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<blockquote data-quote="Oofta" data-source="post: 9226262" data-attributes="member: 6801845">Not to get too deep in the weeds, but the reality that we know is just our perception of the world around us.&nbsp; Living things developed senses that helped them survive, they didn't necessarily develop an accurate understanding of the world around us.&nbsp; I would say that the keyboard I'm typing this on is solid, a physicist would tell you that it isn't solid, it's made of atoms and it feels solid because of the interaction of the atomic forces at play between the keyboard and the atoms in my fingers.In order to function, we create constructs, assign meaning and value to what we perceive and experience.&nbsp; Whether that a specific spectrum of light (or spectral range if you're being pedantic) being interpreted as blue, another as green and yet another in the ultraviolet range as something we don't even see even if many other animals do.&nbsp; So we assign meaning to good and evil as language constructs; there is of course no inherent meaning any more than there is inherent meaning to the color blue.&nbsp; We can better describe how light works because of it's physical properties but even our explanations break down a bit because of quantum weirdness, but that's another story.I think alignment is useful as a quick guideline that can be easily ignored.&nbsp; Is it &quot;real&quot;? No.&nbsp; Alignment is no more real than philosophical definitions based on utilitarianism, consequentialism, deontological ethical theories. Those other theories, of course have much more thought and rigor put into them.&nbsp; But alignment, concepts of good and evil in D&amp;D are vast oversimplifications of real world complexity much like hit points.The question for me is, can it be useful?&nbsp; I think it can.&nbsp; As the MM states &quot;... alignment provides a clue to its disposition and how it behaves in a roleplaying or combat situation.&quot;&nbsp; Is it the sole arbiter of behavior?&nbsp; Everything we need to know about a complex personality?&nbsp; A straight jacket that must be followed to the letter?&nbsp; No.&nbsp; It provides a clue to disposition.&nbsp; One descriptor of many. Same way that concepts of good and evil are fuzzy nebulous things that can still be useful descriptors.&nbsp; Just like the color blue.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Oofta, post: 9226262, member: 6801845"] Not to get too deep in the weeds, but the reality that we know is just our perception of the world around us. Living things developed senses that helped them survive, they didn't necessarily develop an accurate understanding of the world around us. I would say that the keyboard I'm typing this on is solid, a physicist would tell you that it isn't solid, it's made of atoms and it feels solid because of the interaction of the atomic forces at play between the keyboard and the atoms in my fingers. In order to function, we create constructs, assign meaning and value to what we perceive and experience. Whether that a specific spectrum of light (or spectral range if you're being pedantic) being interpreted as blue, another as green and yet another in the ultraviolet range as something we don't even see even if many other animals do. So we assign meaning to good and evil as language constructs; there is of course no inherent meaning any more than there is inherent meaning to the color blue. We can better describe how light works because of it's physical properties but even our explanations break down a bit because of quantum weirdness, but that's another story. I think alignment is useful as a quick guideline that can be easily ignored. Is it "real"? No. Alignment is no more real than philosophical definitions based on utilitarianism, consequentialism, deontological ethical theories. Those other theories, of course have much more thought and rigor put into them. But alignment, concepts of good and evil in D&D are vast oversimplifications of real world complexity much like hit points. The question for me is, can it be useful? I think it can. As the MM states "[I]... alignment provides a clue to its disposition and how it behaves in a roleplaying or combat situation.[/I]" Is it the sole arbiter of behavior? Everything we need to know about a complex personality? A straight jacket that must be followed to the letter? No. It provides a clue to disposition. One descriptor of many. Same way that concepts of good and evil are fuzzy nebulous things that can still be useful descriptors. Just like the color blue. [/QUOTE]

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