• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

Can a Person be "better" than Others?

Can a person be better than others?


  • Total voters
    29

Wake

Banned
DP Veteran
Joined
Oct 31, 2010
Messages
18,536
Reaction score
2,438
Gender
Male
Political Leaning
Undisclosed
This is more or less a philosophical poll.

Can people be "better" than others? What is better? Better in general? Superior in general? Or only better/superior in select aspects?

I have heard people say they are better than others. I see people with immense IQs, memory, or physique. Some have great discipline and rigidity. Others seek wisdom or endurance. Are there those who are superior in general!

I ask because I observe society. I watch them.

There are many in our society who are proud. So proud. Privileged wealthy people. The upper crust echelons. The typical white tea partier who makes around $250,000 or more. The socialite. The wealthy businessman. The arrogant jock. The know-it-all student. Lawyers, doctors, etc. Actors, media stars, etc. The list goes on and on.

Such proud, vain people they are.

I think no one is "better" than others. Before you concur, I wonder what kind of person you are, and life you lead. Somewhere deep inside, you probably think you're better than others. You argue intensely to "win" and persuade the masses. Because you think you're better...

You never been proud?

What do you think?
 
Last edited:
Each person has his/her own path. "Better" is a relative term. Every person is a master of at least one lesson that we might learn. Often the lesson we must learn is uncomfortable and often we choose not to learn it and as a part of doing so we despise the master. We too are masters, often unknowingly, of lessons.
 
I think it is certainly possible to be better (or worse) than most in certain respects. I think there are very rare cases of people who are over-all better or worse people than most over-all. But I'd put that on a very steep bell curve. I think it's a pretty rare thing. The reason why I think it's rare can be explained by how I see myself.

I do think there are areas where I am considerably better than the general population. However, I pay for that by having other areas where I'm considerably worse. I see this in most people who are well above average in some respect - they tend to be unbalanced people.

It's as though there is some sort of standard of over-all ability and goodness that is common to nearly all people. They comply to it by either being rather average at most things, or by being exceptionally good at some and exceptionally bad at others. But I don't see too many people who are exceptionally good or exceptionally bad over-all.
 
Last edited:
Definitely, an individual can be "better" than another. That difference may be impossible to quantify, however.
 
I honestly think there are degrees of sentience or self awareness. I think everyone here would agree that babies aren't self aware in the same way that adults are. As you get older, you become more self aware, but some people never progress past a certain point. These people are the blind followers who never really make any important choices for themselves. Their path in life is entirely defined by other people. I would say that self awareness is a good way to define "better."
 
You never been proud?

What do you think?

Overall then no. You can be better looking than someone, better at doing something than someone else, more resistant to something than someone else or be more talented than someone else. But that doesn't mean that person overall is better than someone.
 
Thinking oneself better than others is unattractive in a friend... but deadly dangerous when those who think themselves elite rule a nation:


Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.
C. S. Lewis
English essayist & juvenile novelist (1898 - 1963)
 
This is more or less a philosophical poll.

Can people be "better" than others? What is better? Better in general? Superior in general? Or only better/superior in select aspects?

I have heard people say they are better than others. I see people with immense IQs, memory, or physique. Some have great discipline and rigidity. Others seek wisdom or endurance. Are there those who are superior in general!

I ask because I observe society. I watch them.

There are many in our society who are proud. So proud. Privileged wealthy people. The upper crust echelons. The typical white tea partier who makes around $250,000 or more. The socialite. The wealthy businessman. The arrogant jock. The know-it-all student. Lawyers, doctors, etc. Actors, media stars, etc. The list goes on and on.

Such proud, vain people they are.

I think no one is "better" than others. Before you concur, I wonder what kind of person you are, and life you lead. Somewhere deep inside, you probably think you're better than others. You argue intensely to "win" and persuade the masses. Because you think you're better...

You never been proud?

What do you think?

Being supior is entirely dependent on the subject and who you are going against. As the quote says..."There is always someone better around the corner".
 
Each person has his/her own path. "Better" is a relative term. Every person is a master of at least one lesson that we might learn. Often the lesson we must learn is uncomfortable and often we choose not to learn it and as a part of doing so we despise the master. We too are masters, often unknowingly, of lessons.

it depends on each individuals opinion on what makes people "better", everyone weighs things differently in value, making the definition of "better" different to everyone.
 
It is one thing to say this person is a better runner that than person or this person is a better carpenter than that person. This is so obvious and trivial that it cannot possibly be what the poll is in reference to.

The question seems to be purposely vague, one of the responses is "what do you mean by better?"

But the thrust of the poll seems to be "Can the life of one person be worth more than the life of another?" If that is the question, the answer is an emphatic "No."

All people are equally worthy, and thus in the moral sense no person is better than another.
 
Last edited:
I try to respect others, I live a healthy lifestyle, I am a better athlete than most and have a good education. I try to live by a set of morals by which I respect the law and the rights of others... I do feel like I am better than people who do not do these things, but I also know that there are people who do many (or even all) of these things better than I do...
 
Well "better" is an opinon. And depends on how you define "better"
 
I would say that it is possible, but, as another person said, it would also be rare.

I am going to say though that there could be cases where I would consider one person's life more important than another person's life. For instance, my children and husband are very important to me, they would take precedence over a lot of other people's lives, in many situations. That may be selfish, but I'm pretty sure that it is still how I would act.

But even beyond family, if I knew 2 people who were about to die and I could only save one of them, and I knew them well enough to know that one was a greedy ass whose main purpose in life was to get rich while the other worked hard to just take care of her/him-self and their family and was always generous and helpful, I doubt very much that I would hesitate in saving the 2nd person. But that would still be a personal judgment for me and I am pretty certain that there are other people who would have the opposite answer.
 
It very much depends on what criteria you are using to define 'better'. If I could pick and chose criteria, I could probably come up with at least one way in which any person on the planet is better than any other.
 
This is more or less a philosophical poll.

Can people be "better" than others? What is better? Better in general? Superior in general? Or only better/superior in select aspects?

I have heard people say they are better than others. I see people with immense IQs, memory, or physique. Some have great discipline and rigidity. Others seek wisdom or endurance. Are there those who are superior in general!

I ask because I observe society. I watch them.

There are many in our society who are proud. So proud. Privileged wealthy people. The upper crust echelons. The typical white tea partier who makes around $250,000 or more. The socialite. The wealthy businessman. The arrogant jock. The know-it-all student. Lawyers, doctors, etc. Actors, media stars, etc. The list goes on and on.

Such proud, vain people they are.

I think no one is "better" than others. Before you concur, I wonder what kind of person you are, and life you lead. Somewhere deep inside, you probably think you're better than others. You argue intensely to "win" and persuade the masses. Because you think you're better...

You never been proud?

What do you think?

I certainly think we all have our own unique talents and that some are better at certain things than others. However, in terms of where we stand in society, spiritually, and under the law, we are all the same (unless we are a criminal).
 
Absolutely some people are better than others. There are massive differences in human talent, in motivation, in behavior. Arguing that welfare queens and convicted felons are truly equivalent in worth to entrepreneurs and philanthropists is to make a mockery of the term; it is to deny reality.
 
People do good things and bad things, but there are no good people or bad people. You may think that I'm splitting hairs, but it's wrong to judge others, and we shouldn't judge behavior too harshly either.
 
I can't say that someone who is wealthy is better than say. a poor person. How good or bad a person is come from inside not your worldly goods or your academic or career accomplishments.

What makes a person good or not is about one treats others. If you live by the golden rule and don't lie cheat or steal you are better than some conniving SOB who never does anything for anyone but them self.

A Christian is not necessarily better than someone who is not, because ir's all about what you do not what you believe.
 
How do you judge a person's worth? By their wealth? By their accomplishments? By their education or intellectual achievements?

All of these things do matter, to some degree, but the true measure of a person's worth is in their character. A man with three Ph.D's who treats his fellow man with contempt and spite is of less worth in my eyes, than a road-crew worker who helps a stranded motorist and neither asks for a dime in return, nor trumpets about his charity to his friends.
 
On an individual basis, there are those that can perform certain activities much better than others. Much like a violinist can make beautiful music others aren't even able to play a harmonica. Which makes the violinist better. Or a surgeon with hands that quickly, but carefully perform a mending job, as opposed to someone who does not have a clue as to where to begin. That surgeon is better. I do think there are those that are much better people, from a moral standpoint than many others. All I know is that Mother Theresa was a much more saintly person than I could ever be. In that respect, she was much better than I.
 
All men (& women) are created equal. We are also equal at the time of death. What happens in-between is just fluff. So no, I am not better than others and there are no others who are better than I.
 
Yet there are legions of proud and arrogant people across the world...

Especially those who higher-middle class and beyond.

Perhaps, in a way, communism, which punishes such greed and pride, is a good thing?
 
Back
Top Bottom