Note to Reader: There are 2 versions of good and bad. The 1st version is where something's good or bad, but doesn't matter, and the 2nd version is where something's good or bad, but does matter. I only use the 2nd version throughout this document. So, when you, for example, read: "Perceived as good or bad," that means: "Perceived as mattering." Now, there's only one time I use the 1st version in this document, and I let you know when I use it.
My Philosophy of Good and Bad
Good and bad are perceptions, which means only perceived goodness and badness exist. In other words, things are only good or bad when one perceives them as good or bad. So, things only matter when they matter to an individual (when he/she perceives them as mattering). That means things subjectively matter. But, if nothing can matter to an individual, then he/she can't care about anything, which means he/she can't perceive anything as mattering.
Now, when something matters to an individual, that's a state of mind, which I call "an x state." X states can be shallow or profound and intense or not intense. For example, being there for your family might profoundly and intensely matter to you (matter very much to you), and buying a certain fancy item might shallowly and not intensely matter to you (matter very little to you).
Also, x states are always states of pleasure or displeasure (states of wanting, liking, or disliking). For example, disgust, rage, and misery are states of disliking (unpleasant x states), excitement is wanting or liking (a pleasant x state), and happiness and pride are liking (pleasant x states). Pleasant x states are perceptions of goodness. In other words, pleasant x states make things perceived as good.
Since perceiving things as good is the same thing as things being good in our lives (in our mental universes/minds), then pleasant x states make things good in our lives. Now, here's an example that illustrates pleasant x states as being perceptions of goodness. I'm going to use liking for this example. The more profoundly and intensely you like something (a work of art, for example), the better you like it, which means the better (more good) it becomes in your eyes, which means the more it pleasantly matters to you.
Pleasant x states that are shallow and not intense give our lives a low level of goodness because they make things perceived as slightly good, while pleasant x states that are more profound and more intense give our lives a higher level of goodness because they make things perceived as better. As you can see, all pleasant x states are perceptions of goodness.
As a matter of fact, pleasant x states are the only perceptions of goodness, which means nothing can be perceived as good (as mattering) without them. So, pleasant x states are the only source of goodness in our lives. As for unpleasant x states, they're the only perceptions of badness, which means they're the only source of badness in our lives.
It's always better to have goodness in our lives than badness because perceiving things as good always makes them better in our lives than perceiving them as bad. That means pleasant x states are always better than unpleasant ones. So, it would've been better if Hitler pleasantly mattered to us (was perceived as a good person) than unpleasantly mattering to us (perceived as bad) because that would've made him good in our lives instead of bad.
Now, in regards to having goodness in our lives, that can be metaphorically described as having the light of God or the inner light. Any moment where the inner light is absent is a moment where it's no way to live. The more moments we have of the inner light (pleasant x states), and the more profound and intense that inner light is, the better. Inner light that's everlasting and the most profound and intense in the world is the best thing (the greatest good).
It makes things in our lives the best, it's the best experience, and it can be called "the best, everlasting bliss." If heaven (the afterlife) exists, then souls that live there have the best, everlasting bliss. But, what about us who live on Earth? Well, we can achieve temporary moments of the best bliss by going on powerful drug trips or near death experience (nde) induced trips. Now, in regards to unpleasant x states, they can be metaphorically described as the darkness of Satan or the inner darkness.
Inner darkness that's everlasting and the most profound and intense in the world is the worst thing (the greatest bad). It makes things in our lives the worst, it's the worst experience, and it can be called "the worst, everlasting suffering." If hell exists, then souls that live there have it. Some people living on Earth might wish to have temporary moments of it by going on drug or nde trips. But, having the inner darkness, whether it's the worst, moderate, or least suffering, can never be better than having the inner light, no matter what.
So, if you had a choice, it would be better to have the inner light your entire life while being permanently paralyzed and unable to do anything for humanity than to have the inner darkness your entire life and use it to help humanity, create artistic masterpieces, change the world, make new discoveries, etc. Having neither the inner light nor the inner darkness is also better than having the inner darkness because it's always better to have neutrality (neither goodness nor badness) in our lives than badness.
So, neutrality is always much better than the worst suffering. But, the inner light is always better than neutrality, which means the best bliss is always much better than neutrality. Neutrality is an emotionless state, by the way, and the inner light and inner darkness are pleasant and unpleasant emotions. That's because all x states are emotional states (and all emotional states are x states). An example of some pleasant emotions would be happiness, amazement, excitement, sexual attraction, and valuing a person or thing.
An example of some unpleasant emotions would be fear, frustration, agitation, misery, disgust, and rage. Now, if an emotionless person had the mindset that something was good or bad, then that mindset alone couldn't make him perceive it as good or bad (as mattering), which means nothing in his life/mental universe can be good or bad. Also, a blind person's mindset alone can't allow him to perceive (see) something as red or blue, which means nothing in his life can be red or blue.
As you can see, goodness, badness, and colors are perceptions that no mindset alone can give us. There were moments where my life was devoid of goodness and badness. So, I was emotionless. I had the mindset that something mattered to me, but that mindset alone couldn't make it matter to me (perceived as good or bad) because emotions are the only x states. Also, if an insomniac person had the mindset of being sleepy, then that mindset alone can't make him sleepy.
As you can see, our mindset alone can't be a state of sleepiness, hunger, thirst, nausea, or an x state. Here's a quote by Hume (a famous philosopher) that indicates reason (our mindset) alone can't be an x state: "Reason is, and ought only to be the slave of the passions." Anyway, there were moments where I was emotionless, and then there were many moments where I was emotionally displeased/bothered by things as a result of chronic worries.
I, thus, had many moments of badness (suffering/unhappiness), and these moments were an ongoing, long term struggle. I tried to reason away my chronic worries and suffering because I don't want to experience badness. But, reasoning didn't work, and it would be like reasoning with a phobia in an attempt to rid of the fear, which doesn't work. Also, when I was worried and suffering, my pleasant emotions (pleasant x states) were disabled, which means I had no moments of goodness.
As a matter of fact, pleasant emotions are fleeting for many people because there are mental illnesses, brain damage, and unhappy moments, which disable pleasant emotions. For example, clinical depression is a mental illness that disables pleasant emotions. Since pleasant emotions are the only source of goodness and are fleeting in this Earthly existence, and if god and the afterlife exist, then why aren't we in heaven, where we have the best, everlasting bliss?
Since heaven is the most blissful place, it's the best existence and far better than this unfortunate, Earthly existence. I don't understand why god would send our souls here to suffer, instead of having us remain in heaven. All my Earthly suffering (unhappiness) was unnecessary and robbed my life of goodness and filled it with much badness. I would've, thus, been much better off living in heaven. But, if suffering is necessary for pleasant x states to exist, then only a little bit of suffering is needed.
One shouldn't have to endure years of chronic suffering like I did. With that being said, I'm now going to move on to the next topic by explaining some things about my philosophy. My philosophy is based upon my personal experience and is a form of hedonism, which advocates experiencing pleasant emotions and not unpleasant ones. For example, my philosophy says that, instead of being motivated by fear or rage, it would be better to be motivated by bliss because bliss is always better than unpleasant emotions.
Instead of being miserable and suicidal, it would be better to blissfully persevere. But, as I said earlier, a little bit of unhappiness might be necessary for pleasant x states to exist. Any unnecessary unhappiness would be needlessly robbing our lives of goodness and giving our lives badness. Some people embrace unnecessary unhappiness, though, and think that an entire life filled with much unhappiness and absence of emotional pleasure is better than one filled with much emotional pleasure.
They think so because they think a tough, brutal life is better than an easy, emotionally pleasant one. Basically, it's a philosophy opposite of mine. If anyone tries to convert me to this philosophy, it won't work because anyone's attempts to convert me to a different philosophy will fail. I think I'll always disagree with any philosophy that opposes mine. So, I don't think my philosophy will ever change. I've had this philosophy my entire life, and perhaps I'll have it for the rest of my life.
Now, there's a philosophy that advocates reason alone as being able to perceive goodness. But, until reason alone allows me to perceive goodness, l'll never convert to this philosophy and will only have my fleeting, pleasant emotions as a source of goodness. My pleasant emotions have always been the only perceptions of goodness, and my unpleasant emotions the only perceptions of badness. Now, reason alone allows me and everyone else to perceive the 1st version of good and bad that I mentioned in the note to reader at the beginning.
But, I'm talking about the 2nd version, which reason alone can't perceive. Others claim reason alone can, and those who claim this are advocates of reason. But, I disagree with them, based upon my personal experience. I have my personal experience to go by and others have theirs, and that's that. Also, those who advocate reason alone don't realize an emotionless existence is robotic.
Nothing can matter to robots, which means they can't care about anything because they're apathetic machines that can't fear, love, hate, etc. So, they can't perceive anything as good or bad. They can still perform tasks, though, and emotionless people can perform tasks, even though said tasks can't matter to them. But, living like that is no way to live. Being emotionally pleased is the way to live. For me, being emotionally pleased has always been the only life that works for me.
Being emotionless or, even worse, unhappy, is no way to live for me, regardless of how much I follow the advice to live by a philosophy that advocates ignoring my perceptions of badness and inability to perceive goodness (my unhappiness and absence of pleasant emotions), and to focus on supposedly objectively good things, such as my family, helping humanity, etc. Such advice is, thus, unhelpful.
Since it's unhelpful, that's why I disagree with philosophies that advocate objective goodness and badness. Good and bad are subjective, by the way. Nothing objectively matters, which means nothing matters in one's life if he/she doesn't perceive anything as mattering. So, objective goodness and badness don't exist. But, there are things that are objectively necessary. For example, water is necessary for one's survival, even if he/she doesn't perceive it as necessary.
But, just because water is objectively necessary doesn't mean it objectively matters. Water subjectively matters. For example, water might not matter to someone who wishes to die of thirst, but would matter very much to someone who wishes to save his life by giving him some water. But, if water and other things do objectively matter, and I later knew this somehow, then focusing on objectively good things isn't enough when I'm unhappy and absent of pleasant emotions.
That's because I must have my ability to perceive things as good and not as bad. Otherwise, it's no way to live for me, no matter what. As you can see, knowing there are objectively good things and focusing on them would be of no help to me. The only thing that would help me is treatments, such as therapy and medication, that would alleviate my unhappiness and restore my pleasant emotions.
My Philosophy of Good and Bad
Good and bad are perceptions, which means only perceived goodness and badness exist. In other words, things are only good or bad when one perceives them as good or bad. So, things only matter when they matter to an individual (when he/she perceives them as mattering). That means things subjectively matter. But, if nothing can matter to an individual, then he/she can't care about anything, which means he/she can't perceive anything as mattering.
Now, when something matters to an individual, that's a state of mind, which I call "an x state." X states can be shallow or profound and intense or not intense. For example, being there for your family might profoundly and intensely matter to you (matter very much to you), and buying a certain fancy item might shallowly and not intensely matter to you (matter very little to you).
Also, x states are always states of pleasure or displeasure (states of wanting, liking, or disliking). For example, disgust, rage, and misery are states of disliking (unpleasant x states), excitement is wanting or liking (a pleasant x state), and happiness and pride are liking (pleasant x states). Pleasant x states are perceptions of goodness. In other words, pleasant x states make things perceived as good.
Since perceiving things as good is the same thing as things being good in our lives (in our mental universes/minds), then pleasant x states make things good in our lives. Now, here's an example that illustrates pleasant x states as being perceptions of goodness. I'm going to use liking for this example. The more profoundly and intensely you like something (a work of art, for example), the better you like it, which means the better (more good) it becomes in your eyes, which means the more it pleasantly matters to you.
Pleasant x states that are shallow and not intense give our lives a low level of goodness because they make things perceived as slightly good, while pleasant x states that are more profound and more intense give our lives a higher level of goodness because they make things perceived as better. As you can see, all pleasant x states are perceptions of goodness.
As a matter of fact, pleasant x states are the only perceptions of goodness, which means nothing can be perceived as good (as mattering) without them. So, pleasant x states are the only source of goodness in our lives. As for unpleasant x states, they're the only perceptions of badness, which means they're the only source of badness in our lives.
It's always better to have goodness in our lives than badness because perceiving things as good always makes them better in our lives than perceiving them as bad. That means pleasant x states are always better than unpleasant ones. So, it would've been better if Hitler pleasantly mattered to us (was perceived as a good person) than unpleasantly mattering to us (perceived as bad) because that would've made him good in our lives instead of bad.
Now, in regards to having goodness in our lives, that can be metaphorically described as having the light of God or the inner light. Any moment where the inner light is absent is a moment where it's no way to live. The more moments we have of the inner light (pleasant x states), and the more profound and intense that inner light is, the better. Inner light that's everlasting and the most profound and intense in the world is the best thing (the greatest good).
It makes things in our lives the best, it's the best experience, and it can be called "the best, everlasting bliss." If heaven (the afterlife) exists, then souls that live there have the best, everlasting bliss. But, what about us who live on Earth? Well, we can achieve temporary moments of the best bliss by going on powerful drug trips or near death experience (nde) induced trips. Now, in regards to unpleasant x states, they can be metaphorically described as the darkness of Satan or the inner darkness.
Inner darkness that's everlasting and the most profound and intense in the world is the worst thing (the greatest bad). It makes things in our lives the worst, it's the worst experience, and it can be called "the worst, everlasting suffering." If hell exists, then souls that live there have it. Some people living on Earth might wish to have temporary moments of it by going on drug or nde trips. But, having the inner darkness, whether it's the worst, moderate, or least suffering, can never be better than having the inner light, no matter what.
So, if you had a choice, it would be better to have the inner light your entire life while being permanently paralyzed and unable to do anything for humanity than to have the inner darkness your entire life and use it to help humanity, create artistic masterpieces, change the world, make new discoveries, etc. Having neither the inner light nor the inner darkness is also better than having the inner darkness because it's always better to have neutrality (neither goodness nor badness) in our lives than badness.
So, neutrality is always much better than the worst suffering. But, the inner light is always better than neutrality, which means the best bliss is always much better than neutrality. Neutrality is an emotionless state, by the way, and the inner light and inner darkness are pleasant and unpleasant emotions. That's because all x states are emotional states (and all emotional states are x states). An example of some pleasant emotions would be happiness, amazement, excitement, sexual attraction, and valuing a person or thing.
An example of some unpleasant emotions would be fear, frustration, agitation, misery, disgust, and rage. Now, if an emotionless person had the mindset that something was good or bad, then that mindset alone couldn't make him perceive it as good or bad (as mattering), which means nothing in his life/mental universe can be good or bad. Also, a blind person's mindset alone can't allow him to perceive (see) something as red or blue, which means nothing in his life can be red or blue.
As you can see, goodness, badness, and colors are perceptions that no mindset alone can give us. There were moments where my life was devoid of goodness and badness. So, I was emotionless. I had the mindset that something mattered to me, but that mindset alone couldn't make it matter to me (perceived as good or bad) because emotions are the only x states. Also, if an insomniac person had the mindset of being sleepy, then that mindset alone can't make him sleepy.
As you can see, our mindset alone can't be a state of sleepiness, hunger, thirst, nausea, or an x state. Here's a quote by Hume (a famous philosopher) that indicates reason (our mindset) alone can't be an x state: "Reason is, and ought only to be the slave of the passions." Anyway, there were moments where I was emotionless, and then there were many moments where I was emotionally displeased/bothered by things as a result of chronic worries.
I, thus, had many moments of badness (suffering/unhappiness), and these moments were an ongoing, long term struggle. I tried to reason away my chronic worries and suffering because I don't want to experience badness. But, reasoning didn't work, and it would be like reasoning with a phobia in an attempt to rid of the fear, which doesn't work. Also, when I was worried and suffering, my pleasant emotions (pleasant x states) were disabled, which means I had no moments of goodness.
As a matter of fact, pleasant emotions are fleeting for many people because there are mental illnesses, brain damage, and unhappy moments, which disable pleasant emotions. For example, clinical depression is a mental illness that disables pleasant emotions. Since pleasant emotions are the only source of goodness and are fleeting in this Earthly existence, and if god and the afterlife exist, then why aren't we in heaven, where we have the best, everlasting bliss?
Since heaven is the most blissful place, it's the best existence and far better than this unfortunate, Earthly existence. I don't understand why god would send our souls here to suffer, instead of having us remain in heaven. All my Earthly suffering (unhappiness) was unnecessary and robbed my life of goodness and filled it with much badness. I would've, thus, been much better off living in heaven. But, if suffering is necessary for pleasant x states to exist, then only a little bit of suffering is needed.
One shouldn't have to endure years of chronic suffering like I did. With that being said, I'm now going to move on to the next topic by explaining some things about my philosophy. My philosophy is based upon my personal experience and is a form of hedonism, which advocates experiencing pleasant emotions and not unpleasant ones. For example, my philosophy says that, instead of being motivated by fear or rage, it would be better to be motivated by bliss because bliss is always better than unpleasant emotions.
Instead of being miserable and suicidal, it would be better to blissfully persevere. But, as I said earlier, a little bit of unhappiness might be necessary for pleasant x states to exist. Any unnecessary unhappiness would be needlessly robbing our lives of goodness and giving our lives badness. Some people embrace unnecessary unhappiness, though, and think that an entire life filled with much unhappiness and absence of emotional pleasure is better than one filled with much emotional pleasure.
They think so because they think a tough, brutal life is better than an easy, emotionally pleasant one. Basically, it's a philosophy opposite of mine. If anyone tries to convert me to this philosophy, it won't work because anyone's attempts to convert me to a different philosophy will fail. I think I'll always disagree with any philosophy that opposes mine. So, I don't think my philosophy will ever change. I've had this philosophy my entire life, and perhaps I'll have it for the rest of my life.
Now, there's a philosophy that advocates reason alone as being able to perceive goodness. But, until reason alone allows me to perceive goodness, l'll never convert to this philosophy and will only have my fleeting, pleasant emotions as a source of goodness. My pleasant emotions have always been the only perceptions of goodness, and my unpleasant emotions the only perceptions of badness. Now, reason alone allows me and everyone else to perceive the 1st version of good and bad that I mentioned in the note to reader at the beginning.
But, I'm talking about the 2nd version, which reason alone can't perceive. Others claim reason alone can, and those who claim this are advocates of reason. But, I disagree with them, based upon my personal experience. I have my personal experience to go by and others have theirs, and that's that. Also, those who advocate reason alone don't realize an emotionless existence is robotic.
Nothing can matter to robots, which means they can't care about anything because they're apathetic machines that can't fear, love, hate, etc. So, they can't perceive anything as good or bad. They can still perform tasks, though, and emotionless people can perform tasks, even though said tasks can't matter to them. But, living like that is no way to live. Being emotionally pleased is the way to live. For me, being emotionally pleased has always been the only life that works for me.
Being emotionless or, even worse, unhappy, is no way to live for me, regardless of how much I follow the advice to live by a philosophy that advocates ignoring my perceptions of badness and inability to perceive goodness (my unhappiness and absence of pleasant emotions), and to focus on supposedly objectively good things, such as my family, helping humanity, etc. Such advice is, thus, unhelpful.
Since it's unhelpful, that's why I disagree with philosophies that advocate objective goodness and badness. Good and bad are subjective, by the way. Nothing objectively matters, which means nothing matters in one's life if he/she doesn't perceive anything as mattering. So, objective goodness and badness don't exist. But, there are things that are objectively necessary. For example, water is necessary for one's survival, even if he/she doesn't perceive it as necessary.
But, just because water is objectively necessary doesn't mean it objectively matters. Water subjectively matters. For example, water might not matter to someone who wishes to die of thirst, but would matter very much to someone who wishes to save his life by giving him some water. But, if water and other things do objectively matter, and I later knew this somehow, then focusing on objectively good things isn't enough when I'm unhappy and absent of pleasant emotions.
That's because I must have my ability to perceive things as good and not as bad. Otherwise, it's no way to live for me, no matter what. As you can see, knowing there are objectively good things and focusing on them would be of no help to me. The only thing that would help me is treatments, such as therapy and medication, that would alleviate my unhappiness and restore my pleasant emotions.
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