Duty or Compassion?

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How do you live your life? Do you do what you believe is your duty? Is your sense of justice defined by deep principles? Do you value mercy and compassion? Do you like to empathize with those who have suffered or have been in a difficult situation you recognize? Do you try to get along with others by being intensely aware of their values, beliefs, and feelings? Are you self-centered, preferring to know only what's best for you personally?

Most likely, you have some mixture of the characteristics of duty, empathy, and egocentrism; but most people are stronger in one than the others. In my relationships with others, a certain amount of common courtesy is important, but those are one-size-fits-all rules. I prefer a more flexible sense of compassion. Duty is not a word that rings loud in my heart. To say that I must cripple myself out of duty or high conscientiousness is tragic. I believe silliness, a good joke, and randomness have their place. A well-timed joke and a few kind words can do much more to lighten someone's day than being absolutely certain to follow all the rules of etiquette to the letter. In contrast, I am a fairly selfish individual in some ways; I am very self-indulgent; I like sweets, but I don't mind sharing them.

So how do you rank sense of duty (conscientiousness), sense of compassion (agreeableness), and self-indulgence (egocentrism) in your life?

healthy dollop of all three, i reckon, for me.

however, i prefer the word "responsibility" to "duty" - i'm a bit of a contrary mare, and don't like being told what i should or shouldn't do.

and i might replace "compassion" with "justice", as well, as i'm not sure i have a compassionate bone i my body.

self indulgence is absolutely correct, though. oh, or would i say "sybaritic", or even "hedonistic"?

oh, let's face it - i absolutely disagree with everything you've just said, neanthumain, unless i change all the words. except for "silly", cos that's no problem. unless i'd call it "ridiculous".

i think?

erm...

By trial and error, as well as attempting to learn from the mistakes of others.




I don't particulary value mercy and compassion. What happens, happens. I do value the rule of "tough but fair" very highly b/c it is (IMHO) how things ought to be. Do I empathize with others in simlar situations? Yes, but I don't know what to make of it most of the time.

Duty? I don't know what that is most of the time. But I do hold open doors for others and try to act politely when I can reconize the situation. One of my drives is to do right, whenever possible, even to the world's ending.



Self ingulgant? Hell, no. My parents are pretty cheap, but by their standards I am unbelievable in some respects. I used to transport my gym clothes in a plastic grocery bag until they gave me a cheap gym bag they got from the union. about 65% of my shirts came from school/area functions. I don't find much pleasure in many things, and to quote (loosely, I don't remember it exactly) my pastor friend;

"You don't chew(even gum!), chase girls, speed, swear, or do much else that is typically expected of your age group"

The three areas I get pleasure from are: Food (I get waaaay too much), Learning, and Building (design, actual construciton, etc). I do indulge greatly in all three.



I don't like sharing them, but after several incidents where people asked me for some and I told them to dance or do something really silly, that made me more unpopular, so I now normally oblige. What does tick me off is when my father eats food that I made specifically for myself. Arrghh! Me no share!

Both. I'm more ego-centric than anything, but I try not to offend most people. Some people are just asking to be made fun of, myself included.

Duty? I like to pretend their's no such thing.

I'd have to write a manifesto to explain my views on this.

I try to live by Socialist/Liberal values.

I have got it in for capitalism big time...........

I'd have to write a web log to explain [i]my[/] views on these and similar topics.

Oops! I did write a web log. It isn't a pretty sight though, so I wouldn't even go there if I were you.

No, no real compassion. Sure, I sometimes emit the correct responses when it is deemed expedient but like the rest of the human race, I am running extremely short on compassion.

Duty? No. I have found that the preaching of 'duty' is done to uphold a status quote that has served me dirty and although the alternatives are perhaps less than desirable, I have no reason to wish to preserve the status of those above me.

Empathy? I think I could relate to those who have had the same experiences as me, but I am not sure due to lack of empirical evidence. Should I ever meet someone that I can relate to; I'll let you know.

Sharing? No! I don't want something that belongs to someone else but as a corollary, I don't want to have what I have got snatched off me, either.

In my opinion, justice is not served without compassion. However, some personality tests like to force people to choose between justice and mercy. Justice stems from fundamental principles like "Murder is wrong, so murderers should be punished." There are those who would treate justice and the law as a completely objective thing, a science whose results are predetermined. This concept of justice is cold and comes to the mind as duty or responsibility to society—a moral compulsion. In personality factors, justice would be weighted on conscientiousness. On the other hand, compassion and mercy are more subjective, weighted more on agreeableness rather than conscientiousness. Compassion impels us to look beyond the immediate circumstances that led to a wrongful course of action and asks us to understand why someone would choose that action. How can they be brought back into a good life? It is what complicates trials because people feel for even the criminals (well, some of them).

One person may view an acquittal as an offense against justice because the defendant obviously committed the crime. They are not compelled to look for a why. They may call a person who values mercy weak, assuming they will free every criminal.

For me, a person who will call for a harsh penalty for someone who is "obviously guilty" and not even consider further factors like mental state and personal circumstances does not truly value justice as I know it.

Duty. Guilt, really, is a large factor in my life. Though I'd say I'm pretty self-centered in the fact that I want to do what I want to do with my life; it just so happens that it's in a nurturing profession. So it's a profession which requires emapthy which I'm choosing to do to fulfill my sense of duty and purpose. It's hard to pick which one, given the previous sentece, really dominates me.

i agree, neanthumain, which is why one might want to work as part of a team, rather than as an autocrat.

I tend to have a mixture of both and I go with whatever mood takes me at the time.