Evil

[MendotoManteo]

I watched Scarface with Pacino again for first time in a long while. I don't particularly like the film, but what I like is that, despite how awful he is, he refuses to kill that family near the end. So much so, he kills his Colombian link, literally. In turn, they come for him, because that's what evil does. And they win. As awful as he was, he was incapable of competing with them.

It made me think: is evil inevitable? Can you compete with it?

Entropy seems to be the rule. Things devolve. To the extent we can associate such things with "evil," I guess it makes sense. But that's nature. That's not evil. That's just the way things are.

Evil is intention. Despite all our narratives about good, so many gravitate towards the bad.

Sorry, my mind wonders.

 

[MendotoManteo]

Does evil exist? What is it? What does it look like?

 

[BillOfRights]

Does evil exist? What is it? What does it look like?

Google Image Result for https://images.axios.com/MZyowTZiTeI1-VE-jBiHw6z1ROA=/215x0:1655x1080/1024x768/2025/02/08/1739032674957.jpg

 

[korgguy1971]

 

[Kingpin]

Well, since Jan 20, pure evil has been on full display in the US for everyone to see. Oh yeah, it’s really and very intentional.

 

[MendotoManteo]

Well, since Jan 20, pure evil has been on full display in the US for everyone to see. Oh yeah, it’s really and very intentional.

I feel you. But I guess I want to know about our neighbors.

I interned in the Stanly County DA's office. I went in thinking it a rural homescape. Went out thinking it a hellscape.

The things people did to their own children, together as a couple even.

I don't know what I was expecting with this thread other than to say, illegal immigrants or whatever, the least of our problems.

 

[Shenanigans]

Well, since Jan 20, pure evil has been on full display in the US for everyone to see. Oh yeah, it’s really and very intentional.

The cruelty is the point

 

[duluoz]

But what’s better than live evil.

 

[TarSpiel]

Does evil exist? What is it? What does it look like?

No, there is no such thing as evil.

The mistaken belief in "evil" has caused immense suffering and tragedy to humanity and to the planet.

 

[05C40]

. . .. Entropy seems to be the rule. Things devolve. To the extent we can associate such things with "evil," I guess it makes sense. But that's nature. That's not evil . . ..

I always enjoyed Isaac Asimov's 1956 short story's ("The Last Question") take on entropy

Link: The Last Question - Wikipedia

 

[Paine]

No, there is no such thing as evil.

The mistaken belief in "evil" has caused immense suffering and tragedy to humanity and to the planet.

OTOH, belief in evil has also driven human equality and progress. Do we give up on notions of what’s good and what’s evil because it has caused suffering and tragedy? Or do we put forth an idea of what’s good and evil that aids the goal of human understanding and compassion? Do we cede questions of morality to the right?

 

[TarSpiel]

OTOH, belief in evil has also driven human equality and progress.

I don't think that's true at all.

How do you figure?

 

[Paine]

I don't think that's true at all.

How do you figure?

In the same way that humans have used evil as an excuse for cruelty, the concept of evil has been used as a marker of something to fight against. IMO, making evil something intelligible to the average person is a key part in building a moral world.

“When our days become dreary with low hovering clouds of despair, and when our nights become darker than a thousand midnights, let us remember that there is a creative force in this universe, working to pull down the gigantic mountains of evil, a power that is able to make a way out of no way and transform dark yesterdays into bright tomorrows. Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.”

 

[DougDaBroadcasta]

"Evil" is all based on perspective.