Is there any single thing everybody on the entire planet agrees on?
Asked by
simone54 (
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November 12th, 2010
There has got to be something, right?
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34 Answers
I can’t imagine that there is a single universal sentiment. Even the things that seem most obviously desirable or abhorred are certain to draw an opposing view from somebody.
Coleridge’s Ancient Mariner thought everyone would agree to embrace sleep:
O sleep, it is a gentle thing
Belov’d from pole to pole!
But I’ll bet it has its opponents.
Clean water is a necessity.
The fact that there is pretty much nothing we all agree on. :)
The other guy is the idiot.
You’re fucked without oxygen.
We are born and then we die.
There is what I call the Universal Truth theory. Like it’s real simple. A is you, B is everything else, and C is the result of A on B. Being able to see the result of your actions is key to life. One other way to do this, is by collecting Universal Truths, like it’s real simple, if I was to go anywhere in the world, and slap some random person, I would pretty much get the same result. Now think of it in saner terms. Whether or not I will get out of bed in the morning tomorrow, is less true than the sun will rise. I call that, the Onion of Truth, things are true in degrees, some things are more true than others. Like simple things, simple basic human nature things. Like we all need food, clothing is nice, and shelter helps a lot. Generally people that go to college are more successful, that’s a universal truth. Now dont be like all, that’s not always true. Beware people who do that, try to make the minority appear to be the majority, thats another universal truth. Eventually, you’ll see how they all connect, and how, who needs faith when there is enough fact to go around. Intent isnt worth shit when the result of your action is something you didnt want. People are going to pick on me for this. There are a lot of people dumber than me on this site, ahh, another truth. Though I’m sorry I said it. I apologize.
What else, but…...................
“The Love of Money”.
Its universal.
Not being hungry feels good. Humans and animals share it and I imagine plants do too.
Some days are better than others.
Google research on morals and ethics as well as archetypes. There are not only universally agreed upon values, morals and ethics that we agree upon as humans which then only become complicated by context, but there are universal archetypes that found the underpinnings of the stories we tell throughout history.
@Joybird But you’re talking about cultures, not individuals. There are plenty of people who don’t agree to those universal values, morals, and ethics.
@nicobanks No, I’m talking about individuals around the world. The archetypes and the basic set of values/morals are the same. Do the research on it. Time magazine had a very indepth article sometime last year full of reseach citings. And I have access to book after book on the same regarding archetypes. There are universals which appear in every culture around the world.
@Joybird Yes, “universals which appear in every culture.” The daily news, or even the simple fact of jails, demonstrates that not every individual agrees with these values/morals.
We can all agree that we are people.
@OwlofHappiness What about white supremacists? Some of them do not believe that individuals of certain races are “people.”
@john65pennington What about nuns? There are many people who give up money and live “outside” society – usually because of religious convictions.
@nicobanks True, but I think people like that more think they are just better, not that minorities are not people. (How should I know, though.) Anyway, I was more implying that we can agree that we are people, the species, as opposed to chimpanzees, elephants, or aliens.
@OwlofHappiness “I was more implying that we can agree that we are people, the species…” Ahh, right. I was thinking of it as a moral category. (But, trust me, there are some out there who do not classify others as ‘people,’ the moral category, meaning deserving of human rights. Crazies, sure, but crazies do exist.)
@nicobanks I do agree with you there. There are crazy people out there.
@mattbrowne, I wouldn’t put ten bucks on a bet like that. Hell, I wouldn’t even bet ten cents.
Very nice, @mattbrowne. And of course there is always the segment that takes the view that the sun does not “rise” at all.
Beyond those, we have the ignorant.
I am reminded of a session in the dentist’s chair late one November afternoon. As she began to work, the young hygienist remarked to me, “Getting dark early.”
I replied conversationally “Yes, it’s that time of year—always hard to wait until December 21st.” She asked me what I meant. And I answered, assuming that I was merely reminding her of things she already knew, “Well, you know, we’re heading for the winter solstice, and after that the days get longer—until June 21st, that is. Then the cycle starts again.” Something to that effect.
There was a long, meditative pause while she poked or scraped or whatever she was doing. And then she said, “Wow, you really pay a lot of attention to the weather.”
You see? All it takes is one of those and you lose your bet. And out of nearly 7 billion, you know there’s going to be one. @simone54, take note.
@JilltheTooth, what makes that story really funny is that just about a year later we had exactlly the same conversation all over again. That’s when I understood that I was not going to succeed in educating her on The Earth and Its Seasons. I promised myself not to take the bait a third time.
The following year, I just said, “Yes, it is.”
@Jeruba Perhaps she’d been getting a little too cozy with the nitrous?
@papayalily, for several reasons, I suspect she is simply one of those young people who thought that general education didn’t have anything to do with their lives.
@Jeruba That goes way beyond not caring about multiplying polynomials or dissecting Jane Eyer. That is actually spending time digging so your head can be further in the sand.
Everyone can agree that this is a great question.
@mattbrowne, I believe most of her school years were spent not in the U.S. but in Vietnam.
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