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<blockquote data-quote="Mark Hope" data-source="post: 3132219" data-attributes="member: 27051">I agree in general.&nbsp; But the point remains that, based in fact or not, those are still opinions that people hold.&nbsp; And, as such, can be measured as inferior or superior.I would argue that I am a better person than a paedophile.&nbsp; There are people in the world who are objectively worse than others.&quot;Potential&quot; is a purely theoretical concept.&nbsp; Beyond the philosophical concept that everyone has the same potential, you cannot prove it in reality.&nbsp; It pleases you to believe that everyone has the same potential, but you cannot prove that it is so.You cannot measure &quot;all they might have&quot; done, nor can you assert that a person's potential exists as anything other than a product of your own opinion and beliefs.&nbsp; Such a thing exists only in a purely theoretical world - a world that we do not inhabit.&nbsp; It would be nice if we did, but we don't.Again, you assert that &quot;every act of kindness or compassion is a great act&quot;, but you cannot prove this in any real sense.&nbsp; It pleases you to believe this, nothing more.&nbsp; I understand that there is a prevailing fashion to believe that we are all equal, all have the same potential, and that small acts of kindness can be defined as great.&nbsp; But these are nothing more than conceits of the ego couched in prosaic language.&nbsp; You are welcome to believe such things, but you cannot state them as facts.&nbsp; If you wish them to be accepted as facts, you must prove such an assertion.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Mark Hope, post: 3132219, member: 27051"] I agree in general. But the point remains that, based in fact or not, those are still opinions that people hold. And, as such, can be measured as inferior or superior. I would argue that I am a better person than a paedophile. There are people in the world who are objectively worse than others. "Potential" is a purely theoretical concept. Beyond the philosophical concept that everyone has the same potential, you cannot prove it in reality. It pleases you to believe that everyone has the same potential, but you cannot prove that it is so. You cannot measure "all they might have" done, nor can you assert that a person's potential exists as anything other than a product of your own opinion and beliefs. Such a thing exists only in a purely theoretical world - a world that we do not inhabit. It would be nice if we did, but we don't. Again, you assert that "every act of kindness or compassion is a great act", but you cannot prove this in any real sense. It pleases you to believe this, nothing more. I understand that there is a prevailing fashion to believe that we are all equal, all have the same potential, and that small acts of kindness can be defined as great. But these are nothing more than conceits of the ego couched in prosaic language. You are welcome to believe such things, but you cannot state them as facts. If you wish them to be accepted as facts, you must prove such an assertion. [/QUOTE]

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