How do you know the difference between good and evil?

Jump to Last Post 1-23 of 23 discussions (23 posts)
  1. dmop profile image85
    dmopposted 12 years ago

    How do you know the difference between good and evil?

  2. Jesus1st profile image60
    Jesus1stposted 12 years ago

    Evil disrupts everything that it comes into contact with, and in time, seeking only to destroy all in it's path.

    Good promotes harmony, and the desire to be a blessing to our fellowman. It also allows us to be wise enough to know the difference!

  3. aware profile image67
    awareposted 12 years ago

    the spelling.
    good casts the word evil. at those they deem to be so.
    you never see evil casting the word good at their supposed foe..
    why is that?
    the definition of both are a sumptuous and vague .
       the differences may be many . but one thing they both are  is fiction.

  4. Chuck Bluestein profile image63
    Chuck Bluesteinposted 12 years ago

    Generally good would be doing things to help people feel better and evil would be hurting others. But if you are a KKK member then good would be keeping a brother down. It depends on your beliefs. But a better question would be why are you alive? The answer is the expansion of happiness. Positive psychology says that altruistic acts (helping others) helps you to be happier.

  5. Dreaver Endus profile image60
    Dreaver Endusposted 12 years ago

    Truthfully, it's completely up to who's viewing the situation and their own perception of the situation. Since all of our Moral codes differ, none of us will see it the same way. Evil has to do with the intent to break a moral code in some way usually for self gain. Though even inside of this there are varying degrees of malevolence and if the act were to be justified, is it still an Evil act?

    If the action is not understood as Evil when committed, is it still Evil?

    The truth being is that everything has a varying degree of Good and Evil within it. Just as the Yin-Yang, there is no definitive Good or Evil. So to answer your question, you know the difference between Good and Evil because you can perceive how an action affects you and those around you and you then identify the action as Good or Evil by how you feel it affected your environment.

    Good cannot exist if there is no evil, therefore it must be good to be evil sometimes. I love that saying.

  6. feenix profile image58
    feenixposted 12 years ago

    This question prompted me to remember an old-school song by a group of real hip dudes who called themselves "100 Proof."

    The number is entitled, "Everything Good Is Bad (And Everything Bad Is Good)."

  7. profile image0
    Sooner28posted 12 years ago

    By embracing the human experience to the fullest extent and watching which actions cause other people harm, physically or emotionally, and trying to avoid doing those things.

  8. YvetteParker profile image60
    YvetteParkerposted 12 years ago

    You can know the difference between good and evil because they are completely opposites of each other like night and day. Good and evil are relative to your perception of them. Often we associate good with right and evil with wrong.

  9. CARIBQUEEN profile image63
    CARIBQUEENposted 12 years ago

    Let your conscience be your guide.  Intuitively, we do know the difference between the two concepts and we consciously choose either way.

  10. zzron profile image59
    zzronposted 12 years ago

    I think that most things that sound too good to be true "are".  Evil can veil itself as something that looks good on the outside, but I think we have a responsibility to delve into anything that we are not sure of.  Evil can clearly appear to be evil itself, but it can also be very deceptive to lead us in the wrong direction.

      (In my own beliefs, that is Satan at work).  Take for example, drug abuse.  People try it because they want to feel good or have relief from emotional pain.  It does make them feel better for a little while, but then they can no longer hold a job, or be a productive part of a family and society.

      Their character and morals almost always become compromised when they decide to lie, cheat, or steal to support their habit.  So something that starts out to seem like something good turns in fact to be very evil.  Good will undoubtedly conquer evil and will stand up to any test.  If you look at something that you think is good, if it truly is, it will always have a positive end result.  We must stay vigilant.

  11. atauldilse profile image59
    atauldilseposted 12 years ago

    I think good is something to which your heart and mind align, your conscience say yes and you don't develop guilty thing in you.
    While the bad is just the reverse of it.

  12. edhan profile image37
    edhanposted 12 years ago

    Something is may be hard to find out the difference between good and evil if you are the party involved.

    It is always easier and clearer to any third parties who are viewing the situation.

    So, I am always opening my ears to hear from 3rd parties and using my heart and head to consider all the factors to judge it.

  13. profile image0
    jomineposted 12 years ago

    Good is what which makes you happy and bad, that make you unhappy.

  14. move2move profile image60
    move2moveposted 12 years ago

    Well, we can take it like in following both examples/possibilities:

    1) Let me slap you 5 times a day, 35 slaps each & harder every day, leaving you scars & injuries ... for one month!! Eventually as it might be very lucrative, I sell your person/body to some gov. entity to make genetic experiments on you in order to find out how it looks like to be a genetically altered human being ... all this for "the greater good" ..of course .. :-)!

    2) Now, let's do exactly the same but instead of slapping you all day long,
    I help you 5 times a day with whatever comes along, make you breakfast, diner, care about if you like it or not, want to know and interested in what you do, how you feel doing it, prevent you to do mistakes when I see that you might do some very soon.
    Even accept to disagree with you but can accept your choices .... for one month!!

    So, someone who can't tell the difference after these 2 Month ... must have serious neurological issues.

    But I guess we know when someone is evil or good to us, except we've been seriously Brainwashed ....

    Observe healthy normal children & you notice a healthy understanding with no false compromise whatsoever about what good & evil is for them ;-)!

    There might be gray areas all along the way, but even here, we should honestly recognize when we have the right to do something towards others or leave it, based on respecting the choices they make. One leads to freedom, the other to fascist behavior, no matter who you're dealing with because you've the pretention to believe knowing better for others what's good for them (remember the slaps here... ;-) ...)!
    But I guess that, treating others like you want to be treated should be a very good way to go!!!
    Now what do you prefer?

  15. GNelson profile image61
    GNelsonposted 12 years ago

    I think that most would agree that killing is evil.  Yet there are times when we kill and it is not considered evil. (War, Protecting your family)  So it would seem that the situation or motivation determines the good or evil.  How do you know the difference?  My experience is that if your intentions are good then your actions will be good.  And no one is perfect.

  16. Dave Mathews profile image60
    Dave Mathewsposted 12 years ago

    If it goes against the commandments of God and or the laws of civilization, that's how.

  17. CloudExplorer profile image78
    CloudExplorerposted 12 years ago

    1st of a 3 part series on the thorough explanation of the difference, between Good vs Evil. What it is to society as a whole, and how its come into being as a set of control factors. read more

  18. peterxdunn profile image60
    peterxdunnposted 12 years ago

    Evil deeds leave victims in their wake. Good deeds leave beneficiaries.

    You have good and evil or right and wrong. In a perfect world we learn to distinguish between the two as children. But this isn't a perfect world is it? This is why armies employ religious mentors: priests, immams and rabbis, whose job it is to tell you when it is ok to commit evil, morally repugnant acts of violence and murder.

  19. nifty@50 profile image69
    nifty@50posted 12 years ago

    We come to know good and evil, by what is taught to us by our parents and society as a whole. Things that seem perfectly good to one culture, might seem totally evil to another. Take head hunters for example.

  20. lone77star profile image73
    lone77starposted 12 years ago

    Philosophers and sages have debated meanings throughout history, but how do you tell the difference between good and evil? Is there some common denominator behind it all? The answer is startling in its simplicity. read more

  21. jirel profile image73
    jirelposted 12 years ago

    If something is good we would have no fear and it won't harm anyone.However if it is something bad ,it would always harm others.The answer lies in our subconscious.If our instincts are telling us not to do something,then it should be followed.In those cases between right and wrong ,we should not follow out mind but follow our heart and instincts.This is how we know the difference.

  22. CloudExplorer profile image78
    CloudExplorerposted 12 years ago

    Part 2 of a three part series on the difference between Good vs Evil. A scientific approach to seeing it all while, overlooking that of the church or world religious views. read more

  23. CloudExplorer profile image78
    CloudExplorerposted 12 years ago

    Part 3 for the series of how to tell the difference between Good vs Evil. Religions have set the domains and guidelines for such beliefs, and is reason for it having historical presidency. read more

 
working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)