Evil

[achocolyptic]

Did the Nazis think they were evil?

Yes, I'm pretty sure they did.

Sources for this, please?

 

[OldTimeRadio]

It's hard to read Heinrich Himmler's speech to the Wansee SS Conference in October (?), 1942, without the feeling that one's come up against genuine Evil.

And the equal feeling that this man had at some point asked "Evil, be thou my good," and that Evil had answered in the affirmative.

 

[OldTimeRadio]

Sources for this, please?

No specific source - rather more than 40 years of reading both Bolshevik and Nazi history and philosophy - especially the anti-Christian pseudo-paganism expoused by Heinrich Himmler and his SS.

 

[OldTimeRadio]

If you have no sensory input at all can you still 'feel' fear?

Don't know why I never commented on this earlier.

While I'm not certain about "NO sensory imput," I don't think anyone not in that condition CAN be, deaf-blind people such as Helen Keller surely experience the same range of emotions that the rest of us do. That would obviously include fear.

 

[Dingo667]

OK, here comes the Neuroscientist.
Yes you could still feel fear without any snesory imput, as fear is an emotion and hence regulated by hormones and neurotransmitters, which can still be released even if you couldn't feel, see etc. Some people with irrational fears [including myself before medication] have fears without any threat and have to come up with a logical reason as to why they feel fear. This can then lead to all sorts, from hypochondria to stupid phobias as those things gat the "blame" for the suddenly occuring fear. This then leads to being scared that whatever people thought "caused" the fear in the first place will do so again [and hey it does - due to self conditioning]. If a psychologist gets rid of the phobia you are ok [this is only in people who had an irrational fear once or twice and not to be mixed up with people who are born with chemical imbalances and can soon come up with another phobia to "explain" their never decreasing fearfulness. Those are only helped by lifelong medication or maybe hypnotherapy in order to cope with an attack].

 

[Semyaz]

Isn't the release of hormones/chemicals/neurotransmitters a reaction or response to a cognitive trigger or stimuli... perhaps experienced early on in the cognitive developmental period, which becomes ingrained into the psyche/ mental processes, causing or resulting in the individual being conditioned to a react in a specific way (i.e. physiological and emotional responses interpretted as a fear response) when experiencing the same stimuli later in life??

And i personally feel that the most common phobias, while unnecessary in modern life, aren't irrational, because at some point in evolutionary history a fear of the things that are most commonly the cause or focus of phobias were things to be cautious and wary of...

However, chemical imbalances would account for some of the more extreme and bizarre phobias, like a fear of buses, for example

Sorry for rambling on, ive probably just repeated whats already been said... if so, sorry!!

PS Dingo, wouldnt people with chemical imbalances (and attribute the never decreasing fear to phobias) be afraid of a broader range of things, and not just a specific stimulus??

 

[OldTimeRadio]

.....wouldnt people with chemical imbalances (and attribute the never decreasing fear to phobias) be afraid of a broader range of things, and not just a specific stimulus??

I've met a fair number of individuals who are phobic about elevators OR dogs OR cemeteries OR mirrors, but of nothing else.

 

[Lizard King]

I have heard a strange tale which I wonder is a case of mental illness or something supernatural. I wonder if evil can be a force.

 

[Jim]

Very hard call since it involves consciousness and subconsciousness, area's still not fully understood. Is it chemistry, hereditary, learned behavior, etc. Or can it be in certain rare cases an essence of something beyond our current understanding.
They analyze the crap out of say Hitler: abusive childhood, psychopath "no regard or appreciation of others", megalomania, etc.
Consider however he swayed 10 of millions towards unparalleled hysteria, itself unique to history and persuaded them to fight to the death in a racially motivated war. He initiated a war where ~ 25 million were murdered and ~ 60 million died. Evil well maybe.

 

[Lizard King]

Very hard call since it involves our consciousness and subconsciousness. Is it chemistry, hereditary, learned behavior,etc. Or can it in some rare cases be an essence of something yet beyond our current understanding. They analyze the crap out of say Hitler: abusive childhood, psychopath "little -no regard or possible appreciation of others", megalomania, etc.
Consider however he swayed 10 of millions to a virtual unparalleled hysteria itself unique to history. He iniated a war where ~ 25 million were murdered and ~ 60 million died. Most of this deaths occurred between 1942 to 1945, unparalleled. Well analysis paralysis seems like evil?

What he managed to do was a astonishing feat.Can one man's ideology carry such weight without something more?