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ashley's picture

Tendencies = Choice

I wanted to touch on vlopez's last paragraph. While I can agree that there is duality in each of us, I don't think that these tendencies mean that the choice is taken away. I think it is precisely because there is this duality and tendencies that evil is seen as a choice. If each person was only one way and really could not help it, then it wouldn't be very possible to choose a life of good or evil. But, if we are conscious of each of these and what each entails, we can better judge how to react in every situation. While one might be leaning towards the evil side in a certain scenario, they still are able to choose that which is seen as more righteous. Yes, it might take more self control and it might be harder than simply giving in to the evil, but it is doable.

The question here seems to be, can we control evil? I would tie it back into a question of previous discussions; can we control happiness? I would think that for each individual it would be different and each would interact with these notions of evil and happiness in different ways. But I think if we have this sense of outer self looking in on ourselves, that would help us manage each of the situations. We could have an objective view of ourselves and provide input for ourselves. Advice could be given such as, "this really should not require you to be upset", helping oneself see that it is okay and optimal to be cheerful. In the same manner, if we are able to see consequences to others and ourselves, our objective views could steer us towards choosing a path of good over evil. Even if initially leaning towards evil, it can be overcome by an awareness of the situation. I feel that with narrow view points of a particular situation we would have blinders up that would impede us from seeing the greater picture. The greater picture is what lets us make the choice of taking the path of happiness and taking the path of good, because we can see what we ultimately want as the outcome.

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