What do you think it is? Im not looking for 'the' answer, just your answer. What do you think causes humanity the greatest amount of suffering/pain/etc. Ill post mine later, Im still kinda on the fence.

I guess greed, if you can count that. But greed is pretty much synonymous with evil...

Mans greatest evil? Easy, Barney the dinosaur.

Sorry, sorry, Ill be serious...

There are so many evils, I would have to say meth is mankinds greatest evil.

You know now that I think about it Id have to put seriousness up around the top of the list, which now numbers 2.

Desire for what is "forbidden".

Greed is also one of the best motivations which has resulted in innumerable good things.

People and their motivations are too complex to sum up the greatest evil they are capable of into simplistic terms.

Not really. It's allowed for lots of things that some people think are good, but...eh.

Thats gross oversimplification, thats fallacy of the single cause. That might be the case in a work of fiction but you might be reading too much of it if you think that is the case in real life. Correlation does not equal causation, etc.

Don't be silly. No shit the "greatest" anything isn't cut and dried. It's a topic asking for your opinion on what's super bad.

I couldn't say, like MWNN said they can be a double edged sword like good consequences can come from greed like technological advances and innovations produced by a corporation to get ahead of its competition with medical advancements, etc. Greed can be as simple as someone being thrifty. I just can't make a big sweeping generalization about one and say that its the worst.

Haha, greed is the greatest evil? Wow, I bet you'd signed the Equalization of Opportunity Bill if you had the chance *read Atlas Shrugged to understand what I'm saying. It will also open your eyes to how hilariously silly your statement was*

Man's greatest evil is a man without a purpose.

How is it greedy to not waste money?

Anyway, just because something bad can have good side effects that doesn't mean it's good. Greed's at the root of almost every manmade problem in the world.


Eh, everybody I know who's read that book says it's garbage. I might look at it sometime, but not anytime soon. If you want you can try to show me why my statement was hilariously silly, though.

That book is garbage as are most of the ideas of Ayn Rand.

Atlas Shrugged is highly regarded as one of the greatest books of all-time. The fact people like you don't like the book is the reason why I love it so much.

By who? The Ludwig von Mises Institute? Lew Rockwell?

I was under the impression it was generally considered an inferior work to The Fountainhead anyways.

Heh, no kidding.

By many. The book itself has practically a cult-like devotion from a lot of its fans. I'm not as "in love" with it as people like Ronald Reagon, Alan Greenspan, or Angelina Jolie (who said this book is the reason she is doing all that shit in Africa---she is also going to play the Dagny in the upcoming AS movie), but it definitely did cause me to take look at the world a different way when I read it years ago.

As for Fountainhead. I also loved that book, but the story wasn't as epic as the one in Atlas Shrugged.

I'm still waiting for a 5 page rant on why the greatest evil is religion. >_>

But in my opinion, "evil" is an ethical adjective used to describe someone's intent. No object or emotion in itself can be "evil", evil (to me, at least) is used when describing intent, and even that's debatable.

In short, I want to say evil doesn't exists, but I do believe there are rare occasions of pure malice that would qualify.

The first thing that comes to mind is the Holocaust. I attribute that evil mainly to the people who started the mindset such as Adolf Hitler.

Well yeah evil is whatever we decide to call evil (imo). If you're a religious man, evil would be whatever opposes your faith (probably), etc.

Which is why I was asking the question in the first place, I was curious what the greatest evil was to you.

I think the penis is the greatest evil

men thinking with their penis, more specifically

Congratulations mr president, you won the election!

'..do I... do I govern with my penis?'

am I...am I suppose to draw the penis?

yeah thats what i was referring to, i was looking for the picture but couldnt find it.

If thats your measuring stick for great literature, then the little red book is the greatest work of literature in the world. Ayn Rand is a mediocre author and objectivism is a joke that is completely ignored in the world of academia for good reason and the philosophy hase more in common with cult like thinking than with actual philosphy. I've never heard anywhere in the talk of great American authors so I have no idea where you would even get that bullshit from, unless it was from the actual Ayn Rand institute itself which wouldn't be a surprise.

I'm simply giving minor and specific examples of people who found the book to be influential (more than you can provide) and just because you think the book is lame doesn't mean I should hold your opinion as my own. Again, it's because people like you don't like the book is the reason I don't like it. Haha, why do I need to measure someone's opinion of the book anyway? Run along, kid. We're trying to have a real discussion.

so, you're just basically basing your appreciation of the book and its ideas based on what movie stars think and to spite people who don't like it? and you're the one who's calling me a kid?

Reagan and Alan Greenspan are movie stars too?

I just found this gem on youtube- http://youtube.com/watch?v=MjwuGHPilwI

Great video.

The fact we're (and thousands of others to this day) discussing this book right now after is was written decades ago should hint that there's something to this book. But proceed as you wish. To anyone else reading this, I'd suggest reading Atlas Shrugged. If nothing else, expect an interesting story about a man who's sick of how the government is run and creates his own "Atlantis".

Great, you're a paultard too. Who cares what Greenspan thinks, hes a big reason why we are where we are with the economy with the credit and housing bubble. He was a deficit spender which most objectivist would turn their noses up at.

Reagan was a pragmatist, not an objectivist, I highly doubt he really cared about the book. He didn't give two shits about half the stuff he supposedly supported. For example while he supported the religious right at the time, he did absolutely nothing for them, he just paid them lip service and they voted for him.

Ayn Rand's mediocre writing doesn't compare to some of my favorites like Melville, Kafka, and Conrad. I think I will skip Atlas Shrugged which basically sounds like an aggrandized Horatio Alger novel.

If you liked Atlas Shrugged you'd probably like Bioshock, it's basically a direct rip-off, even has a guy named Atlas in it. Its actually more like a counter-point to the ideas in the book but anyway.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001654/


Man's greatest evil? I'll go with the Greeks and say pride.

na, yer all fuhqn wrong, mans greatist evil is....*drum roll*......da da duhhhh......SpicyChickenTaco!

gawd damn im good!

And I'd probably say ignorance.

Nothing to contribute to this other than that Reagan was a movie star...

Yeah, I remember loling when he said Reagan's name in there.


Hell, Reagan was a senile fucking retard as president anyway. I'd be more inclined to agree with the average movie star than with him on most issues.