General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsAt the risk of oversimplification, there are really only two types of people.
1. People who value and respect life and care about others - they think about how their actions will impact others (empathy). The rules they live by prevent them from purposefully hurting or killing. They use their talents to promote betterment and cooperation. They are the Creators.
2. People who do not value human life and do not care about others - they are disconnected and have no empathy. The rules they live by include hurting and killing others if they will benefit from it (the end justifies the means). They use their talents for blatant self-promotion and competition. They are the Destroyers.
Destroyers are masters of manipulation and use tactics that Creators are sometimes unable to anticipate and comprehend. Without being able to understand how a Destroyer thinks, it's really difficult to 'win' against them. Creators often make the mistake of assuming Destroyers care. They don't.
So how does a Creator 'win' in a battle with a Destroyer? Must it require that a Creator suppresses their empathy and becomes a Destroyer?
Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)Avalux
(35,015 posts)The older I get, the more questions I have about human behavior and why the world is the way it is. Don't you?
LiberalLoner
(9,761 posts)SummerSnow
(12,608 posts)CJCRANE
(18,184 posts)That's why it's a constant back and forth.
Decoy of Fenris
(1,954 posts)To summarize:
Good
A Lawful Good character typically acts with compassion, and always with honor and a sense of duty. A Lawful Good nation would consist of a well-organized government that works for the benefit of its citizens.
A Neutral Good character is guided by his conscience and typically acts altruistically, without regard for or against Lawful precepts such as rules or tradition. A Neutral Good character has no problems with co-operating with lawful officials, but does not feel beholden to them. In the event that doing the right thing requires the bending or breaking of rules, they do not suffer the same inner conflict that a Lawful Good character would.
A Chaotic Good character favors change for a greater good, disdains bureaucratic organizations that get in the way of social improvement, and places a high value on personal freedom, not only for oneself, but for others as well. They always intend to do the right thing, but their methods are generally disorganized and often out of alignment with the rest of society.
Neutral
A Lawful Neutral character typically believes strongly in Lawful concepts such as honor, order, rules and tradition, and often follows a personal code. A Lawful Neutral society would typically enforce strict laws to maintain social order, and place a high value on traditions and historical precedent.
True Neutral represents Neutral on both axes, and tends not to feel strongly towards any alignment. A farmer whose primary overriding concern is to feed his family is of this alignment. Most animals, lacking the capacity for moral judgment, are of this alignment since they are guided by instinct rather than conscious decision.
Chaotic Neutral characters are free-spirited and do not enjoy the unnecessary suffering of others, but if they join a team, it is because that team's goals happen to coincide with their own at the moment. They invariably resent taking orders and can be very selfish in their pursuit of personal goals. A Chaotic Neutral character does not have to be an aimless wanderer; they may have a specific goal in mind, but their methods of achieving that goal are often disorganized, unorthodox, or entirely unpredictable.
Evil
Characters of Lawful Evil alignment see a well-ordered system as being easier to exploit, and show a combination of desirable and undesirable traits; while they usually obey their superiors and keep their word, they care nothing for the rights and freedoms of other individuals and are not averse to twisting the rules to work in their favor.
Characters of Neutral Evil alignment are typically selfish and have no qualms about turning on their allies-of-the-moment, and usually make allies primarily to further their own goals. They have no compunctions about harming others to get what they want, but neither will they go out of their way to cause carnage or mayhem when they see no direct benefit to it.
Characters of Chaotic Evil alignment tend to have no respect for rules, other people's lives, or anything but their own desires, which are typically selfish and cruel. They set a high value on personal freedom, but do not have any regard for the lives or freedom of other people. They do not work well in groups, as they resent being given orders, and usually behave themselves only out of fear of punishment.
grillo7
(284 posts)onestepforward
(3,691 posts)but we do have the ability to inspire and encourage empathy in others who haven't totally shut their hearts off.
I think that we 'win' by simply having more 'creators' than 'destoyers.' We need to outnumber them.
dipsydoodle
(42,239 posts).
SheilaT
(23,156 posts)There are only 10 types of people.
Those who understand binary and those who don't.
Live and Learn
(12,769 posts)NuclearDem
(16,184 posts)randome
(34,845 posts)Even Mother Theresa had a dark side. Even Jeffrey Dahmer had a good side.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]I'm always right. When I'm wrong I admit it.
So then I'm right about being wrong.[/center][/font][hr]
LWolf
(46,179 posts)dived head-first into the deep end of the simplistic black and white thinking popular with the insecure and the cognitively limited.
All people are a complex combination of positive and negative, good and bad, functional and dysfunctional, healthy and sick.
ALL people.
All people fall on a continuum somewhere between saint and demon, metaphorically speaking.
All people have strengths and weaknesses.
All people are in a different place with regards to their personal enlightenment and evolution.
There is not a single person, now or ever, that was a "creator" or "destroyer." All people are complex combinations of both.
Attempting to segregate people in this way guarantees that your perceived battle CAN NEVER BE WON, because, by your definitions, your "destroyers" will never evolve into "creators."
Nobody "wins" by "defeating" "destroyers."
We all win by becoming more evolved and enlightened human beings ourselves, and by helping others to do so themselves.
Be the change, and influence others through what you model.