Outsourcing Morality
Start writing a post
Politics

Outsourcing Morality

Fourth-grade bullies don't care what Jessica Chastain is putting on her Instagram.

2047
Outsourcing Morality
Wikimedia Commons

I sometimes (often) wonder if the need for society as a whole to believe bad things are fixable comes from a desire to believe that we are almost totally good, despite the preponderance of evidence. I’m good at not making up my mind, so know that when you read this that it is coming from someone genuinely mulling the ideas over, not someone disguising his worldview as musings. It is just that some of the popular attempts to fix society’s problems seem so irrational that I can’t imagine people are actually convinced of them. I think that they have cause to want to believe in them, regardless of whether they’re valid.

When I talk about attempts to fix society’s problems, I am talking about movements to “end bullying,” or to “raise suicide awareness.” Repeat those things to yourself and tell me you don’t think they at least sound silly. The idea of “ending bullying” to me seems outright absurd: fourth-grade bullies do not care what Jessica Chastain is putting on her Instagram.

I think people like to make a straw man so they can fight it, and that the more people you have, the easier that straw man is to make. Maybe it is because of the sheer amount of people who jump on board to fight that people do not stop to think about whether what they’re fighting is real. “Suicide awareness” is a prime example. The idea that raising awareness will stop suicide, like cancer, is something that we could stop with the proper amount of funding and research, is ridiculous.

According to healthline.com, "About 90 percent of people who commit suicide have a mental illness at the time of their death. Depression is the top risk factor…” Simply, this means that most suicide is because of depression and that most depression is a mental illness. While not denying that depression can be a mental illness, I’ll suggest what I think most people know to be true intuitively: it’s not exclusively a mental illness. Other, less reductive ways to think about this problem exist, and are far more unpalatable. You have to be willing to consider that while someone’s reasoning for killing themselves might not be sound, it also might not be invalid.

I am not saying that people who are killing themselves should be killing themselves, but that suicide is obviously not only some glitch in the human brain. Through one of his characters, Dostoevsky meditated on how killing oneself was the only way to become God, which was not an idea that existed just in fiction; Albert Camus had to work hard to convince himself that suicide was not the logical response to life. Many disagree with him, and not on emotional grounds, but logical ones. Tolstoy said that for years, after seeing life was meaningless, the only reason he didn’t kill himself was because of his fear of the pain; he said he only lived because he was a coward.

I am by no means an expert on the issue but based on all this, and based on my own experience of depression, the idea that depressed and suicidal people are simply not working correctly doesn’t seem right. At the very least, the idea that there is a one-size-fits-all explanation is absurd. And while I know no thoughtful person really thinks there is such a simple explanation, “mental illness” is the only way I hear it explained.

With suicide as an example, it is obvious to me that people like taking real, profound issues and reducing them to their most palatable explanation.

I don’t know if this trend in the world is a new one or an old one, but it concerns me. It indicates a desire to believe that any evils that occur in life are aberrations, not inherent parts of it. This would be a fine belief if it were a true one, but I don’t think it is. I think that tragedy and evil are constituent parts of life, and I think this is confirmed by the fact that the attempt to treat them as anything else — the attempt to treat them as mental issues or misinformation — always ends up distorting them.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
Student Life

Waitlisted for a College Class? Here's What to Do!

Dealing with the inevitable realities of college life.

57661
college students waiting in a long line in the hallway
StableDiffusion

Course registration at college can be a big hassle and is almost never talked about. Classes you want to take fill up before you get a chance to register. You might change your mind about a class you want to take and must struggle to find another class to fit in the same time period. You also have to make sure no classes clash by time. Like I said, it's a big hassle.

This semester, I was waitlisted for two classes. Most people in this situation, especially first years, freak out because they don't know what to do. Here is what you should do when this happens.

Keep Reading...Show less
a man and a woman sitting on the beach in front of the sunset

Whether you met your new love interest online, through mutual friends, or another way entirely, you'll definitely want to know what you're getting into. I mean, really, what's the point in entering a relationship with someone if you don't know whether or not you're compatible on a very basic level?

Consider these 21 questions to ask in the talking stage when getting to know that new guy or girl you just started talking to:

Keep Reading...Show less
Lifestyle

Challah vs. Easter Bread: A Delicious Dilemma

Is there really such a difference in Challah bread or Easter Bread?

37162
loaves of challah and easter bread stacked up aside each other, an abundance of food in baskets
StableDiffusion

Ever since I could remember, it was a treat to receive Easter Bread made by my grandmother. We would only have it once a year and the wait was excruciating. Now that my grandmother has gotten older, she has stopped baking a lot of her recipes that require a lot of hand usage--her traditional Italian baking means no machines. So for the past few years, I have missed enjoying my Easter Bread.

Keep Reading...Show less
Adulting

Unlocking Lake People's Secrets: 15 Must-Knows!

There's no other place you'd rather be in the summer.

958874
Group of joyful friends sitting in a boat
Haley Harvey

The people that spend their summers at the lake are a unique group of people.

Whether you grew up going to the lake, have only recently started going, or have only been once or twice, you know it takes a certain kind of person to be a lake person. To the long-time lake people, the lake holds a special place in your heart, no matter how dirty the water may look.

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

Top 10 Reasons My School Rocks!

Why I Chose a Small School Over a Big University.

191702
man in black long sleeve shirt and black pants walking on white concrete pathway

I was asked so many times why I wanted to go to a small school when a big university is so much better. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure a big university is great but I absolutely love going to a small school. I know that I miss out on big sporting events and having people actually know where it is. I can't even count how many times I've been asked where it is and I know they won't know so I just say "somewhere in the middle of Wisconsin." But, I get to know most people at my school and I know my professors very well. Not to mention, being able to walk to the other side of campus in 5 minutes at a casual walking pace. I am so happy I made the decision to go to school where I did. I love my school and these are just a few reasons why.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments