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[rabidgam3r]

Simply, what is your philosophy? what do you run your life by, if anything? I myself believe that change is a part of life, and must be embraced. Change, is what drives us forward, out of ruts and into them. Not much, but i get by, believing that everything i do, is not decided by some arbitrary fate but by the simple force that keeps humanity going.

[Fniff]

I personally try to be as much of an idealist as possible. People are innately good and can only be corrupted. I try not to lean too much in that direction, because it can lead to being duped easily, so I also try to be a realist. I use the word try because I'm not entirely sure if I'm doing it right.

[WealthyRadish]

Everyone is crap, and has their unique flavor of crap that defines them. The greatest affliction mankind has is that we're all unable to be completely aware of what our crappiness is, and are driven by an innate bias for our flavor over others. This is mostly due to humans being ill fit for their own intelligence, and still controlled thoroughly by evolutionary mechanisms that have no relevance.

That said, human life is a beautiful and sacred thing, and compassion for each other and our world is the best possible trait.

...oh wow, this seems like the polar opposite of idealism.

Edit:
Hmm, this came off as a bit... angry. I guess prolonged exposure to the internet does this to people.
What I mostly mean is that everyone has inherent flaws that ultimately define their character, but the most important thing for us to do is show compassion, since we're all equal in that way.

[misko27]

Everyione, every single damn person in the world, is, unbiasedly, a asshole. Of course they are. It is human nature to be as such. Oh sure, they'll do as their forced for a common good, but it isn't inherent. And they are degrees of it, but at the end of the day, they are selfish, corruptible, assholes, and someone needs to keep humanity in line. Democracy fails because EVERYONE is a selfish motherfucker, they don't collapse because people will generally go for the common good when they need to, but otherwise will pursue their own goals.

[Heron TSG]

My personal code was formed from a strange combination of my own ideas with ideas from books I've read and games I played when I was younger. There are a few notions that have remained with me as from as long ago as I can remember.

1. There are very few bad people in this world. There are many good people. Almost everyone can be a good person if they put in a little effort. People have flaws, but people are not flaws.

2. My word is my bond, and I keep every promise I make. I do not lightly make promises.

3. I will do everything in my power to help a friend. Their burdens are my burdens, and all is better when the burden is shared.

4. If I am not improving, I am degrading. If I am not busy, there is something that I should be doing to improve myself or the world around me. (This is the main reason that I dislike sleeping.)

5. Anything can be attained with enough determination and hard work.

[Lagslayer]

Posting to watch. Will probably add my own bit sometime later today (but I've been working all night and I want to sleep).

[JimmyBobJr]

Well, how i view life generally depends on how depressed i am at any given moment.

Right now, i view society by several massive rules that are incredibly vague and pointless.

1) Equality is pointless. Making a society that is completely Equal can only be achieved by lowering the standard of living so far down that you could be considered dead. The way i see it, there will always be differences, there will always be those who are worse off, and there will always be those who exploit others. Due to this fact, it is pointless to pursue a society that is both free willed and fair. The best thing we can hope for is a society in which there is a large percentage of the population which is happy, rather than making everyone "Satisfied".

2) The world is a cruel, bitter place. People wont hesitate to up their own status, even if it results in someone loosing something that may be dear to them.

3) The human race, as a whole, is a terrible thing. We fight, we kill, we slaughter, all in the hopes of making a few percentage of us happier than the rest. Whether its enslaving entire populations or structuring education in such a way that it makes it harder than it should be for someone to change social classes, we have repetitively shown that we are unworthy.

4) The Human race, as a whole, is mean to the human race. If we get the chance, most people will spite or anger someone else simply for the sake of it. This is easily seen by the massive amounts of trolling that goes on in the internet. I dont know you, you dont know me, yet you are well within your rights to make me feel bad about myself for no reason other than you can.

And, resulting from the above;

5) Utopia is impossible. We can never, ever achive a state of living in which every single human being is free from every worry and hardship. Even if we cured all disease, automated all industry and production, and gave every single person the most amazing mansion in the world, there will still be people who can - and will - ruin other peoples lives. Whether by sticking to racism, by playing "Harmless" pranks or simply excluding someone over something as minor as what their parent said 50 years ago, there will be lines drawn. There will be divisions... people will always think of the human race as "Me", "People i like" and "Them". There will be people who, in some way, are unhappy. And unhappiness breeds jealousy. And Jealousy breeds hate.

Feel free to ask me on a different day and you will get several different dot points as to how the human race works. It just happens to be my mood that decides my outlook.

[Cthulhu]

Then it's not an outlook, it's a mood.  Your overarching philosophy shouldn't be changing from day to day based on your moods and feelings, it should be influencing your moods and feelings.

1.  I'm not sure how pointing that out is all that useful.  I think we all know (15 year olds aside, damn their idealism) that we're not going to magic problems away.  In the end, we end up working the same way, with the same goals, except you're complaining about them.

The rest annoys me because I'm overly humanist.  I think mankind is, on the whole, rad.  Yeah, we have shitlordes, but we also have people who work every hour of their lives for the betterment of people who aren't themselves.  Most people fall somewhere in between and from what I've seen they mostly lean good.

Not to mention a lot of these complaints are by no means human-exclusive.  Give any organism on Earth the opportunity and it will eat and breed itself into extinction.  That's why we have our complicated eater-eatee relationships that should not be tampered with.  If anything we humans hold the moral high ground because we have the intellectual capacity to realize we're being destructive and curtail our consumption.

[Loud Whispers]

Simply, what is your philosophy? what do you run your life by, if anything? I myself believe that change is a part of life, and must be embraced. Change, is what drives us forward, out of ruts and into them. Not much, but i get by, believing that everything i do, is not decided by some arbitrary fate but by the simple force that keeps humanity going.

If all actions are meaningless, I choose the meaningless action with the most meaning. If something is wrong I will try to fix it. If bad things happen be stoic. Separate the objective from the perceptions. Know when to value one and the other.

1) Equality is pointless. Making a society that is completely Equal can only be achieved by lowering the standard of living so far down that you could be considered dead. The way i see it, there will always be differences, there will always be those who are worse off, and there will always be those who exploit others. Due to this fact, it is pointless to pursue a society that is both free willed and fair. The best thing we can hope for is a society in which there is a large percentage of the population which is happy, rather than making everyone "Satisfied".

Despise the attitude that says "why should the individual try to change the world when the individual can change naught but themselves?"

This is not humanity at its best; it is a superficial reduction and an attachment to futility.

[Darvi]

Nihilist, but somewhere between the two extremes.

[Mictlantecuhtli]

Nihilist.

[penguinofhonor]

Utilitarian.

[RedWick]

Erisian Taoist.

[Muz]

Everyone is by default good. That's why people give gifts anonymously. That's why charity organizations still exist. But people react to others the way others act to them. Nobody wants to be an asshole. It feels bad. They just act that way because they think it's fair.

Personally, believe everyone should work together. I don't believe in the capitalistic way in which everyone should improve individually. It makes people think that the 'right' way is for everyone to be selfish and things will sort themselves out. Society is built upon teamwork. Individuals are built on teamwork, nobody realizes everything by themselves; they have to learn from others and imitate them to learn.

I believe money is the worst kind of incentive. People can be motivated by materialism, but money is not a good goal. People want 'resources' and money is just the easiest abstraction of it.

I believe that producing wealth is a good thing. That everyone should be able to buy things and enjoy having a good, abundant life.

I'm against luxury for the sake of showing off. It only makes people unhappy. People don't really want luxury cars or fancy watches. They want the social status that comes with it. Social status should not be associated by the amount of money they have. I like the Rashidun Caliphate era, where the most powerful leaders wore tattered garments. They had access to the finest Persian garments, but gave it away or sold it off to finance more important things.

I believe everyone is born to achieve some form of greatness. Most people are not guided towards the path that they're meant to do. Instead of following their instincts, they do what seems to reward more, and use that money to volunteer for whatever it is they're meant to do. They end up skilled in something they don't want to do, and unskilled in the things they should be doing.

[Darvi]

Frankly, I find Hobbes to be saner than Rousseau.

And yes, I'm referring to that Hobbes.