Overcoming personal defects

Philosophy Forums Philosophy
1

During my jehovah’s witness years, they really stressed on avoiding immorality and sin.
They said to keep trying, pray about it, and they re-stated rules and such at the gatherings.
This is much different than the orthadox catholic gatherings I seen. They just sing and burn candles.
It’s two different worlds. So, I’m not going to claim that ‘christianity’ is all about morals and values.
In some cases it is, in other cases it is not. There’s also a difference between the christian-ish groups in the USA compared to other countries.

This thread isn’t about christianity it’s about personal defects, but christianity is a big thing. It is also mainly about personal change and conformity to certain laws.

The justice system works for some people, but it’s kinda hollow compared to some christian groups.

The common public are not in full agreement over what is a defect and what is not a defect.
In an environment of loterent moral confusion, some defects become invisible.
Some sorts of men will go for their whole life making a certain kind of error and not realizing it.
How we realize it, I think we need to learn those skills while we are young.
Being able to be self-critical is the biggest step I ever seen, as far as I know.
There is the imbalanced version of this which is excessive guilt and shame, but in its balanced form, we face ourselves with clarity. There’s always room for improvement.

What’s your philosophy about personal defects, if you even think they exist?

2

In many ways the (more minor) defects in people’s characters are what make them individuals and interesting.The sister that gossips too much, the uncle that drinks too much…well it just wouldn’t be them if they lost their “defects”.

It would be a shame if any perfection that may arise after death involved the complete loss of those “defects”.

3

Generally defects don’t help you and what would replace them would be more unique and helpful, if not unique at least it would make life better. I expected some of the perfection is bad sin is good stuff, but I will choose to ignore it.

4

ok what?

If you don’t have them, you’ll have to create them to fit in.

5

My view of this dan, is more cosmic and personal at the same time. I used to be Catholic, and I guess, once a catholic always a catholic as the saying goes. You just stray, but the parable describing the prodigal son, upon whose return the father is overjoyed most, eclipsing the more worthy expectations of his jealous brothers, is an example of that.

You only stray. But you are welcomed back.

I don’t wish to personalize the issue, but suffice with, part of the reason my son took his life a few years back was partly due to church hypocrisy.

I feel guilty having exposed the church by publishing a book about it, but that guilt is mitigated by my son’s desire to publish it, it was his wish, and I co wrote it with him.

The church’s position on gays is unchanged, even though this pope signaled changes throughout his latin american tour. The vatican sent out a correction the very next day, downplaying the pope’s message.

In the church’s opinion being gay is a personality structural defect, and very much in contrast, to the opinions of the american psychiatric association, who de classified it as a mental illness years ago.

There seems to be a variance of views between various organizations, and the polarization will always exist, as long as there are a multitude of fundamental or conventional opinions.

So in a sense, overcoming personal defects may be a misnomer, since these are arbitrarily placed in a position of resultant changing opinions.

What a defect is: is highly problematic definitionally, even as regards to smoking, drinking, or other behavioral issues.

 I think the OP could better adress physical defects,the overcoming of which, is  quite literally an absolute, in terms of being able to rehabilitate one's self, by becoming more aware of one's limitations, and affording a community involvement which has more tolerance and assets to address those kinds of issues.
6

More to it than that, though. To Obe’s point, it might help you to be straight, but being gay isn’t a defect. I assume you agree, but more has to be said to make it clear. If you don’t agree, I’m all ears…

7

Moral confusion renders self-perfecting futile.
That doesn’t mean self-perfecting is impossible in some ways.
Not everything can be changed, but some things can.
We need to know how to drive a car. Same with defects. Gotta know what is truly a defect and what isn’t.

8

I’d like to think I have a few defects. That’s what makes me human. So if I am to strive towards perfection of any kind, it is to be more human, and if that includes having a few tolerable defects, then it would be a shame to get rid of those.

9

Among certain people, slight defects are even desirable attributes, as a matter of fact not having them would be considered defective.

In particulal, in personal and desirable attributes, women with slight imperfections are considered more appealing. For instance the ideally physically beautiful female face, would be more interesting with a well placed mole, or a sligt gape in the front teeth.

Perhaps to draw more attention by contrast. Like the wearing of a perfectly placed jewel, never overstated, and accomodating the color and texture of the skin which it overlays, placed next to a gaudy and inconsequential custom bauble, as an example of a perceived defect in taste, highlighting it"s opposite.

10

Were did the perfectionists go? I’m just getting humanism.

11

Yes, and it’s like the color black when added to a painting in just the right way–like adding shading. Black on its own is an ugly color, but when added to a painting in just the right way, it can make the whole more beautiful.

12
  1. as far as the difference between Catholicism and JW, the former is like some Eastern Religions, where the belief and participation is considered central. Even being angry at God or being a criminal are not obstacles to being one with God. The focus is on relationship.
  2. What is a defect one day may be realized to be a judged portion of the self that is not simply useful, but core to being yourself or a good person. You tell a kid he is a piece of shit, regularly and he gets no other messages, he will often create problems, maybe even live up to your expectations. So it is with parts of the self.

So I suppose I would heartily quibble with overcoming defects - defeating them. To do so just begs the question, and presumes the flaw is in the defect and not something more complicated involving the whole self.j Perhaps another verb for working with the issue…

13

The first force, I want, is now facing a challenge. Are we ever wrong? If so, when, why, how?
This is, in my eyes, the last step to true enlightenment. Perfection of the soul’s inner most desires. Understanding what is best and what is worst, and why.
In that platonic text I last skimmed through, mr ‘Socrates’ figured that the masses know little about the truest virtues.
Seeing the reaction to my thread makes me wonder just how morally refined people are.

14

One key in morals and values is the idea of too much, too little, and enough.
If you believe there is such a thing as enough, then maybe you may also believe that “imperfections” can reach a state where we have enough of them, we need no less and no more of them. I think that all of you refer to perfection as something allot like the borg’s society on star trek. Perfect = robot, imperfect = life/nature/human. I don’t see how flaws make you better. I was trying to talk about True-Defects, True-Flaws, and how to get free from them after identifying them. Maybe you’ve lost hope in all ‘moral truth’?

15

I do Think the Word perfection is problematic, that even with very good follow up explanations - as above with ‘enough’ flaws or imperfections - humans tend to torture themselves with the Word perfection, regardless of what they are told perfection really means. Or, to be more specific, the Words hurts people with less capital F flaws.

that said, my main Point was not that flaws make one better, but that getting rid of them is not a good approach.

I Think this fosters unnecessary splits. It is not that I want to just be content with being an asshole, in whatever way I am. But rather how I deal with patterns when I find them. Getting rid and overcoming seem very problematic to me. There is splitting and disidentification, which I Think is damage.

But it might be good, at least for my end of things, to get into specifics.

A specific exampel of a flaw and what it means to overcome it or get rid of it.

16

Morality and the self is a house of cards.
It doesn’t take much to send it crashing down.
But it is also the basis of will, and will never stops until we die.

17

Some of the responses here have been odd. Why do people get sentimental over personal flaws? That uncle who drinks too much - that’s only his attribute when you stunt him, when you caricature him, he should be encouraged to overcome his flaws. Yes, it’s human to have imperfections but it’s the better human who seeks to overcome them, to strive for something better.

18

That is kinda part of why I think to myself that everyone is a bit crazy, either in one way or another. There’s allot of crazy out there. So much that it is crazy not to think it’s there.

19

2op

Rasputin would sin purposefully so as to advance his mind. The contradictions and dichotomies of mind manifest from such actions, act kind of like a mental medieval rack or something ~ stretching the mind about making it more dexterous.

At the spiritual level I believe acting out of boundaries set by anything ~ culture, religion etc, challenges the spiritual world which responds! …indeed once through such a process we often find that those original morals are in fact wrong or inept. After all, every spiritual leader has changed the demographic landscape of the previous world and mindset.