Alright, this is a concept that has been explored before, and stated in at least a few other words. But, here we go.
Whenever you encounter an evil, you're not encountering an original thing, but instead that original thing rotted, twisted, or, as the author prefers, in its absence.
If that sounds rather abstract, we could think of some closer experiences.
Consider the feeling of pleasure. Nothing is wrong with a little pleasure seeking. We all do it and try to feel good sometimes. Life can be pleasurable. And now consider sadism, where one tries to fuel their pleasure by inflicting misery on another. A utilitarian might say the net amount of utility here is zero, or less than that. The deontologist would wonder to what end this mistreatment is for and conclude its unsustainable. In either case, the sadist can only feel happy by being anti-life, negating a simple good which requires no explanation for an extraordinary evil which professionals will struggle endlessly to comprehend a little.
Or, lets think of... Gains. You grew wheat. Or you worked to earn a million dollars. Perhaps The "stonks" paid off. Maybe it took energy, or maybe it fell into your lap. Which ever way it happened, those gains are good. The robber, on the other hand, is against any gains. He destroys all effort and good expectation by taking without permission or regard for the rightful. In other words, what he offers the world is a fat pile of nothing. Life negated. Good perverted. And given the nature of criminals, guaranteed, he'll either use that money for more "nothing" or waste.
A C.S. Lewis essay about "The Grand Miracle" even has a little passage about how parasites are an example of evil being a warping of good. The example goes like this: Life is full of one being dependent on something, and bountiful and free giving by some other figure. Every baby mammal had to subsist on its mother once. If not, all species have nature's good graces to thank. And life on earth is highly dependent on generous donations of sunlight. It is good.
But, Just think of any species that doesn't prey to survive, but instead sucks the lifeblood from a host, to the detriment of the host and other species. It doesn't grow, it offers nothing in return to the host or the hosts kind, and just drains its hapless benefactor dry. Every parasite infection is an evil, a mockery making towards nothing out of life.
Evil can't exist because God, being goodness itself, (as opposed to just choosing to do good) cannot be the author of evil. So the assumption of evil as a concrete nature or force that you could choose to participate in assumes another creator. Evil is the absence of good like darkness is the absence of light.
"Evil wants to manifest into the physical world, but, being antithetical to Being, it is in paradox with itself. It cannot become physical, because if it did, it wouldn't. So what happens next is, it needs souls, minds, humans, to act out these impotent attempts for it."
I listened to an interview with Chris Langan a while back and I recall him saying something similar to this. Randy confirmed 200 IQ.
As always another banger, and getting to the point that in Evil's hatred it wants to dissipate us into our own vices. As we turn to God and become good we become more real and as we turn away we fade away and become possessed by nothing. As greed comes to consume those obsessed with wealth, as the search for the next high to addicts, & etc
Poets point at it by outlines, boundaries. It adheres to boundaries, walls, borders, old and newly erected ones, Chesterton's fence taking on a new meaning. De-finitions call to its infiniteness by being islands of finite existence it immediately attacks - creating a layer of ambiguity that contends with the definition. Uncountable, it seeks to be counted. Undefinable, it seeks to be defined. Going after it is gluttony?
There was this girl I was watching on YouTube, a middle aged Catholic girl, and she was talking about her vision of the devil. That the enemy doesn't care about his followers, he has 0 interest in them. That you are nothing to him. You are nothing in hell.
But in heaven, it's similar, you become nothing. But not because God does not love you, but because you willingly decrease, so He can increase. It is out of love. In a sense, hell is just perverted heaven
This was a very nice read, definitely one I will need to read again. Enjoyed the word play.
I dont know how to say this, but I will try. Seems to me like the ether is the evil, creation is the opposite, but not its equal, it's better. The distinction is necessary for the contrast , but unlike the rhetorical equality between words like light/dark good/evil, while the ether may be necessary for creation , it is more of a catalyst (medium) than an equal variable. Perhaps it is the collapse of the function?
I will chew on this awhile. Thanks for another great article.
I often think about entropy when reckoning events and actions. Sum total, in thermodynamics, no change can be more constructive than destructive. Therefore, as material is finite and as any change comes with an irrevocable cost, the world naturally tends towards pure chaos, nothingness.
Joe decides to cut a bit of slow traffic at a lane merge. Joe saves a few seconds of his own life, but the traffic is somewhat worsened in his wake, slightly slowing down hundreds of other motorists. Sum total, Joe annihilated a few minutes of human life—a little murder. Joe enjoyed it.
Literally just said “babe wake up, new Egg Report.”
Last two paragraphs are making me struggle... Perhaps I don't understand what you mean by Evil lacking substance...
Evil is privation of good. When you see roadkill, the decay on the body of the corpse is absence of the life/body of the animal.
The same as in the opening, there are no evil atoms, evil is the absence of atoms. It was just an opportunity for a fun play on words
Alright, this is a concept that has been explored before, and stated in at least a few other words. But, here we go.
Whenever you encounter an evil, you're not encountering an original thing, but instead that original thing rotted, twisted, or, as the author prefers, in its absence.
If that sounds rather abstract, we could think of some closer experiences.
Consider the feeling of pleasure. Nothing is wrong with a little pleasure seeking. We all do it and try to feel good sometimes. Life can be pleasurable. And now consider sadism, where one tries to fuel their pleasure by inflicting misery on another. A utilitarian might say the net amount of utility here is zero, or less than that. The deontologist would wonder to what end this mistreatment is for and conclude its unsustainable. In either case, the sadist can only feel happy by being anti-life, negating a simple good which requires no explanation for an extraordinary evil which professionals will struggle endlessly to comprehend a little.
Or, lets think of... Gains. You grew wheat. Or you worked to earn a million dollars. Perhaps The "stonks" paid off. Maybe it took energy, or maybe it fell into your lap. Which ever way it happened, those gains are good. The robber, on the other hand, is against any gains. He destroys all effort and good expectation by taking without permission or regard for the rightful. In other words, what he offers the world is a fat pile of nothing. Life negated. Good perverted. And given the nature of criminals, guaranteed, he'll either use that money for more "nothing" or waste.
A C.S. Lewis essay about "The Grand Miracle" even has a little passage about how parasites are an example of evil being a warping of good. The example goes like this: Life is full of one being dependent on something, and bountiful and free giving by some other figure. Every baby mammal had to subsist on its mother once. If not, all species have nature's good graces to thank. And life on earth is highly dependent on generous donations of sunlight. It is good.
But, Just think of any species that doesn't prey to survive, but instead sucks the lifeblood from a host, to the detriment of the host and other species. It doesn't grow, it offers nothing in return to the host or the hosts kind, and just drains its hapless benefactor dry. Every parasite infection is an evil, a mockery making towards nothing out of life.
Did you read Confessions
sure did
Evil can't exist because God, being goodness itself, (as opposed to just choosing to do good) cannot be the author of evil. So the assumption of evil as a concrete nature or force that you could choose to participate in assumes another creator. Evil is the absence of good like darkness is the absence of light.
"Evil wants to manifest into the physical world, but, being antithetical to Being, it is in paradox with itself. It cannot become physical, because if it did, it wouldn't. So what happens next is, it needs souls, minds, humans, to act out these impotent attempts for it."
I listened to an interview with Chris Langan a while back and I recall him saying something similar to this. Randy confirmed 200 IQ.
As always another banger, and getting to the point that in Evil's hatred it wants to dissipate us into our own vices. As we turn to God and become good we become more real and as we turn away we fade away and become possessed by nothing. As greed comes to consume those obsessed with wealth, as the search for the next high to addicts, & etc
C.S. Lewis's "we gain our personality in God".
Poets point at it by outlines, boundaries. It adheres to boundaries, walls, borders, old and newly erected ones, Chesterton's fence taking on a new meaning. De-finitions call to its infiniteness by being islands of finite existence it immediately attacks - creating a layer of ambiguity that contends with the definition. Uncountable, it seeks to be counted. Undefinable, it seeks to be defined. Going after it is gluttony?
There was this girl I was watching on YouTube, a middle aged Catholic girl, and she was talking about her vision of the devil. That the enemy doesn't care about his followers, he has 0 interest in them. That you are nothing to him. You are nothing in hell.
But in heaven, it's similar, you become nothing. But not because God does not love you, but because you willingly decrease, so He can increase. It is out of love. In a sense, hell is just perverted heaven
2nd paragraph: false. You don't become "nothing". You finally become "someone", and your new name is already written on a little white rock at God.
Yeah, that's my point, that by decreasing, you become. While hell tells you to increase, and you become nothing.
Sorry if I wasn't clear
Fascinating perspective and great writing. Thank you
Bravo!!
This was a very nice read, definitely one I will need to read again. Enjoyed the word play.
I dont know how to say this, but I will try. Seems to me like the ether is the evil, creation is the opposite, but not its equal, it's better. The distinction is necessary for the contrast , but unlike the rhetorical equality between words like light/dark good/evil, while the ether may be necessary for creation , it is more of a catalyst (medium) than an equal variable. Perhaps it is the collapse of the function?
I will chew on this awhile. Thanks for another great article.
I often think about entropy when reckoning events and actions. Sum total, in thermodynamics, no change can be more constructive than destructive. Therefore, as material is finite and as any change comes with an irrevocable cost, the world naturally tends towards pure chaos, nothingness.
Joe decides to cut a bit of slow traffic at a lane merge. Joe saves a few seconds of his own life, but the traffic is somewhat worsened in his wake, slightly slowing down hundreds of other motorists. Sum total, Joe annihilated a few minutes of human life—a little murder. Joe enjoyed it.