Trouble with the trees
Thinking about the myth of expulsion from Eden in the context of my continuing assertion that I'm not some kind of "good guy" - that I'm just a guy, and we can all just choose what we do, and that once we know better we can't go back to not knowing - all that we can do is do the thing we know to be good, considering the circumstances.
Learning on your own? Eating of the forbidden fruit of knowledge? It's invigorating, and transformative. It's pretty great to realize that you know something; that you know whether it's right or wrong. Sometimes, of course, it comes inadvertently. Being forced into knowledge of good and evil is painful, but once you've got it, you've got that burden. That's how I feel about vegetarianism. I can't really go back; I know. I'm out of the garden.
Same applies to knowing what makes people happy and what lets them down. Once you know, you know. Innocence is impossible. Can't screw someone over and pretend you didn't know - unless you didn't know.
But that doesn't make you good. In mythological antecedent it's not like the tree imparted goodness or evil, simply awareness. Once you know the right thing to do, it's up to you.
I still insist that there are no good people and no evil people. Just the actions. And the innocents - those who don't know that what they did was wrong - I think that is also situational; down to ignorance.
So if you know right from wrong in a given situation and choose wrong, is that doing evil, or even being evil?
Well, every decision gives you a choice between right and wrong, but like any habit, doing one or the other gets you used to it. Then it boils down to behaviourism, reinforcement.
That's how I think of this whole morality thing right now, anyway.
Learning on your own? Eating of the forbidden fruit of knowledge? It's invigorating, and transformative. It's pretty great to realize that you know something; that you know whether it's right or wrong. Sometimes, of course, it comes inadvertently. Being forced into knowledge of good and evil is painful, but once you've got it, you've got that burden. That's how I feel about vegetarianism. I can't really go back; I know. I'm out of the garden.
Same applies to knowing what makes people happy and what lets them down. Once you know, you know. Innocence is impossible. Can't screw someone over and pretend you didn't know - unless you didn't know.
But that doesn't make you good. In mythological antecedent it's not like the tree imparted goodness or evil, simply awareness. Once you know the right thing to do, it's up to you.
I still insist that there are no good people and no evil people. Just the actions. And the innocents - those who don't know that what they did was wrong - I think that is also situational; down to ignorance.
So if you know right from wrong in a given situation and choose wrong, is that doing evil, or even being evil?
Well, every decision gives you a choice between right and wrong, but like any habit, doing one or the other gets you used to it. Then it boils down to behaviourism, reinforcement.
That's how I think of this whole morality thing right now, anyway.