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recapitated@lemmy.world to Ask Lemmy@lemmy.world · 1 year ago

What's an example of good people doing good things, which is not an act of harm reduction or mitigating some kind of evil?

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What's an example of good people doing good things, which is not an act of harm reduction or mitigating some kind of evil?

recapitated@lemmy.world to Ask Lemmy@lemmy.world · 1 year ago
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  • NegentropicBoy@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Teachers.

    • MelastSB@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      You think education doesn’t keep evil or harm at bay?

      • Mastengwe@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        No, because ignorance isn’t inherently evil.

        • moistclump@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Eloquently put.

        • Feathercrown@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          I’d actually argue against this, to a degree. If you’re ignorant, you do not know the full consequences of your actions, and therefore whether they’re good or evil. This means that, even for two people who mean well, on average the less educated one will do more evil than the more educated one.

  • neidu2@feddit.nl
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    1 year ago

    That dude with magic blood that cured thousands of kids with a particular genetic defect. I don’t remember his name (sadly), but I’m sure someone else here does.

    EDIT: James Harrison. And it was 2.4 million babies.

    https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/james-harrison-the-man-who-saved-the-lives-of-2-4-million-babies-4752137

    • Drusas@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      That is practically the perfect example of a good act which is also an act of harm reduction.

    • Mossy Feathers (She/They)@pawb.social
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      1 year ago

      Imagine donating blood as a way of paying forward the blood donations that kept you alive during your own surgery, and then finding out that you’re some kinda superman with medicinal blood.

  • SorteKanin@feddit.dk
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    1 year ago

    Scientists just trying to make us all smarter.

    Doctors helping their patients.

    Honestly you could apply this to a lot of people just going through their daily job.

    Open source software maintainers.

  • Scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.tech
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    1 year ago

    People who put their shopping carts away.

    • halcyoncmdr@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I am a firm believer in the Shopping Cart Theory.

      • DichotoDeezNutz@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        What theory?

        • hitmyspot@aussie.zone
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          1 year ago

          It’s basically a shorthand way to see if someone is good. Not returning a cart is no illegal nor a big inconvenience. Returning the cart brings no reward but is the right thing to do. In the absence of reward or societal pressure to return a carr, only the truly good will.

          https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/08/style/shopping-cart-parking-lot.html

    • BallsandBayonets@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I wouldn’t call that doing good. That’s the bare minimum for participating in society; those who don’t are actually evil.

      • Mastengwe@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        lol…. No they’re not.

        • LemmyKnowsBest@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Yes they are.

          • Mastengwe@lemm.ee
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            1 year ago

            You really need to check your definition of evil.

            • Feathercrown@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              Strictly speaking, not putting it away means you value yourself above others. You’re taking your own convenience over other people’s inconvenience. It’s a very minor act, but could fit the definition still.

  • partial_accumen@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Old men planting trees in whose shade they shall never sit.

    • some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org
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      1 year ago

      Reduces or mitigates skin cancer?

      Edit: and air pollution?

      • Feathercrown@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        They aren’t planting them to reduce skin cancer, though. Every action has some positive and negative aspects; you have to look at the intentions.

  • istanbullu@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    open source contributors.

  • cousinofjah@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    People who seed

    • treechicken@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Oh wait you’re talking about torrents…

      • ripcord@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I assumed they meant plants.

        • LemmyKnowsBest@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          deleted by creator

  • Aviandelight @mander.xyz
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    1 year ago

    I’d say good old fashion politeness like saying good morning, giving someone a (real) compliment, and other small random acts of kindness. You do it because you want to not because you expect something.

    • eatthecake@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      The lady at work who brings in a shopping bag full of chocolates and lollies once in a while just to make us stupidly happy and giggly.

  • fubo@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Good public art.

  • SolidGrue@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I’ll hold a door for a body going the other way.

    Sometimes, I’ll even let a truck merge.

    One time I cut someone off in traffic by accident and they ended up behind me in a drive thru so I bought their coffee.

    I’m no saint tho. I still fart in elevators.

    • LemmyKnowsBest@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I once vomited in an elevator. Sorry to whomever had to clean that up. I was sincerely ill and had to get home to bed & toilet asap.

  • Ð Greıt Þu̇mpkin@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    Being a reciprocal lover

  • rufus@discuss.tchncs.de
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    1 year ago

    Being nice to my partner. Other people. Inviting them for dinner. Caring for children or neighbors.

  • I Cast Fist@programming.dev
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    1 year ago

    Medics and nurses, when the patients aren’t terminally ill (harm reduction). Whether they’re “good people”, and how often they do their jobs right can be debated, but properly caring for the sick is a good thing to do.

  • frankPodmore@slrpnk.net
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    If we conceive of ethics as rooted in duty or virtue, rather than outcomes, we can then argue that simply doing your duty or being virtuous are good regardless of whether they lead to harm reduction or mitigation. The people here who have suggested just doing your job well (a duty) or being polite (a virtue) are putting forward a model of ethics based on these ideas.

  • HootinNHollerin@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Working to understand the universe

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