This is 100% serious, which ONE would you choose to be in:
1) A world in which good is rewarded.
2) A world in which evil punished.
......and why?
2007-01-17 16:44:07 · 13 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
ideally I would like to say a world in which good is rewarded.
However, I believe some people follow rules out of fear ... out of fear of being punished. This follows some of the theories I learned in a class called Great World Views in college.
Sad as it sounds, I would fear for my safety if people weren't punished for their wicked acts that could hurt me.
If you follow Maslows Heirarchy of needs, the first basic need is Physiological (hunger), and the second basic need is SAFETY.
There are a lot of people who would take advantage of not having punishments and my safety could be risked.
edit:
in addiiton, we played a game in my Great World Views class. My prof brought $20 to class (there were 20 students). He promised us each a dollar if we cooperated with each other. However, if someone decided to compete, the rest of us would get nothing and they would only get $15 or so (I can't remember the exact figures). If more than one individual competed, all the competers got a sum total of less than $15 but it was still more than just $1. Needless to say, the prof never lost a lot of money because too many people would decide to lie to the group and write 'compete' instead of 'cooperate' on their slip of paper.
So why would people be good if they could take advantage of all the do-gooders and get even more money. Why should someone be good and get their regular rewards when they can just rob a bank and get thousands or millions??? It would be too easy to take advantage of a situation where we were only rewarded for good behavior.
So, my official answer is 2) I would rather live in a world in which evil is punished.
2007-01-17 16:58:41 · answer #1 · answered by bb 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You can't live in a world where evil is punished OR good is rewarded, because they are the same thing. The good rewarded would be not getting punished for being evil. A more obvious question would be which is better, a job where you work hard and get to the top, or a job where the quality of your work can get you to the top. Naturally, they both should be in one, because the harder you work the better the outcome of your job. The only thing that would make this a choice is if you were the only person on the planet.
2007-01-18 01:14:19 · answer #2 · answered by xengold 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A world where good is rewarded, because even though I truly believe that humans are only good because they fear punishment, if the rewards of "good" behavior were tangible, then punishment would eventually become unnecessary, due to the nature of the mind to target which behaviors produce positive rewards and repeat them frequently.
2007-01-18 02:48:09 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
World 1:
I try to be good most of the time, but am never rewarded for it. It can get very tireing after a while, however our world is so fixated on getting justice that we good guys just aren't rewarded.
But if otherwise possible (live on another world than those cited) I would live on Aspergia.
(give the ten points to theverve his answer is the best so far)
Hope this helps.
2007-01-18 00:58:40 · answer #4 · answered by Arthur N 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
one where good is rewarded, i think people would strive to always be good. We live in a world where evil is punished and it doesnt seem to be working, but how often is good rewarded? not nearly as much
2007-01-18 00:52:21 · answer #5 · answered by whitelampshade 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This is an Oxymoron :
A rhetorical figure in which incongruous or contradictory terms are combined, as in a deafening silence and a mournful optimist.
If good is rewarded then it equates that evil is punished by NOT being rewarded
2007-01-18 00:55:18 · answer #6 · answered by Luke 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
In 2). I don't need rewards to be good and I don't like evil to influence me.
2007-01-18 01:11:05 · answer #7 · answered by Willie Boy 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
NO good deed goes unpunished.
My brother told me that one.
Bad actions or iron shackles and good actions or golden chains,
they both hold you to this existence don't they
.
I know evil , I got that talent from my mother.
My new wife put in an application to a vets office, he called, mother picked up the phone,all he said was may I speak to Dawn , mother held the phone away from her and said loudly, DONT have ANYTHING to do with this man he is EVIL.she knew somehow. she got the job anyway.. he later killed his adoptive parents, I met him,he was evil.
Peace pray for Peace.in this world.
2007-01-18 01:17:15 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
evil is punished.
the people who don't care about being good in a society where good is rewarded would go on a rampage and ruin it for those who did care.
2007-01-18 00:52:28 · answer #9 · answered by Sgt. Pepper 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Where good is rewarded, because we live in the other, somewhat.
2007-01-18 01:09:38 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋