What is the most overrated virtue?

Sandie33 said:
It really depends on the individual I think. Most of the people I've worked with had hardships in their native country that they wanted to sever the connection permanantly.

However, one woman med student comes back to mind. Chloe we'll call her. Came to the US through her villiage and government funding to study here in the States and then go back to practice medicine in her villiage. While here she decided she'd like dual citizenship so that it would be easier for her to return for more schooling. In doing so she picked the US as her resident country which made her elgible for financial aid. The last I was in contact with her though she'd been doing her "internship" in her villiage.
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Understandable. And its good she could do some good for back home. Its easy to forget whilst the US has its own healthcare problems at least a good chunk of the population ca get aid when they need it, even if it does bankrupt them, as opposed to not having the knowledge or facilities at all.
 
BritNi said:
Would virginity fall under the modesty virtue, you think?
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I think the essence of virginity in the Bible speaks of purity and even holiness in later aspects. It can be a personal sacrificial way of life. It can mean a clean vessel. Virginity, without the Bible? I would not know.

I see the choice maybe as a virtue.
 
Prayerfulness may not even be a virtue. Faith, hope, and charity(love) is mentioned, with the greatest being love. Lovingkindness may be a virtue.

What is Love?...
The Greatest Virtue of All
By Stephen Walton

xword_love_2.jpg.pagespeed.ic.sI3sL62w0s.jpg

When we consider the question...

"What is love?"… many things come to mind. The word "love" can have a variety of individual and personal meanings.



For example:

  • Your religious and spiritual belief and love of God
  • Interpersonal love such as the closeness of family members
  • A passionate desire for a special person like your partner, spouse or lover
  • Platonic love that defines a close and special friendship

The Virtue of Love
What is love as a virtue?
The bestowing of unconditional love and having a positive impact on the lives of others.

Showing a genuine concern for the good of others, with unselfish acts of kindness such as: compassion, caring, thoughtfulness, service, and other humanitarian and noble actions.

Love is truly the most powerful force of life, it ignites our emotions, guides us in a positive light and brings meaning to our lives.


"Love is the element which though physically unseen is as real as air or water. It is an acting, living, moving force… it moves in waves and currents like those of the ocean."

- Prentice Mulford -


Think about it…

Without love, our hearts would be cold, our souls hollow and our lives would be empty and without purpose.


Oliver Homes (Past Dean of Harvard Medical School) said that:


"Love is the master key that opens the gates of happiness"


How true that is…

xgolden-love-key.jpg.pagespeed.ic.SJQBPABSAW.jpg

As love creates indestructible families, builds long lasting bonds in relationships, develops inner peace and tranquility and promotes peace and understanding in the world.

Love is the catalyst that bonds all other virtues that make up the content of good character.

I personally believe, "Love" is the greatest virtue, it is by far the greatest gift you can give or receive.

Commit to loving unconditionally, yourself with all your flaws and imperfections, your family life with all your heart, and learn to love life with exuberant passion.


When it comes to love, there is no better evidence in the saying:

"We Reap What We Sow"…

As the more love your heart can give, the more it will receive.

"Love Is Its Own Reward"


"May you remember that love flows best when it flows freely
and it is in giving that we receive the greatest gift."

- Kate Nowak -



Articles: Related To The Virtue Of Love


"The Importance Of Loving Yourself"

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You must learn to love yourself for who you are, with all your flaws and imperfections before you can truly live life to its fullest....Continue Reading...


"Learn To Love Life"

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In order to truly love life, we must cultivate a positive attitude and embrace the power of love and gratitude toward everything in life...Continue Reading...

copied from the Positive Parenting Centre. The heart in the hands reminds me of BritNi.

If love is the greatest virtue, I believe hate to be the worst(or hatefulness).
 
From the list I would pick obedience. Subordination is earned through the context of what the hierarchy is and what your values are. Therefore I would conceptualize it more as loyalty be it loyalty to your country or just your own principles. Subordination for the sake of subordination is not loyalty. Loyalty is recognizing the worthiness of someone to command you. Or if not a who, then rather a what- a cause to which you would subordinate yourself for either directly to a set of principles or ideas or to an organization.
 
Wyote said:
I think your explanation explains my reasoning quite nicely
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Hehe, I should have seen that coming :D

So I agree there is something a little dodgy about magnanimity, especially when interpreted through Nietzsche's lens. He essentially turns it into an aristocratic virtue. It seems to be a virtue presupposing the existence of the Patricians on one side (a noble minority of lofty spirit) and the Plebeians on the other. I don't think Aristotle intended magnanimity to be only the gift of a privileged few but the case could be made that Nietzsche simply highlighted what it entails by pushing the reasoning to its extreme, and then embracing it.

This may boil down to the following question: how does one practice being magnanimous? I know what it means to practice being generous, being kind, being courageous... But I'm not sure I know what it means to practice being magnanimous. And yet, it seems essential to the definition of a virtue that it be possible to practice it and thereby become 'better' at it.

Now, I think there is more to magnanimity, but I'll have to return to that later (if I remember to do that).
 
Ren said:
This may boil down to the following question: how does one practice being magnanimous? I know what it means to practice being generous, being kind, being courageous... But I'm not sure I know what it means to practice being magnanimous. And yet, it seems essential to the definition of a virtue that it be possible to practice it and thereby become 'better' at it.
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You're right, people don't understand how to practice it, or apply/integrate it properly, and yet they still find themselves enticed by magnanimity. The potato kind.
 
Obedience, with love and understanding, is very important. As a child, we must be obedient. As we grow, we are obedient to our boss and/or our leader. Disobedience is ugly.

While there is a time and place for everything, we might not agree with something we are to be obedient to. Hit the road. Nobody likes someone that is disobedient to them. Go find somewhere you can live with your disobedience: maybe you won't feel like a robot any longer.

copied Cornell University...Intuitively, obedience -- following the order that a human gives -- seems like a good property for a robot to have. But, we humans are not perfect and we may give orders that are not best aligned to our preferences. We show that when a human is not perfectly rational then a robot that tries to infer and act according to the human's underlying preferences can always perform better than a robot that simply follows the human's literal order. Thus, there is a tradeoff between the obedience of a robot and the value it can attain for its owner. We investigate how this tradeoff is impacted by the way the robot infers the human's preferences, showing that some methods err more on the side of obedience than others. We then analyze how performance degrades when the robot has a misspecified model of the features that the human cares about or the level of rationality of the human. Finally, we study how robots can start detecting such model misspecification. Overall, our work suggests that there might be a middle ground in which robots intelligently decide when to obey human orders, but err on the side of obedience....copied

They should learn to use a dash at a university. The same goes with humans. Some folk err in their ways. Some think they are in charge and everyone should do as they want. They send messengers to let others know that they know about them. Old Hebrew kings were sometimes made king by a Prophet, by the Word of God. The guys that thought they were in charge tried to cause problems and sometimes war. Yet, the man named by God would become King of Israel. Sometimes the new king was told to slay the old...because of his disobedience to God.

People run wild in the streets protesting things. Is this truly the best way to get something? If what you want is wrong, should it be allowed? We appoint judges to discern right from wrong, and even they can err in their judgments. We are human. There is always a better way. Protests can lead to war: deaths. Maybe Communism does not listen to their people? Maybe other countries do not listen, but sometimes the hearts of the people err, also.
 
Some rules and boundaries may be disrespectful, but not obedience.

Ex: man asks me to rape someone. I am disobedient.
 
Odyne said:
I would like to know, in your opinion.

It could be within context of your own personal life or within the context of society or the human race - which virtue do you think is most overrated.

Here is a pretty long list I was able to find:
https://www.familiesofcharacter.com/devblog10809/2018/3/21/what-are-the-40-virtues-full-list
I did not vet this source- I admit.

Here they are in this spoiler:
  1. Orderliness: achieving our goals by doing the things we should do, when we should do them, and how we should do them. This is also involved with keeping oneself physically clean and neat and one’s belongings in good order.

  2. Generosity: the attitude and habits we demonstrate when we give towards the needs of others in a willing and cheerful manner.

  3. Fortitude: the courage to stand up for what is right, even in the face of pressure.

  4. Prudence: the virtue that allows us to determine what’s right and what’s wrong and then act accordingly. Prudence could also be called wisdom.

  5. Justice: giving to others what they are rightly due.

  6. Temperance: controlling our desires and wants in order to achieve a greater good and meet our life goals. Temperance could also be called self-control.

  7. Assertiveness: achieving goals by setting appropriate boundaries, asking for help when we need it, and being confident and positive about our abilities.

  8. Purposefulness: having a vision, clear focus, and concentration on goals.

  9. Modesty: purity of heart in action, especially in regards to dress and speech.

  10. Peacefulness: having a sense of inner calm, no matter what is happening around you.

  11. Service: being helpful to the entire family of man. This can also be called beneficence, which means helping the greater community for the common good.

  12. Clemency: handling disobedience, poor choices, and disputes in a reasonable and consistent manner by not being too strict, but not being too lax either.

  13. Helpfulness: being of service to others; doing thoughtful things that make a difference in their lives.

  14. Kindness: expressing genuine concern about the well-being of others; anticipating their needs.

  15. Good Counsel: seeking advice from a reasonable person.

  16. Responsibility: fulfilling one’s just duties; accepting the consequences of one’s words and actions, intentional and unintentional.

  17. Honesty: sincerity, openness, and truthfulness in one’s works and actions.

  18. Respect: recognizing the worth and dignity of every single human person.

  19. Tolerance: allowing other people to have their opinions about non-essential things and accepting the preferences and ideas that are different from your without compromising your own beliefs.

  20. Perseverance: taking the steps necessary to carry out objectives in spite of difficulties.

  21. Good judgment: thinking rightly about a decision, sound decision.

  22. Gratitude: having a thankful disposition of mind and heart.

  23. Humility: having an awareness that all one’s gifts come from God and appreciation for the gifts of others.

  24. Obedience: assenting to rightful authority without hesitation or resistance.

  25. Patience: remaining calm and not becoming annoyed when dealing with problems or difficult people. This could also mean paying attention to something for a long time without becoming bored or losing interest.

  26. Command: directly acting upon a sound decision.

  27. Truthfulness: acting in a way that inspires confidences and trust; being reliable.

  28. Moderation: attention to balance in one’s life.

  29. Loyalty: accepting the bond implicit in relationships and defending the virtues upheld by Church, family, and country.

  30. Courtesy: treating other people with respect, recognizing that all are made in God's image and likeness.

  31. Affability: being easy to approach and easy to talk to; friendly.

  32. Sincerity: trustfulness in words and actions; honesty and enthusiasm toward others.

  33. Prayerfulness: being still, listening, and being willing to talk to God as a friend.

  34. Magnanimity: seeking with confidence to do great things in God; literally “having a large soul.”

  35. Docility: willingness to be taught.

  36. Industriousness: diligence, especially in work that leads to natural and supernatural maturity.

  37. Foresight: consideration of the consequences of one's action; thinking ahead.

  38. Patriotism: paying due honor and respect to one's country, with a willingness to serve.

  39. Meekness: having a serenity of spirit while focusing on the needs of others.

  40. Circumspection/Tact: careful consideration of circumstances and consequences.

If you find one that is more extensive, feel free to post it. I can maybe add it to OP.
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Are you an extroverted feeler?
 
Ren said:
Great thread idea, Odyne.

I'm not sure it can be said that some virtues are 'overrated'. We can surely establish a kind of hierarchy of virtues but only on the basis of an implicit hierarchy of values. For example, on the basis of my own value hierarchy, I would contest that patriotism and prayerfulness are virtues at all.

For the rest, I would perhaps pick good counsel as the least important of the virtues listed. The reason why is simple: I think that if the other virtues are correctly cultivated by people, good counsel becomes redundant and dissolves into the rest. If you take honesty, good judgement, foresight and kindness, for example, I would argue that together they make good counsel redundant for the most part.

The same reasoning can be applied to the other 'overrated' virtues listed, e.g. truthfulness, courtesy, affability, sincerity, etc.
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Ouch.

Consider.

Proverbs 3:12 For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.

Imagine if none of us bothered to correct and give good council.

We would still be living in caves and trees and just slapping our kids instead of training them.

Regards
DL
 
John K said:
I don't know if I feel any on the list are over-rated if they are uncontaminated in use. Some of these can be badly misplaced though and the one I'd pick out as one of the worst for this is
Obedience: assenting to rightful authority without hesitation or resistance.
I think this can easily turn into a serious vice as it's stated here. In many situations there should be no obedience without properly informed judgement and consent, but unfortunately that isn't always so and many an act of idiocy or evil has been done by people just following orders. Of course there are particular situations when it's essential people obey a leader without thinking - in the heat of battle, or in an operating room crisis for example, but those are special circumstances.
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Good point. What you say leads to ----

Joyce.webp
 
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