Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Good vs. Bad - Sociologist's reading


The thought process is often characterized by logical operations that involve the use of two essential values in order to begin the first step of the categorization process. The two values that I was referring to are those of good and bad , no entity (human,object,etc.) can exist outside this values , in some cases they are replaced with values derived from them . We can use good/bad when talking about a person , action or event and to like or to dislike when talking about a object .
    Good/bad  are not the only examples of  values that a validation system can use , any adjective and it's antonym can be used as values for a validation system . 
  A validation system can be functional only if it operates with two values that are antonyms(their meanings must be in opposition ) .  Every characteristic can be validated using a binary system ,  keep in mind that something can be good or bad , pleasant / unpleasant depending on the context 
   Example : Mary lost a lot of weight . The weight loss can be validated as good if it is the result of a diet or it  can be validated as bad if it is the result of a medical condition. 
  There are concepts that have a fixed position in the validation process , the value that they have is independent of the context.  Concepts as crime , death or rape will always be validated as bad  this statement being also valid for the concepts of happiness , love or help that will always be validated as good.. 
  The binary system of good and bad is a framework for the thought process , its a vital step in   the processing of data that we assimilate from environment in which we live , using it we can identify actions that can cause us harm or actions that will make us gain material or spiritual satisfaction .  It also plays a role in selection , those the good options are selected and the bad ones are excluded . Without it the decision process would be impossible . 
  This two primary notions are learnt until the age of six when every healthy child can operate with them , until the age of six we can see a ambiguity , often the two don't have a well defined form.  
   Until the age of six the child gains knowledge of this two values through direct contact with the environment , he will understand that  breaking a window is a bad thing after he supports the punishment for his actions , this way he will formulate a list of basic features that a good and a bad thing will have. The number of features will grow as he matures as the number of experiences will grow as well. 
   The values of this system change in the context of spirituality when we operate with good and evil .In many of the world's religions the value of good is associated with light and the value of evil with darkness (the absence of light) . 
    Anthropological studies showed that this association was made by the prehistoric men , daytime was preferred for activities such as hunting , fishing and the collection of fruits and at night communities would be attacked by animals and rival tribes those giving and powerful feeling and insecurity . 
      Later on we can see that gods of light (ex;Horus ) would symbolize fertility , peace and prosperity as for the gods of darkness (ex:Seth) who would symbolize sterility , conflict ,and destruction .  We can find the same order in the world of plants in which light is the source of life , no plant can live and grow normally without light those darkness inhibiting a healthy growth . 
        Every thought process must use a validation system , the values that it uses can vary greatly depending on the object of validation . A key characteristic is that the values must by in opposition , we can validate something if we operate that are not antonyms.  
              There's no logic to beautiful/ cold  , low/interesting or helpful/smart .The notions of validation and labeling can overlap , what we know for sure is that in order to categorize something we need to give it a value / label . A category is a group formed by entities with similar features , categorizing being vital do to the fact that is easier to operate with entities that are part of categories then with ones that are put in a random order.

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