Of late I have found myself struggling with misanthropy. The banality, and futility of most human actions, the folly of most human principles has been gnawing me from within, and I have been seething with rage without noticing it. Yesterday I almost went to war with a dear friend for a most trivial matter. He called me 'a book'.

I also caught myself loathing one of my students because I had come to discover that his aptitude wasn't as high as I had supposed it to be.

These and many other recent incidences have led me to think about what I deem to be good, or evil, and to my further dismay is the realization that very few of us know what's good or evil. Many say that good is what's prescribed by Scripture for example, but I have discovered that's a recipe for the worst forms of corruption and immorality. Others have championed for reason and relativism, but then have ended up either being paralyzed of action and or participators in anarchy and human debasement. For example, some will say that there's neither good or bad, only the person chooses which is which; but is that really meaningful, leave alone true?

Others will base goodness and evil on the opinions of significant others. Like being faithful to a spouse, but this has all the seeds of confusion and emasculation of the human spirit that it's easy to show that such principles are immoral and desperately wicked. Or that a government should base its legitimacy on majoritarian principles and have a say on what's moral on such basis.

So I'd like those who can and are willing to engage on this matter to join in me in thinking and creating an understanding on this matter.

I feel, think, see that you're saying, showing, thinking about something 'important', but the complexity is overwhelming. For example, how does the human relate to and with the recipe of morality. How does this relation arise?

This probably opens up the discovery of the disabilities that characterize the human. Thinking of disabilities, then I see socialization as an attempt at covering up for the inability of humanity to understand itself.

I am experiencing the inability or is it disability? It's like trying to lift a tonne of metal on bench press.

Consider the situation in the garden of Eden.

The knowledge of good and evil was their undoing.

and ours.

We always project meaning when we make observations... on the basis of good bad right wrong rich poor moral immoral intelligent stupid... etc

Children can observe from purity...without projecting meaning. True observation.

The account in Genesis says everything God created was Good.
Adam and eve accepted a knowledge that gave them ability to observe and acknowledge 'other than good'

Recipe implies a start, a beginning, step one. Hence sequence. A correct grasp of sequence not only gives the intended result but is also not overwhelming - the sequence becomes simple.

What was mentioned earlier, reason and relativism, have been shown to be an experiment whose results revealed a grievous misunderstanding of the human nature.

Indeed, following the correction of the incorrect sequence, the affliction of human minds, we will naturally, as the green blade turns to the sun, turn to the 'important'. Eden.

What's this recipe we're talking about? The recipe of life? Of experience?

The burden of life is heavy in the 'normal' sense. The child must feel evil acutely because the world can't respond without inflicting pain. Our method of understanding life is flawed hence the burden of life must be heavy. If one can get a sequence and method of living that lightens the burden?

The method is that of how to live like the lillies or the lotus flower.

Lotus ,,, the flower. Hhhmmm!

The 'recipe' could be both.

What is this 'burden of life'? And why is it heavy?

Tycho, I may be late to this party but here is my small kamchango:

I define morality as the setting of boundaries, between what I consider good and evil.

But I have also come to appreciate that in many respects, this is a false boundary and it applies only to me. This is quite helpful when it comes to appreciating other people's morality or lack thereof.

I have had the good luck, or bad, as you may see it, to encounter people or situations where practically every moral principle I hold dear is inverted. Where taking human life, stealing, rape, blasphemy etc are morally upheld as good.

Where then would I stand to judge or condemn?

My advice is 'just relax.' It is a relative Universe after all.

What makes is a 'contradictory experience'?

Are not the 'contradictions' merely 'sequences'?

Then these 'contradictions' are not really 'contradictions'. What could be perceived as a 'contradiction' by one may not be so to another.

IS this not relativism? Why are we reinventing the wheel? Cannot we learn from the French?

Relative Universe, singularity... I'll skip that as I believe we clobbered that horse to death sometime back.

Baghvad Gita, I am ignorant on this score but always happy to learn. Please share.

Terrorism...in my morality balance sheet, this one ranks firmly in the negative column. It is wrong. But then you have heard the saying 'one mans terrorist is another mans freedom fighter.'

My understanding of terrorism therefore may surprise you, or maybe not. I hold an extreme liberal view that the ultimate destiny of any human being is absolute autonomy. Where one may only give over such autonomy to another freely and without coercion.

Terrorism, of the exploding kind, is only one extreme of events that attempt to truncate such autonomy. Therefore it is immoral. But similarly most religion is a form of terrorism too, as is government, parenting...heck, much of society.

You are a terrorist Tycho, of the intellectual kind.