Post by Arlon10 on Jul 6, 2018 10:59:18 GMT
In other threads people are discussing some simple answers to help people avoid bad turns in life. I have not seen anything especially "wrong" in them yet. The advice actually appears it will be helpful to many people.
Here are two threads (Let me know of others.) ...
Seven Rules on how to be a good person!
by captainbryce
Some tips for happiness.
by goz
There are some more famous "simple" answers, for example ...
Do the greatest good for the greatest number.
That's from Bentham's Utilitarianism.
An it harm none, do what ye will.
That's the Wiccan Rede
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
That's from the Bible, ancient Chinese philosophy, and probably other places as well.
If I'm forgetting others let's try to gather them here as well.
Enough is as good as a feast.
"English" proverb, Thomas Malory
A bit longer simple answer is "Desiderata." (Go placidly amid the noise and haste ...)
Perhaps you'll agree there is nothing especially "wrong" with any of those either, at least not as they stand.
I agree very much that sometimes the simple answer is the best. I don't like "Occam's Razor" though. I would agree that "If it's not broken, don't fix it." If people use Occam's Razor in that sense, I agree with that as well. It is often used however to ignore things that are broken as though ignoring them has some "force" of "reason." It does not always have that and some people commit a logical fallacy in trying to prevent one.
I have never argued against the man who can keep food on his table by sitting by a lake all day fishing, to employ the English proverb.
There are people who "bite off more than they can chew," especially these days, especially in politics. They try to decide how to spend the trillions of dollars in the hands of government. They try to "manage" the broken marriages of people they couldn't possibly know or understand. They try to expound on mysteries they're ill equipped to tackle.
It's more trouble than people need. It really can be best to disembark that merry-go-round.
The bad news is that issues do develop in society for which the simple answers do not work. Disagreements arise because there are differing opinions on what "harm" is the worst or what "good" is more compelling. Disagreements arise because no one knows what "enough" is.
The bads news is that it's a dirty job, but someone has to do it. Someone has to decide what to do with those trillions of dollars. Someone has to decide what to tell the people in that broken marriage. Someone has to tackle the mysteries of life in a more comprehensive way.
