Question Of The Day, Wednesday, Aug 15, 2018

[Mamanyt1953]

OK, guys, I'm diving deep, so everyone put on your Philosopher's Hat now! This is mine:

Now, tell me a truism that you either totally agree with OR disagree with, and tell me why you feel that way about it!

This is mine. It is not quite so silly as my hat.

"Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

DISAGREE.

First, yes, power does corrupt, but then we hit a snag. It is not possible for any person to have "absolute power." And if that person did, they would be "absolutely incorruptible." Now, they may be evil as all get out, but that's because absolute power would allow them to express any facet of their personality that they chose to. Any little, subtle flaws would become magnified. But absolute power COULD NOT add any bad stuff that wasn't already there.

 

[maggiedemi]

Money can't buy happiness.
I completely disagree.
Whoever said that probably has plenty of money, so they don't have to worry about it.

 

[Willowy]

But absolute power COULD NOT add any bad stuff that wasn't already there.

Idk. Having power does weird stuff to people. The more power they have, the worse they get. Maybe that bad stuff was already there. . .but you would never see it if they didn't have power.

Money can't buy happiness.
I completely disagree.
Whoever said that probably has plenty of money, so they don't have to worry about it.

I believe researchers have found that money does in fact buy happiness, up to about $70,000 a year (in the US). Or, better stated, not having enough money causes much unhappiness. But once a person has their needs fulfilled, and a reasonable amount of disposable income, more money doesn't make them happier, and in fact adds to their anxiety.

Mine is "Spare the rod, spoil the child". Oh jeez. Don't even get me started. I can't even imagine how many people's lives this has ruined (or at least made much worse). Hitting people is unacceptable no matter how old they are.

 

[maggiedemi]

Once my brother became rich, he started saying "Money doesn't matter." Yeah, because you have plenty of it now! It sure mattered years ago when you were poor.

 

[HellsBells80]

When rules conflict with common sense, common sense must prevail.

I completely agree with this one, to me that is just common sense. Some rules just don't make any sense and don't benefit anybody.

 

[maggiedemi]

W Willowy --I agree with you. When I got hit as a kid, it didn't make me want to behave, it made me hate my life and lose confidence in myself. I think it's much better to show children what they "can" do than to always be harping on what they can't do.

 

[Willowy]

it made me hate my life and lose confidence in myself.

Yes. I think the mindsets of "sometimes I deserve to be hurt by those who love me" and "sometimes I'm allowed to hurt those I love; they deserve it" are SO harmful and yet it seems like so few people realize how harmful that is to everybody :/.

I suppose even if it WERE true (but it's not), I'd rather have some "spoiled" kids around than have humans believing they deserve to be hurt or hurt others.

 

[aliceneko]

"Actions speak louder than words" - I largely disagree with this but there is a lot of truth to it as well. As someone who was verbally bullied at both primary and secondary school, I'd argue that the reverse is true, too. I remember things people say to me more than their actions. I think it depends on the situation as well since in some cases, actions can speak louder, but I generally think words are more powerful.

 

[maggiedemi]

Good point. I can remember just about every time I've been insulted. So you're right, sometimes words speak louder.

 

[neely]

"The apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

I think people usually refer to this in a negative sense, i.e. blaming a particular trait on a parent and passed down to a child. However, it can also be used in a positive sense, i.e. if a parent has a special talent that a child possesses such as playing a musical instrument, being artistic or excelling in a particular subject at school.

 

[MonaLyssa33]

Mine is "Spare the rod, spoil the child".

My mom has said that spanking a child is disrespectful to the child. I was only spanked two times as a kid (once from my dad, once from my grandma) I clearly remember them because I felt so betrayed.

 

[Mia6]

Revenge is a Dessert Best Served Cold

I totally agree with this.

Although this isn't truly revenge it made me feel good. My husband was having
an affair and we eventually divorced. I found out about it but did not confront
his mistress when I first learned of it. I waited four months figuring she felt I
would not. I called her on the phone and told her what I thought of her using
every word in the book. Her husband never knew of the affair and I told her
never get too comfortable with him not knowing because I just may tell him.

After I made the call I felt great. It even came up in our counseling session.
Our therapist actually clapped when I told her about it and she asked my
husband if he knew I'd done it and he said yes with his head down.

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

this may be 'blurring the line' between a truism and a proverb or idiom......

you catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar.

i think this is generally true. basically, it's all in how you approach someone or how you do things. we may not always agree with others, but people are more...receptive to new ideas or other ways of doing things, if they're not feeling like they're needing to be defensive.

 

[Kieka]

It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.

When you really get down to it, we have very little control on anything or anyone outside of ourselves.