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Discussion followup: something wrong?
Jul. 13th, 2010 10:31 amIn my last post, I asked about the idea that something is wrong with the world, or with the state of human existence (http://alexandra-thorn.dreamwidth.org/16804.html). Talking to various people, I got a lot of answers that generally took the form: "No, there's nothing wrong with the world, we just think there's something wrong because it doesn't work the way we want it to," or "There's nothing wrong with the world, but there's something wrong with humans," or "There's nothing wrong with human existence, but there's something wrong with how some humans choose to live their lives."
From a certain perspective, some of these seem like false dichotomies: If there's something wrong with humans and we're part of the world, doesn't that imply that there's something wrong with the world? If there's something wrong with some human behaviors, where would that come from if not from a flaw in human nature?
But the distinctions may not be so simple, and some of the responses I've heard give me the feeling that just the phrase "there is something wrong with the world" might have charged connotations that I wasn't thinking of.
Do you draw a distinction between "wrongness" at one level (e.g. human behavior) and another (e.g. the way the world works)?
Are there value systems or other connotations that you attach to some of the above distinctions but not to others?
(Viewed one way, it might be hubris to say that there is something wrong with the world rather than placing responsibility on ourselves. Viewed another way, there could be humility in acknowledging that we are just a part of the world, the product of the same processes as everything else, and that if there's something wrong with us there is something wrong with the system as a whole. Conversely, what are the implications of saying, "There's *nothing* wrong with human behavior: it is all a product of physical law.")
From a certain perspective, some of these seem like false dichotomies: If there's something wrong with humans and we're part of the world, doesn't that imply that there's something wrong with the world? If there's something wrong with some human behaviors, where would that come from if not from a flaw in human nature?
But the distinctions may not be so simple, and some of the responses I've heard give me the feeling that just the phrase "there is something wrong with the world" might have charged connotations that I wasn't thinking of.
Do you draw a distinction between "wrongness" at one level (e.g. human behavior) and another (e.g. the way the world works)?
Are there value systems or other connotations that you attach to some of the above distinctions but not to others?
(Viewed one way, it might be hubris to say that there is something wrong with the world rather than placing responsibility on ourselves. Viewed another way, there could be humility in acknowledging that we are just a part of the world, the product of the same processes as everything else, and that if there's something wrong with us there is something wrong with the system as a whole. Conversely, what are the implications of saying, "There's *nothing* wrong with human behavior: it is all a product of physical law.")