. scientists too havent always gotten their ideas of right or wrong correct.

problems arise when these clash with other belief systems or rigidly held "absolute" positions. what's right for one person might also be intrinsically wrong for another.

once in a while, leaders come along who shape these ideas of right or wrong for the rest of the folks.

Originally posted by: qwertyesque

...otherwise.. you have criminals...walking on the roads cos somebody perceived their motives for crime right...😆

question asked is who determines right or wrong, not who SHOULD determine it. 😉

obviously we/ society dont want criminals to be setting the bar for what's right or wrong. but even in this example, from the perspective of the criminal who believes he can get away with it, who doesn't believe in heaven or hell, who doesn't believe in or care about consequences whether in this or in a next-life, why is even a life of crime a wrong thing? if he lives just once, and can get crime to pay, it might even be a perfectly "rational" thing to do. it might horrify us, but why's such a life a bad thing from his/ her perspective?😉

which is why the answer to the question posed above is- we do, individually, and collectively. and our ideas may or not tally with the notions others have.

Edited by chatbuster - 16 years ago

Originally posted by: qwertyesque

Like I said if you "think",  there should be nothing like right or wrong...😊

What do you mean by this - no right or wrong if one can think. Is it some neo-philolosophy along the lines that there is no good and evil - only power.

Originally posted by: qwertyesque

the choices not necessarily influence our judgement rather the notion of right or wrong should influence our choices.. just cos a 13 year old takes drugs doesnt make his judgement of 'drugs being right' right,  is it?

There is a gray line being tread here. The thing is that most alcoholics and drug abusers are conscious that what they are doing is 'wrong' but do not have the mental and physical capacity to do the 'right' thing. There are many things that we know as 'wrong' but do anyway and many things we know that are 'right' we do not do, because of the strange notion we foster that its OK this instance.

The law is an attempt to establish a black and white system for judging right or wrong, yet every now and then there are situations where we realize that despite the structure 'right is wrong' and 'wrong is right'.

You simply cannot divide everything in black and white.