Hear no evil see no evil - or should we be as aware as possible of it?

[legomaestro]

I won't mention the specific news i saw but i read something pretty atrocious in the sunday newspaper today, and it just filled me with acid hate and despair.

Just the other day on facebook my friend linked me to a photograph taken by some south african photographer, it depicted an emaciated child, almost a baby who was apparently struggling to go to a refugee camp and a vulture that had landed nearby. Said reporter committed suicide some time later out of despair of what he'd been seeing during his time as a journalist in africa. Wars, famine and human evil everywhere.

Now i'm not quite sure of what's the better option here. If it brings you despair and you can't do anything about it, is it really wise to look for the evils that are happening in the world? I mean as a civilian who has absolutely no hope of changing what's happening thousands of miles away, is it a good idea -for the sake of knowing what evil is in the world - to research that as much as possible so that you're not ignorant?

Isn't it better to just ignore it the best as you can and occasionally stumble across some news when you see it? But is ignoring it meaning you're being foolish?

So far from what i can see knowing as much as possible about the evils of the world is an excercise in futility. I'd rather just close my eyes and block my ears and live the best way i possibly can. I don't think i have enough strenght to survive such stories.

[Tostificer]

Honestly, you will be confronted with the 'evils' of this world regardless of what you want. You should seek refuge in doing well, being 'good', and knowing that whatever evil is happening in this world, you're not part of it. Because, just be honest, there isn't much that you can do about all the bad things that happen to people in this world. "Be the change you want to see in the world." if you want the world to be clear of evil, YOU have to be clear of evil. Attempts to make the world better in any other way are futile in my eyes.

But do not block yourself from the bad things in this world. It's a nice contrast, if I may. For if there was no evil in this world, we would not know what good really is.

[Coryn]

We, as a species, cannot run away from evil, nor should we. It's an ever present part of the human existence. Ignoring it would do all of us an injustice. But it's like toasty said, the only way we can do anything about it is by changing one person at a time. You can just wipe away evil with one grand swoop. It has to be gradual, as every human being on the planet has to change, and only you can change yourself. Others cant do it for you.


If it is any consolation, you just have to remember that the world isn't getting worse, humanity isn't getting more evil, we're just more aware of the evil that was already there. You can thank radio, television, and the internet for that. But that also means that more people will want to change the world, and that's a good thing. And really, the world is slowly becoming a better place already. It make not seem it, but hunger is down, murder, rape, theft, crime in general, all of these things are to a lower degree. Even wars, which seem to consume all of the world, have greatly lessened in their frequency, and when they do occur, the death tolls are in the hundreds, rather than in the thousands.


There is hope in this world, it's just that some people only choose to see the bad, and ignore the good.

[h_musick]

" But that also means that more people will want to change the world, and that's a good thing"

Right!
Which is why I would rather be aware of what is going on in the world. If we don't know, how are we going to make it better?

I know how it is to loose hope about the world. I know that's like.. lame and depressing, but true. So, here is my advise, stay aware of the world and it's evils. At the same time, look at the good things. I know that sometimes it feels like evil is winning, but it's not.

Wow... did that even make sense?

[Coryn]

Perfect sense.

[Lumaria]

I don't think that's what hear/see/speak no evil is about. Its about not getting influenced by evil and not speaking it yourself.
Are you a satanist if you talk about satan? No.

But back on topic,  I'm sure we should be aware of it all...it sometimes gets to us. Outright ignoring it seems too much.

[legomaestro]

Man, you guys are awesome philosophers. Thanks a bunch.

[50 Words for Paipis]

Don't see humanity as one thing. See it as individual humans. We cannot have faith nor lose faith in humanity because humans are different. We all enact our own actions right and wrong. Based on this idea, one can conclude humanity doesn't act or change, humans do. Therefore the actions of humanity are best looked at from the individual level. This means that to change what humans do, one needs to change those individual humans. We are all far from perfect (from the Christian point-of-view, we are sinful by nature and so not "good" in that sense); however, we are not incapable of good, and there are plenty of individual lives that we can change for the better. An individual might not be able to change widespread suffering, but what can he or she do to help the individuals affected by it? And if multiple individuals do so, even more lives will be changed for the better.