What is humanity's greatest sin?

[Phatts McDangle]

Our greatest folly is standing against the natural order of things because we think we "know better." There is a simple, righteous way to live in harmony with nature, and human beings reject that in favor of swimming against the current. All suffering and injustice comes from trying to force our own way on nature instead of being a part of nature.  

[Aki Yasu]

Personally, I think that our greatest fault is greed. It can make humans do pretty much anything, betray, lie, kill... even cause ignorance if the facts don't play toward your ultimate goal.

 

[27x]

Humanities greatest sin is reluctancy.  

[x3 SuGarr CoOkiie]

Hm. I think it is intolerance and greed. The world would be so much better, in my mind, if people were less-greedy and more tolerant of one-another. I am not sure how one would recover from the sin other than work it in themselves to become less of that in hopes that one day it will spread and enlighten others.  

[whynaut]

I think mankind's biggest sin is certainty. When people believe that they know what is "right" and "wrong" they insist on making sure everyone else lives the same way. But we are all different, aren't we? What works for the goose will not necessarily work for the gander.

Oscar Wilde

Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live.

I think this truth hurts us philosophers more than anybody because we cannot argue that we are "right" and they are "wrong": that would just put us in the same trap. We are have to 'argue' that we are both right, and most people do not respond well to that kind of 'argument.'

Terry Pratchett

The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it.

 

[Light-of-Essence]

I think humanity's greatest sin is treason; treason against one another, treason against god, teason against the "rightful thing to do". I do relize that this opinion is vegue. What if it is falling into ones own selfish desires, afterall, it may be the root to it.

My opinion on how to correct this flaw "forgive everyone everything" and attept to do what's right for another as well as what's right for yourself instead of choosing a result that is only desired by you. I believe that the answer of whether or not we are able to recover is in the actions of the people.  

[Deaths Krow]

As a race, we humans are destructive, not by nature, but by choice. We choose to destroy the planet to out own gain, we choose to kill off another being because it gives us more space to keep growing and continue destroying. Our greatest tragedy as a race is existing, because by existing we are making this world a worse place for it's dodecaillion other beings.

And that is 1 with 12 sets of three zeros after it, it's an estimate which includes some microscopic multi celled organisms and some single cell organisms and ourselves.  

[Part of the boundless]

I would say fitting to the mold would be humanities greatest sin.
People are so afraid of not fitting in, being different that they'll go with the crowd even if they think what is being done is horrible.
When this happens, even the few that do stand up against it sometimes literally get shot down. I follow the principles of mother teresa, when I say so I get laughed at or the all famous "are you serious?"
Apparently being loving and believing that love is important does not fit the mold.  

[Zarfione]

Humanity's greatest sin?It is being naive,without it this world would have advanced way faster and it would be a world much more decent and philosophy would have "worth" to humans.  

[Niniva]

whynaut

I think mankind's biggest sin is certainty. When people believe that they know what is "right" and "wrong" they insist on making sure everyone else lives the same way. But we are all different, aren't we? What works for the goose will not necessarily work for the gander.

Oscar Wilde

Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live.

I think this truth hurts us philosophers more than anybody because we cannot argue that we are "right" and they are "wrong": that would just put us in the same trap. We are have to 'argue' that we are both right, and most people do not respond well to that kind of 'argument.'

Terry Pratchett

The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it.

If this were true, then what would be the point of a judicial system or...even an arguement?

The trouble with what you are saying above is not necessarily that it is incorrect....but more that it is quite simply impossible unless you deny logic and the inference rules....

I could tell you that 4+4=10 and according to what you've said above you cannot possibly tell me I'm wrong.....even though clearly I am. I am either not fully understanding the concept of 4...or mistaking it for 5 and simply calling it four.

In other words, correcting a person's wrongheadedness is the only "right" thing to do...I seek to bring the world into a greater understanding of why they are incorrect and where they are wrong on certain points but even I know that...although I cannot necessarily see what is "right" or "TRUE" I can certainly recognize what is NOT "right" or "true"....which implies (albeit not in a necessary sense) that there is SOME right answer, even if we don't know what it is.

In my opinion mankind's greatest sin is forgetting the persuit of what is right in favor of convincing themselves they have already found it.  

[Zarfione]

let's just say a person's view on what is right and wrong is on one's conscience or principles  

[Niniva]

Zarfione

let's just say a person's view on what is right and wrong is on one's conscience or principles

This statement isn't saying anything. What you've stated is a tautology that doesn't provide any new information.

A person's moral view IS...their concious and principles....

But only in a moral sense which is not at all what I was talking about however. I was speaking not at all in the "moral" sense but in the actual sense of right (trueness) and wrong (falseness) of theory and questions.  

[Zarfione]

I'm just summarizing it up for some people who can't understand(not you,lurkers that don't understand)  

[Noetical]

emperor_Hikaru

Mankind's greatest sin is betrayal of one's own beliefs. If you believe in something, and allow that to just get run over or work against it, that is wrong. That is why it is important to make your beliefs make sense to you.

You worded that extremely poorly. =/

Are you trying to say that you should walk your talk?
or that you should be extremely careful about your beliefs?
i say, why have beliefs opposed to just opinions and ideas.
If your promoting having absolute beliefs than you need a good talking too. neutral

-------

Anyway, id probably have to agree that it is ignorance, especially willful ignorance.. and whats worse than that, is willful ignorance willfully spread, that is, you are informing others that information you do not know for sure is true is true based on logic you know is false etc etc.

Maybe also totalitarianism.  

[Niniva]

moyga

emperor_Hikaru

Mankind's greatest sin is betrayal of one's own beliefs. If you believe in something, and allow that to just get run over or work against it, that is wrong. That is why it is important to make your beliefs make sense to you.

You worded that extremely poorly. =/

Are you trying to say that you should walk your talk?
or that you should be extremely careful about your beliefs?
i say, why have beliefs opposed to just opinions and ideas.
If your promoting having absolute beliefs than you need a good talking too. neutral

-------

Anyway, id probably have to agree that it is ignorance, especially willful ignorance.. and whats worse than that, is willful ignorance willfully spread, that is, you are informing others that information you do not know for sure is true is true based on logic you know is false etc etc.

Maybe also totalitarianism.

The more I read what you write the more I am convinced that you really haven't thought much about what you are saying and yet like making it seem like you do.

Your first point...first of all...is just silly. Opinions and ideas spawn beliefs necessarily. Are you saying that you have an opinion about something and yet don't believe that you have an opinion about it? Are you saying that when you have an idea that you don't believe that idea? When you wrote that you didn't believe that you were writing it? Beliefs are necessary.

Absolute beliefs? I'm not exactly sure what you are even reffering to when you use this term as it makes very little (if any) sense to me at all. Are you speaking of things that you can ONLY believe in? Are you speaking of beliefs that EVERYONE has? *coughs* "You worded this extremely poorly." to use a coined phrase.

And tell me how one is willfully ignorant. Are you really finding things out and then deciding not to to know them anymore...or are you speaking of people who actually are purposefully not learning new things.

Quote:

you are informing others that information you do not know for sure is true is true based on logic you know is false etc etc.

So...you're lying, but you already know the truth of the matter, the truth of the matter is that your logic is flawed and so you ALREADY know it. Tell me how you can be ignorant about what you already know. How is it possible? Do you forget about it randomly? Once something is known you can not longer be ignorant about it. Thats just simply not possible. Knowingly spreading falsities has a word we use to describe it.

We call it desception. Desception requires two things, 1) you know the truth and 2) you are telling people what you know to not be true....is true. Where in those two requirements do you see where ignorance is present?