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Chaotic Good Is The Most Popular Alignment!
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<blockquote data-quote="Celebrim" data-source="post: 7783219" data-attributes="member: 4937"><p>Yeah, but people are not only really bad at evaluating their own alignment; they are really bad at evaluating the alignment of their friends and neighbors as well. Most people will identify as good people whom they like, and who are friendly. But a person who is amazingly friendly and cheerful and who makes you feel good and who is nice to you doesn't have to be good. </p><p></p><p>Fundamentally, your alignment is revealed by what you do in secret when you have to make a choice about what you believe and making the choice like what you say you believe is costly. Alignment is something that is only revealed by the testing. A person who is comfortable and reasonably wealthy does not reveal their alignment by being generous. A person who has nothing to lose doesn't reveal their alignment by telling the truth. A person who is poor doesn't reveal their virtue through their austerity. Most people will never know whether or not they are a thief until they don't have anything. Alignment isn't how you treat upstanding members of the community who can reward you with status, respect, and financial remuneration. Alignment isn't what you say you believe or what you do that gets you rewarded, it's what you do when you think you can get away with it. So the fact the neighbors respected the guy and thought he was a good person tells us nothing about his alignment. And real evil doesn't look like snarling villains. It looks like the person in the mirror. Above all, people assume goodness of people who are like themselves. It's the old monkey hind brain talking. </p><p></p><p>There is a line in Lord of the Rings, where Aragorn who looks like homeless ruffian is trying to win the trust of Frodo - an aristocratic hobbit. Frodo's servant is telling him that it's beneath him to have anything to do with a person like Aragorn, and Frodo has a gift of discernment and says that Aragorn "Seems foul, but feels fair" but a servant of the enemy would go out of his way to look fair, but would feel foul. Most people are not as wise as Frodo, and what seems fair feels fair to them.</p><p></p><p>Many good and wise stories teach this lesson - practically the complete works of Jane Austin, and of course The Good Samaritan come to mind.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>What I'm trying to get at is that the superficial aspects of a person like his charisma and his personality are not a person's alignment. Without knowing the person I couldn't say what they were really like, but there is a saying that you only see a real man when he's behind closed doors. And there is the old saying that if you want to do a good deed, make sure to do it in secret. Good deeds done before others don't cultivate a good heart.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Celebrim, post: 7783219, member: 4937"] Yeah, but people are not only really bad at evaluating their own alignment; they are really bad at evaluating the alignment of their friends and neighbors as well. Most people will identify as good people whom they like, and who are friendly. But a person who is amazingly friendly and cheerful and who makes you feel good and who is nice to you doesn't have to be good. Fundamentally, your alignment is revealed by what you do in secret when you have to make a choice about what you believe and making the choice like what you say you believe is costly. Alignment is something that is only revealed by the testing. A person who is comfortable and reasonably wealthy does not reveal their alignment by being generous. A person who has nothing to lose doesn't reveal their alignment by telling the truth. A person who is poor doesn't reveal their virtue through their austerity. Most people will never know whether or not they are a thief until they don't have anything. Alignment isn't how you treat upstanding members of the community who can reward you with status, respect, and financial remuneration. Alignment isn't what you say you believe or what you do that gets you rewarded, it's what you do when you think you can get away with it. So the fact the neighbors respected the guy and thought he was a good person tells us nothing about his alignment. And real evil doesn't look like snarling villains. It looks like the person in the mirror. Above all, people assume goodness of people who are like themselves. It's the old monkey hind brain talking. There is a line in Lord of the Rings, where Aragorn who looks like homeless ruffian is trying to win the trust of Frodo - an aristocratic hobbit. Frodo's servant is telling him that it's beneath him to have anything to do with a person like Aragorn, and Frodo has a gift of discernment and says that Aragorn "Seems foul, but feels fair" but a servant of the enemy would go out of his way to look fair, but would feel foul. Most people are not as wise as Frodo, and what seems fair feels fair to them. Many good and wise stories teach this lesson - practically the complete works of Jane Austin, and of course The Good Samaritan come to mind. What I'm trying to get at is that the superficial aspects of a person like his charisma and his personality are not a person's alignment. Without knowing the person I couldn't say what they were really like, but there is a saying that you only see a real man when he's behind closed doors. And there is the old saying that if you want to do a good deed, make sure to do it in secret. Good deeds done before others don't cultivate a good heart. [/QUOTE]
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