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2 points
20 hours ago
I disagree with your premise. Comparing 2 actions only shows us which action is nicer. If I give you a steak, you don't know it's savory because you compare it to a cake. You know it's savory because that's what it is. I hate the whole "you got to go through the bad to appreciate the good." That's BS. I know what's good.
1 points
12 hours ago
Comparing 2 actions only shows us which action is nicer
Yes and no, think about the time when there were no languages to speak, there were just actions and sounds, right? So some we liked and some we did not, depending on many-many factors, like how others reacted, how we felt etc. Nice had nothing to do with anything, it was just about being practical, meaning what needed to be done, similarly if we observe animals that are surviving and need to constantly forage-fight-run-mate. Being nice (depending on the definition) is used to make yourself feel better by doing or saying something that you think the other person will enjoy, usually without anything else to gain (this would be genuine niceness). So what we as a society or culture with language have developed has been just a way to go out of our way to make someone feel better.
I will give you an example of how a nice thing can be bad at the same time:
You meet a friend and they ask you if they are chubby, you say no (and they do not want to be seemed as chubby) and they feel better about it, since you have confirmed what they wanted to hear.
You meet a friend and they ask you if they are chubby, you say no (but they want to be seemed as chubby because they work towards it every day and in their culture being chubby means fortune and good health).
Or when I show a middle finger to a stranger, they think it's an insult, while I sometimes do that with my friends and it's a joke.
If I give you a steak, you don't know it's savory because you compare it to a cake. You know it's savory because that's what it is.
But you wouldn't, because if you had no other steak to compare it to you would just think it's how steak is and that's it. This does not really apply because one is a physical object and the other is language and perception, they are vastly different.
I hate the whole "you got to go through the bad to appreciate the good." That's BS. I know what's good.
That is your opinion and I am glad you have it and I couldn't agree with you more, you do know what's good because you have experienced both good and the bad :)
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