Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

I think it would only be fair to call it "Holy and Evil" instead of just "Good and Evil". Even if it were "Holy and Bad" ... it'd still be uneven. =p

"Ty" the Moddy, made me laugh a little when reading through the posts a bit.

Yep.

When sad, just punch whatever made you sad until you feel happy again.

Eh, I know that, I think I was just too lazy at the time to elaborate. And I'm becoming a rage junkie D: sure as hell beats being sad, though.

Perhaps, like alcohol, it can be enjoyed in moderation.

I am not capable of moderation on that particular drug.

Of course you operate under less cognitive ability. Rage is fueled primarily by only the hormones. We operate with less cognitive ability when elated as well. And when in pain. And when lusting. Etc...

But to suggest that rage is a negative when it's primary "purpose" so to speak is to fight off the threat and escape the threat... I think is incorrect understanding of it.

Again, it's one of the extremes of anger. The other option is simply annoyance. Repressed rage is negative.

Balance is always best, but rage, when appropriate is life saving and healthy - and thus, why I label it as "good" and not "bad".

Rage:
Sing, Goddess, Achilles' rage,
Black and murderous, that cost the Greeks
Incalculable pain, pitched countless souls
Of heroes into Hades' dark,
And left their bodies to rot as feasts
For dogs and birds, as Zeus' will was done.
Begin with the clash between Agamemnon--
The Greek Warlord-- and God-like Achilles.

opening lines of The Iliad, Homer

I don't know how many actual fights you've been in, maybe a lot. But from personal experience, having been in a great many, any time I was enraged I was operating under impaired cognition. As I've said, I am far more able to defend myself effectively when I do not give in to rage.

I guess if the choice is between rage and doing nothing, then rage is better.

but don't rage against pizza man!

;)

wait... you presume that "rage" = losing wits. It doesn't. Not really. Not in the way you imply.

While it is a primitive response, and fueled by a hormone rush... that it is impulse and not planned doesn't automatically mean a person under threat isn't benefited greatly. I use the example of a woman and attacker deliberately. Rage most certainly is a "fight back". and fighting back is paramount to survival in many situations.

I'd say the same if a man were under attack.

If you can't use "rage" as an argument against a crime of passion... then you can't state it is "losing wits" necessarily. That'd be my counter.

Probably you.

I ordered mine fifty minutes ago, and it still isn't here.

Someone will pay.

And if the pizza isn't here in 30 minutes, I'll kill your firstborn.

Who orders them in a berserker rage?

wait, who orders pizza nonchalantly?

"Terrifying and constipated?"

Yes.

"It allows a woman to fight off her attacker, for example."

I used to teach a rape prevention class. One important lesson we taught was, "don't lose your head."

You are much more likely to successfully defend yourself if you keep your wits.

I dunno. A kick to the nuts performed as nonchalantly as ordering a pizza would be more disheartening to a would-be attacker, I think.

Le regard, FTW!

Rage actually can be useful. Rage allows the fight and flight when in danger. It allows a person to handle threats. It allows a woman to fight off her attacker, for example.

I'd say that because rage is just one degree of anger, that there would be different perspectives on what constitutes whether it was healthy rage or not. It's relative in a lot of cases.

But rage can be healthy. Better than just being annoyed or frustrated or pissed off without any fire to burn the fear away.

Terrifying and constipated?

Can't I be both?

It's perfectly fine to be snooty about it. The probability of an event actually presenting where berserker rage is justified is minuscule in most walks of life, and in any case, there is a far greater probability of any given person misidentifying a given situation as requiring such rashness than there is of there actually being one.

FWIW, the cold, calculating thing terrifies people; I know this from experience. But only if you can pull it off. Some people try it and they end up just looking constipated.

You know, even then I'd prefer to stay cool and in control.

I can actually inflict a LOT more damage if I keep my wits about me. Of course, you have to be emotionally ok with inflicting great harm without hiding behind rage. Not all people are. Past experience has taught me that I am.

But I am probably a pious former addict. As a former rage addict who got off the juice, and whose life improved because of it, I am all snooty about it now.

That's always the trick: identifying situations in which it is properly indicated. Usually when in a target-rich environment after a heinous crime has been perpetrated against friend, family, or species.

I've never been in a situation like that.

I've BEEN in murderous berserker rages, but never one that helped anything.

Unless the circumstances dictate a murderous berserker rage.

I agree with everything but rage. Anger can be useful, rage almost never is.

Speaking as a former rage junkie.

"If you don't know pain and hurt and lust and rage and everything else, you can't appreciate what religion poises as 'good..."

Wait... how are those things "bad"?

Pain is life saving. It's a very specific function in order to save the brain so to speak. It's not a negative. (same could be said for hurt).

And since when was lust a bad thing? Lust drives us. (sometimes to sex). Rage can be healthy as well.

Perhaps I'm just trying to make the point that any moral code is derived from that oh so selfish brain of ours... I'd say whatever is "healthy" gets to be "good".

I used to think Buddhism was probably tolerable until they started with the terrorist nonsense.

Exactly. Because the only thing religion loves more than small children is circular logic.

"If you don't know pain and hurt and lust and rage and everything else, you can't appreciate what religion poises as 'good.'"

.. but that is what the OT poses as good.

There can't be 'good' without bad. You can't follow a 'path' that is 100% pure holy goodness. If you don't know pain and hurt and lust and rage and everything else, you can't appreciate what religion poises as 'good.' Idk, that kind of black/white, one-track mentality is unstable and generally, if not always, unapplicable in modern society. Jmo.