TED Conversations

Haley Goranson

Spiritual Being Having a Human Experience,

This conversation is closed. Start a new conversation
or join one »

Which is more important, to do right or to do good?

A rich man walks down the street and drop a 20 dollar bill. You know he will not even notice it is gone. On the side of the street sits a beggar who looks really hungry. The good thing is to give the money to the beggar, the right thing is to give it back to the man who dropped it.



- Maybe instead of taking this question , as a question of right and wrong or judgment, perhaps what we can take from this is that there are a variety of opinions and many people have different ideas of what is morally right. That is beautiful to me. This is just an example that good and right are almost undefinable, or at the least the definition is always changing for everyone.

Topics: money poverty
+8
Share:

Showing single comment thread. View the full conversation.

  • thumb
    Jan 10 2013: This is a little bit off topic, but I couldn't help but notice how so many stereotyped the two characters. It is so interesting to me how, we as a society, tend to label people and things by our judgment of their outward appearance (even if their appearance is in our imagination). Just an observation but really makes me want to consciously stop doing that. Great Question. I'm in the give the money to the guy who dropped it and go help the person I perceive as needing help with whatever he/she needs camp.
    • Jan 10 2013: I would say that's not off topic at all, it's actually very much to the point. After all, what else do we base our judgements of goodness and rightness and importance etc. on, if not the projections of our own imagination. What else is there to base it on. Where else do those judgements exist.

      We have explored relatively little of outer space and of deep sea, so who knows, maybe we'll find actual goodness and rightness and importance there yet... But nah :P... Somehow that just seems absurd... Somehow it seems to me there is none of that outside of our own projections at all. Who woulda thunk.

Showing single comment thread. View the full conversation.