Do we need to experience the bad to know the good??

lowden

Inspired by a few posts from the 'suffering' thread, i pose the above question.

Is it really necessary to experience or even know of evil deeds in order to appreciate good, benevolence, peace.

Certain peoples and indigenous tribes have lived in peace and probably still do with little, if any, disturbance and malevolence within their communities. They don't need evil to appreciate good, surely.

One current headline story over here in Britain is of a 7yr old girl murdered, shot in the back by a drug dealer because she'd seen his face. He's just got 40yrs in jail. Now that's a really upsetting story but does it make me appreciate good??

Surely it's sufficient to know what will happen if you take a certain action, rather than to take part in it?

I know it's a bit of an 'old chestnut' but i thought i'd throw it open.

Peace

Lowden

blondie

My question, do we have to experience the bad to know it's bad?

SixofNine

I see it about the way you do, Lowden. I've always thought the argument was lame out of the gate.

FMZ

Not wanting to sound flippant... but the answer is no... we need to experience the bad to know the bad, and experience the good to know the good. To further ourselves, we have to see reality from every possible facet.

I wonder how long it will be before Megadude finds this thread. hehe

KJ

anakolouthos

Lowden, i'm with you on this too. I feel we should evaluate each situation on its own merits, or lack thereof. The story you told breaks my heart... :-(. Knowing about the atrocities & injustices in the current world & in history help me appreciate the relative peace around me now, but i don't feel i would have any trouble identifying good in the world if i was ignorant of the bad. It's a good point to ponder.

I think negative experience in our personal lives have more of an impact on most people & their perceptions of the world. For example, i probably would not appreciate the love of my wife as much if i hadn't had my heart broken as a teenager. Does anyone else feel this way? It's very easy to take good things for granted if you haven't experienced the bad things, but i don't think all positive experiences must have a negative backdrop to be compared against. Negativity can help us not take positivity for granted.

Happiness, & life itself, are so transient, so fleeting. I do my best to enjoy the good my life is blessed with & to share good things with others.

Well that's enough of my pseudo-philosophising. lol. Carpe diem, everyone.

Love & goodness,
anakolouthos

plmkrzy

Sheesh...that question could go in so many directions. How do we define what's good and what's bad? Obviously a little girl being shot for any reason is bad. No, I don't need to get shot in order to recognize that.

I've been told so many times, while growing up, that this life we live...in this "wicked system of things" should be teaching me/us to appreciate what God has in store for us in the future, as though it's all about some kind of lesson we are meant to learn.

whatever

plm

BluesBrother

In the modern world we are bombarded with bad news, crime wars disasters etc {Hey, that sounds like the intro to my last student talk ) But my point is that such things do make the rest of us happy or appreciative of the quiet lives that the vast majority lead. The reports only upset and could get us down if we dwelt on them.

So knowlege of the bad does not make us see the good any better .

peacefulpete

People often mistake the need for variety as a need for evil. I can get plenty of variety in my life with having someone slug me in the gut.

the dreamer dreaming

see my post in suffering...as to good and evil...

however consider, if you could ONLY experience pain after you experienced pleasure and pleasure only after you have experienced pain, when could you actually experience either?

there is a null state of experiences, nothingness and pain and pleasure are not opposites from this state, but two very different experiences that need have no connection to each other.

its like saying you have to experience chocolate to experience vanilla

Brigid

we need to experience the bad to know the bad, and experience the good to know the good. To further ourselves, we have to see reality from every possible facet.

I cannot think of a better way of putting it. Acknowledge the darkness for it is there. Always? And if not, what does that look like? Tribal communes living peaceably for eternity? To what end? And yes, I ask myself as I query, does everything have to serve a utilitarian purpose? Not necessarily so. I just do not feel one can just dismiss the Darkness. At times, one must actually embrace it for personal growth.

~Brigid

Do we need to experience the bad to know the good??

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