Inspiring

[Phil Cooper]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=7s22HX18wDY

Read the above story in Reader’s Digest some months ago.

Now an advert, based on fact.

[Dave S]

If only the real world was like that...

[Nickolai Naydenov]

Awesome one Phil, when you give wholeheartedly you always receive back

[adrianh]

Awesome one Phil, when you give wholeheartedly you always receive back

Rubbish, the universe doesn't keep score.

[ians]

Shame Adrian, if only you knew...you should try it some day, but don't be discouraged by the some, I have given away things or helped someone and it has angered me to see what the person has done or the response from that person.

There is a sense of satisfaction like you will never experience unless you do it. It may not come in a cheque for a million rand but you will find your life will change, it might be something as simple as you becoming a happier person

There is only one catch, you have to do it with no strings or conditions attached.

[adrianh]

DaveS.

Okay, please site any study that proves that nice things happen to nice people. If what you say is true, that the universe rewards good deeds then howcome Robert Mugabe & George W Bush are fat and happy.

Our attitudes determine how we perceive events, they do not cause random events to happen. If you are an optimist your will generally see the positive in any event and if you are a pessiment you will see the negative. Your view does not cause the event to occur, your view merely justifies the reason for the event occuring in your own mind. The fact that you feel good about doing someting nice is your own internal process and has nothing to do with the universe per se.

The problem is that what we consider to be doing something nice, or positive is generally a social standard. If postive acts are rewarded with positive random events then it stands to reason that negative acts are rewarded with negative random events. How do you explain the 16year old girl, who never hamed a fly getting violently raped - what did she do to deserve such a punishment, and further, lets say the rapist is truly sorry and turns to God, will he no longer be punished. What about the soldier who kills people for his country, many of them have good lives and live fairly average lives without getting punished for their deeds.

DaveS, don't confuse perception and reality, they are not the same. Further, I am not saying that one should or shouldn't done nice things for people and I am not saying that I do, or I don't do nice things for people, I am merely saying that your perceived reward lives in your head, nowhere else.

I had a long discussion with my GP yesterday and at one point during the discussion he started laughing and said that I shouldn't be so brutally realistic, maybe, but in my world, whether one sees the glass as half full or half emply has no bearing on the objective state of the glass, the glass simply contains 50% of its total capacity. Your perception does not change reality, all it changes is the emotional value that you attach to your reality

[pmbguy]

Look you are right Adrian, but as a logical being you need a touch of mystery, even though the mystery does not really exist, your belief in some of it balances your Analytical self to not endeavour to much to see the harsh animal existence around us. If we were fully aware of how difficult and dangerous the world was we would struggle to function. Going full analytical brings plenty of knowledge but it makes one rather cynical, me included

So basically for optimal human functioning, including your analytical abilities, you need self misinformation (carma etc etc) about the environment to soften the stress reality causes, stress which would lessen your functioning therefore lessoning your analytical ability in the long term. So you have to be a bit mad to be sane.

[ians]

It is very simple life is what you make of it

[Dave A]

Rubbish, the universe doesn't keep score.

On average, I'm actually pretty sure it does.

Yes, much of the seed one sows falls on fallow ground. But the bit that falls on fertile ground tends to bear fruit far greater than the wastage.

It's easy to see all that wasted effort and take that as the standard, making it all seem futile. Until you see the times where it has paid off...

And that makes it all worthwhile.

[Citizen X]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=7s22HX18wDY

Read the above story in Reader’s Digest some months ago.

Now an advert, based on fact.

Inspiring indeed! Compassion for your fellow human being is a good quality to have. The kid in this story felt compelled to steal medicine for his mom. The owner wanted him to face the full might of the law. The restaurant owner demonstrated compassion by paying the owner as well as giving this kid some food. This kid then becomes a doctor! The restaurant owner is older and ill, he’s medical bills high and unaffordable. This very kid, now grown up, foots the bill.
A little compassion does go a long way. We in desperate need of more compassionate people in SA

[adrianh]

hmmm... I don't know about all that. If it all balances ad you get what you put in then the universe must really like soccer players, musicians and actors. They get a looooooooot of money for doing nothing of real great importance.

The other problem is that what one person sees as an act of kindness may offend another. Euthanasia is a perfect example, does the universe frown on killing another if they want to die or does the universe think that it is kind.

Guys, you are deluded, reality and your perception thereof are not related. The universe does not care one way or another, we live lives governed by probability, some are lucky, some are not, some become wealthy and some don't, shit happen irrespective of who you are, what you believe or how kind you are. The fact that we ascribe reactions to our actions is a function of our minds, it is not a function of the universe.

[Dave A]

Guys, you are deluded, reality and your perception thereof are not related.

Right now my perception of your perception of reality vs perception is a little unreal to me
Perhaps that cuts both ways too?

The fact that we ascribe reactions to our actions is a function of our minds, it is not a function of the universe.

So it's all down to chance then?
You don't make your own luck?
You can't affect the outcome?

So let's all give up trying to affect the outcome then.
It's all futile.
You're going to get what you're going to get no matter what you do.
Stuff all this hard work nonsense then and let's go hold down the sofa.
It's not going to make any difference to the end result.


Look, I'm happy to concede that not everything pays off in equal measure.
Lots of things don't pay off at all.
Lots of things produce mediocre results.
And every now and then, the pay-off is spectacular.

[ians]

Some people need a break in life and others need to be broken

[adrianh]

hhhmmm...it seems my point is lost in translation. We do what we do and we do and we create our own rewards, we are not dogs that get rewarded when we fetch a bone. Sometimes hard work pays off and sometimes it doesn't. Many of us strive to do better all the time, we strive to care for others and strive to ensure that those around us are not done it...but, these are things that we do because we want to, not because the universe will reward us for it. There is no one to one relationship between giving and receiving.

You know, my mother used to be very nasty to my aunt yet my aunt was always nice to my mother no matter what...I asked my aunt why she is always so nice to my mother even though my mother was so nasty to her and she said that she does it because that is who she is, she doesn't expect anything in return, she simply does nice things because she likes to do so. The universe wont reward her for being nice, the universe doesn't care, but she sleeps well at night because she feels good about what she does.

My academic argument is simply that there is no correlation between what you do and what happens to you in terms of random events. One can claim this to be true anecdotally but that's about it.

[Citizen X]

My academic argument is simply that there is no correlation between what you do and what happens to you in terms of random events. One can claim this to be true anecdotally but that's about it.

Story time(a true story that is) or is it? What a way to start, the reason for this is simply because there are conflicting versions of this story..
A few decades ago there was a man strolling through a forest. He happens upon a kid sinking in quick sand. He does the honorable thing and saves this kid’s life. The good Samaritan then walks this kid home. It soon becomes apparent that the kid he saved is from a very wealthy family. The relieved and wealthy dad wants to reward this man for saving his kid’s life but this man refuses. It goes against his Christian belief. This man has a kid named Alexander who wants to go to medical school but simply can’t afford it. The wealthy man comes to his rescue by paying either some or all of Alexander’s medical school fees.
Alexander Flemming is the very first man to discover penicillin. Without this penicillin many of us wouldn’t even be here today.
Sowing and reaping…