Painful experiences tend to be memorable. Do you remember the worst pain you’ve ever experienced?
Share why if you wish.
Month: March 2025
What Makes An Action Good?
How can you determine if an action that you take is a good one? What are the properties that “good” actions share?
If you want to lead a good life, what is the best way to go about doing that? The most direct way is to have most of your deeds be good ones. You are a good person who led a good life if you performed a significant number of good actions.
But what, exactly, does that mean?
If you are evaluating two options, how might you go about choosing the better one? It might be easy if the two options are extremes. Which is better: to volunteer at a soup kitchen, or to kick a puppy?
However, most choices in life are not that clear cut. Some can be downright difficult, and many choices must be made with incomplete information that makes it almost impossible to determine which is better in advance.
And there are other considerations, as well. How might you rate one action that benefits your family more, and another that benefits the community? How do you prioritize the present or the near future versus the far future?
In general, though, actions that fall into the category of “good” may have some common attributes. If you think back to the things in your life that you are most proud of, or choices you think turned out to be good decisions, what do they have in common? Can you find a common thread to your good actions?
Related questions: What does it mean to be a good person? Are people inherently good? When have you made good from a bad situation? How do you determine what matters?
Spring: More Sunlight Or Warmer Days?
What are you most looking forward to regarding spring? Is it more daylight hours, or the warmer temperatures?
Share why if you wish.
Do You Watch Awards Shows?
This is the season for awards shows: the Oscars, the Grammys, the Golden Globes, and many more. Do you watch any of them?
Share why if you wish.
Are Religion And Morality Linked?
It is conventional wisdom that religion and morality are inextricably linked together. But is that really true?
Many people define themselves, at least partially, by their faith. This makes sense. What you believe is often learned from family members. Your place in the community might very well be based on attending religious services.
Naturally, people of faith tend to think that what they believe is superior to other faiths or beliefs. After all, if they thought something else was superior, they would believe that instead.
That sense of superiority sometimes takes the form of moral superiority. Your religious text teaches the proper way to behave and to act if you want to be rewarded when you die. The rites that you follow and the sacrifices you make lead you to a better life.
And yet, we all know religious people who are not, in fact, morally superior. They might do horrible things, in service of themselves or justified through their religion. Being religious, by itself, is not enough to be a good person.
However, there are moral lessons to be learned from any religious text. Religious leaders do have wisdom to impart. Religion can teach us how to treat our neighbors, our family, and our community.
Is it true that religion and morality are linked? If so, then, how can it be that each faith and each sect thinks that it is the one, true path? They can’t all be right, can they? And what about people who do not follow any particular belief system?
Related questions: What does spirituality mean to you? Are science and religion compatible? What beliefs do you have that might be wrong? What do you believe?