Karma? Is it and if so what is it?

[Shattered Soul]

I don't think that Karma just deals itself out over lifetimes. I've seen too many people get their comeuppance for something they've done in this one to believe that.

Of course, there are some that might rack up enough in the red to warrant getting bitch-slapped the next time they come around, but for the most part, I think we get what we deserve in this life, and start over clean in the next.

[Elspode]

Even if you don't believe in Karma/Do unto others in a cosmic, it-will-get-you-no-matter-what way, it is difficult to refute the notion that leading a sane and generous life pays some sort of rewards.

You say that rich people are insufferable fucks? Well, then, tell me again why you want to be rich? You say good guys finish last? Yeah, maybe, but they die with many friends.

I'll take being a poor nice guy any day over being a rich asshole.

[Troubleshooter]

Nope

There's no way to show a causal link. Just because a shit-bird gets audited doesn't mean it happened because he was a shit-bird.

[hot_pastrami]

My brain is tired today, and I am feeling just a wee bit inarticulate, so I'm sorry if I can't communicate my thoughts on this deep subject very effectively. And if it's brevity you're looking for, look elsewhere.

I believe that Karma is largely the product of human nature and society. Both tend to be self-correcting to a degree, and I think that's how karma manifests itself. Of course I have seen some things which lead me to believe that it may also be influenced by a cosmic force of some kind, because it is occasionally too poetic to be accidental. Maybe antimatter has something to do with it. Cough.

One of the mechanisms is conscience. If someone does something shitty, it will weigh on their conscience, and erode away at their personal happiness and comfort, and may indirectly impact their life (e.g. depression leading to eventual divorce). The worse the wrong-doing is, the heavier the weight, the deeper the depression, the greater the damage to the person's life. In contrast, if someone does good things for people, they will be happier, and it will have an indirect positive influence on their life.

There's also the direct consequences, the tit-for-tat rule. But that was mentioned already.

Society also has an impact. If I am an asshole, people will react negatively in a general way. People who I am in frequent contact with will react to the behavior by altering theirs similarly. This can have a cumulative effect... if I treat somebody like shit all the time, they may just ignore it most of the time, but one day it may surface as bitterness, anger, and/or hatred towards me. Third parties may also observe that I treat the person like shit, and alter their behavior, and/or make decisions that effect my life negatively (boss may fire me, people may tend to avoid me, etc). Naturally, the same cumulative effect applies to kindness.

I don't think that Karma is ever a perfect balance, because it's a side-effect of human behavior. I also think that sometimes Karma works backwards... if somebody robs a bank and gets away with it, maybe it's because they've been dirt-poor for years, and acted in desparation. They collected the Karma before they did the deed.

I know I'm not communicating my thoughts as well as I'd like. Oh well. I had to suffer through typing it, so I'll make you suffer through reading it. Maybe I'll get hit by a car on the way home.

[limey]

Originally posted by lumberjim
karma. It's what's for dinner.

I do believe in karma. But in a kind of different way. I think we magnetize ourselves to certain types of karma. I dont think there is a literal correlation, like do something bad, somthing bad will happen, but i do think if you feel you deserve bad things to happen, and you expect them, you're more likely to experience them. self fulfilling prophecy.

with a proud and honorable self image, and enough confidence to not beleive in karma, you exemplify the positive swing on that pendulum, whit. You attract positives with your energy. You see opportunities for positives, and are more likely to reach for them because of your confidence that they will work for you. A loser would see the hazards and not notice the opportunity; or if he did see it, try so timidly that the opportunity passes and they miss it or botch it.

use the force, whit.

I'm with lumberjim on this one. I believe that what goes around comes around because you largely make it yourself, out of your own attitudes and expectations.

limey

[Elspode]

Nothing is more inevitable or predictable than that which we bring upon ourselves...

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally posted by Elspode
Nothing is more inevitable or predictable than that which we bring upon ourselves...

And don't forget recurring.

[Griff]

I thought I should stop in and testify to Bruce's ongoing attempts to corner the market on good Karma. Your timing is impecable.

[Hasan21]

Karma is bad!!!!!!!!!!

[xoxoxoBruce]

Explain, please?