Discussion Multi-choice poll: "good person"

[R. A.]

This has been asked several times before, but only thrice as a poll which is the only way my brain can parse data at the moment. I wanted to do another with more nuance and options.
For the sake of the poll, the definition of "good person" is up to you.

(Rationale: the existing results are interesting - the first two asked basically the same question of "Are you a good person?" with binary "Yes/No" options. 4/10 people said yes, while 6/10 said no...however, the third asked "Do you try to be a good person?" - to this, nearly 7/10 said yes, with a bit under 2 saying unsure and a bit over 1 saying no. I find the contrast of one's own self-concept and that which one perceives others have very interesting.)

 

[trying ungracefully]

People say I'm good but recently I screamed in my boyfriends face that he's a broke ass bitch because he alludes to the fact that he's broke because of me a lot (I asked others I'm definitely not) and it just made me snap. A good person wouldn't do that though they wouldn't result to verbal attacks that cross the line into abusive category. That isn't the first time I was attacking him so it's why say it.

 

[amerie]

I used to really fixate on this question a while back because people would describe me as a good person but I felt like something was deeply wrong with me and I was just hiding it and walking amongst people with a zoot suit on or something.

I don't think being a good or bad person exists, we are human and as selfish as we are we're also empathetic and kind. Being somewhat of a piece of shit is kind of a fine print thing you sign up for when you come out of your mom's pussy and it feels so freeing.

I mean, look at all these rappers who have done fucked up shit and dgaf because they have fans who will back up everything they do. Why should I care that I was a little rude and annoying like 6 years ago.

 

[Namelesa]

A lot of people call me a good person tho thats just cus they haven't dealt with the worser parts of me such as when I am in an intense amount of pain and do something hurtful as I desperate to get out of m pain. I mean lots of people have left me throughout my life so that has to mean I am a bad person as I made mistakes with each of them to leave me and I wasn't good enough.

 

[amerie]

People say I'm good but recently I screamed in my boyfriends face that he's a broke ass bitch because he alludes to the fact that he's broke because of me a lot (I asked others I'm definitely not) and it just made me snap. A good person wouldn't do that though they wouldn't result to verbal attacks that cross the line into abusive category. That isn't the first time I was attacking him so it's why say it.

no he's a broke ass bitch don't feel bad

A lot of people call me a good person tho thats just cus they haven't dealt with the worser parts of me such as when I am in an intense amount of pain and do something hurtful as I desperate to get out of m pain. I mean lots of people have left me throughout my life so that has to mean I am a bad person as I made mistakes with each of them to leave me and I wasn't good enough.

If people only care about you when you're perfect despite them knowing you're mentally ill and at war with yourself then that says more about them than you.

There is a difference between lashing out everyday over stupid shit and just having a moment where you're overstimulated and utterly sick of life and need support

 

[unluckysadness]

I voted "I'm a good person" but of course I have lots of faults like every human being. But I don't hate myself. I just hate my life and all this pain

 

[Namelesa]

If people only care about you when you're perfect despite them knowing you're mentally ill and at war with yourself then that says more about them than you.

There is a difference between lashing out everyday over stupid shit and just having a moment where you're overstimulated and utterly sick of life and need support

I mean I feel like it has to be a problem with me if it has happened so many times. Also these moments i would say are a lot worse than what you think as I done really hurtful things from such moments that really do deserve me being left for.

 

[amerie]

I mean I feel like it has to be a problem with me if it has happened so many times. Also these moments i would say are a lot worse than what you think as I done really hurtful things from such moments that really do deserve me being left for.

That's apart of life. Why do we need to maintain and hold onto the same friendships when we as people change and evolve every single moment? Especially when you're ill. Give yourself grace.

Maybe you could be a better person but you don't grow by hating yourself into it

 

[Aergia]

I feel like if someone could pop open my head and read my thoughts they would probably not think I was a good person. Not because there's any antipathy (towards anyone) there, or because I'm selfish/malicious/whatever—I just think they would find the (relative) clinical, utilitarian coldness of it offputting. But warmth is overrated when it comes to morality, imo.

 

[sheeplit]

Good and bad/evil are such nebulous and troublesome words that just muddles a conversation with conflicting abstractions and invisible appendages, in my opinion. It's a total waste of time. The word good always comes loaded with a lot of baggage that makes any complex discussion nigh impossible with most people. On top of that, oftentimes, it is attached to certain words as a moral component, as though there is some presumed objective good which is absurd.

I don't try to be a 'good' person. I don't care to be one either, whatever the hell that means. I like to consider myself amoral. I look at what people value and match it against what I value. I consider what the implications are when those clash, and adjust myself accordingly. There is no right or wrong, good or bad, just what people find important and valuable and how that tends to interact with one another. My approach is self-centered and utilitarian, and I don't attach any component of good or bad into these words.

Some questions I concern myself with are: How do I live in this world with my values in the presence of those whose values conflict? Given a similar, even identical, set of values two people have, what is the difference in the hierarchy of these values relative to each that may later on cause conflict? How do I adjust myself in any conflicting situations, and how much am I willing to compromise?

 

[Grog]

I'm a good person; I just don't gel well with some others.

 

[avalokitesvara]

I'm gonna disagree with the premise the idea that one is a good person is a surefire way to enact evil. convinced you're in the right and on the side of good? then you'll justify any action. especially as, it we're splitting people into good and evil, doing anything against the "evil ones" is of course justified in your eyes.

there's no good people or bad people. there's just actions and choices.

 

[princexhhn]

I'm completely convinced that I'm a no-good piece of shit, but my friends and even psychiatrist say otherwise. I'm still not convinced, I just think that they would understand if they spent a day being me.

 

[Dejected 55]

I'm gonna disagree with the premise the idea that one is a good person is a surefire way to enact evil. convinced you're in the right and on the side of good? then you'll justify any action. especially as, it we're splitting people into good and evil, doing anything against the "evil ones" is of course justified in your eyes.

there's no good people or bad people. there's just actions and choices.

I see where you are going with that logic... I just argue that such a person isn't good. Ricardo Montalban (and I'm sure others) discussed playing the role of a villain and said that when he played the villain, he didn't play a bad guy. He played a person who thought he was the hero. So, to your logic a bad guy can convince himself he is the good guy through his own twisted logic. 100% true. BUT, someone thinking he is good doesn't make him good. He is just a bad guy pretending to be good OR a bad guy who is delusional in thinking he is good.

So, I don't think an actual good person will use a warped "the ends justifies the means" logic style to defend anything he does as being automatically good. Just like a person can twist their religious texts to support their acts of selfishness or evil. That's not the religion supporting evil, that's the evil man using the religion to support his evil actions.

A good person wouldn't twist their religion to support something bad. A good person wouldn't justify anything they do as automatically good. In fact, I wager an actual good person would have more self doubts and concerns that sometimes they are unsure their actions are motivated by true good or by wanting to be seen as good. A good person is always going to wonder and not parade around their virtue signaling to get likes and attention and validation. A good person is going to do what they believe to be good and move along.

Lastly, I don't think true good wants to eradicate all evil. I think a good person knows that sometimes you unfortunately might have no option but to eliminate evil that cannot be redirected... but that would always be a regrettable last-effort scenario that a good person would still regret afterwards.

 

[LigottiIsRight]

Other, because labeling a person as bad or good makes little sense in most cases. Some of their actions and attitudes are bad, others are good, and a huge portion of them are neutral.
I've oversimplified it, but I don't feel like explaining it better, I'd rather play RDR2.

 

[WhatCouldHaveBeen32]

I'm gonna disagree with the premise the idea that one is a good person is a surefire way to enact evil. convinced you're in the right and on the side of good? then you'll justify any action. especially as, it we're splitting people into good and evil, doing anything against the "evil ones" is of course justified in your eyes.

there's no good people or bad people. there's just actions and choices.

Hmm I would tend to agree but what if you are actually right and the ones you labeled evil are actually evil. Sure, this applies to the vast majority of scenarios where one person will be deluded and think of themselves as a hero or saviour but one day you'll meet someone who actually managed to hit the right scenario and they are actually in the right with the words. Idk it all comes down to , who is actually right or wrong? aliens or god (mom and dad) please tell me I'm right and my actions are justified.

Humans are just too dumb for objective nuance and stuff like that. It's always an us vs them. I say it's us vs ourselves; people just don't want to accept they are wrong and sometimes even right about certain stuff. If everyone was me , this world would have been much nicer; this is why we should put ourselves in the shoes of others and understand their perspectives. Average people don't have this self-introspection so we get nowhere.