I ask for we see how it can actually destroy lives and idealogies.

If you look at some of the religion practices or even those people in power who were extremists, one can see the atrocities commited on this planet so far, yet I can't help to wonder if there was an event where extremism was actually beneficial to mankind.

Could there have been acts of extremesim that helped mankind in our long history thus far? Can you recall any at the moment or care to research on it?


I can only imagine those who are extremists truly believe they are actually doing mankind a favor. I mean why else would such a person ground such a society in the first place, besides perhaps self indulgence of power and greed.

Will extremism in the end save mankind?

What are your thoughts on this topic?

I guess that all depends on what the extremism is based on.

Christianity is based on the extremism that the Bible must be believed to be the word of God. I think history has shown us without a doubt that this kind of extremism can certainly be used to support evil actions as well as support bigotries in the name of God.

Other philosophies can also be taken to extremes. For example, some people take the "Law of Attraction" to be saying that we are 100% responsible for creating our own reality and that no one else can affect our reality without our direct and willing participation and consent. But that can easily be turned around to suggest that we must then not be able to do anything to anyone unless they are willing to participate in that. To claim that we are 100% responsible for our own reality, implies that we are ZERO% responsible for the reality of others. After all, the assumption must be the the Law of Attraction applies to everyone. Not just some people.

I think if we were going to endorse and extremist view, we should event a "Law of Emanation" that says that we are 100% responsible ofr affecting the reality of others. That would be in complete opposition with a philosophy that suggests that everyone is 100% responsible for creating the OWN reality.

I think we'd be better off focusing on the idea that we can ideed affect other people's realities and try to work toward making sure that we affect them in the best way possible.

So I guess it all depends on what the extremism is all about.

The Abrahamic religions go to the extremes of believing that everything is in God's hands, and that God has a master plan.

The naturalists believe that everything is on our hands and that our planet is as important to us as our very own bodies! That too is an extremist view in a sense, but a much better one IMHO.

If we're going to focus on extremism we should believe that our planet is every bit as important as our bodies, and that everything we do affects the reality of other people just as much as it affects our own reality. Then try to go about affecting reality in the best way we can for everyone. Not just for self-centered needs, nor to please some God who supposedly has a master plan that has been kept secret from us for some absurd reason.

I think if we're going to go the route of extremism we should believe that we are in control of our future, the future of our planet, and that everything we do contributes to the reality of eveyone invloved.

How's that?

The only time I know when it helped a great deal was with Newton. He was the definition of an extremist, and made it work (barely).

most people just end up hurting someone though when they try it.

Good point.

Extremism is neither good nor bad. It all depends on what is being taken to the extreme.

I wish I had become a violinist extremist when I was a kid. I would love to be able to play like Hilary Hahn.

I can think of some, although the framework is one of learning from what is now considered (by most reasonable people) to be past mistakes...

Look at the changes in the collective conscious throughout history, have these not often come through the objection to extremists?

With most extremist ideals, I can follow the logic of how they got there usually by wrongs they feel have been committed which may or may not be accurate but the destructive power of the end result is what I cannot accept.

And you would have been bitter, miserable, and treated people badly in relationships.

Don't envy those people too much.

Weren't our founding fathers considered extremists?

Yes. And it was a hard and inhuman life.

Those humans went through hell.

If violent erupts out of an ideology, then obviously there is some kind of grave defect within the ideological system.

That is debatable...

No. They were usurpers. They used extremist measures in order to achieve their strategic goals.

I guess what I am looking for is if extremism for the good of mankind.

I am not talking about dictatorships in general for we see what they contributed, but in general of a free society such as Europe or America.

Can a free society be prosperous indefinetely or does extremesim have to play a great role (occassionally) to maintain order to keep a society prosperous in terms of civilian rights and the level of happiness we all seek?

The founding fathers for example fought for independence from England, yet their Declaration of Independence and Constitution was written not for all mankind was it? When it said ..We the people... many claim only for those from Europe especially those who seeked higher authoritive positions one couldn't attain in Europe at the time or freedom from religous persecutions as of other reasons they left the continent for at the time.

Afterall, many of the founding fathers accepted slave labor, also I heard they had a strategy to ensure everyone who came to the country would learn English. I even heard that such people from the Scandinavian lands, German or Holland, Russia and Poland had their names changed if they were too difficult to pronounce before becoming a citizen of the country. Of course it is not practiced today anymore.

So in the end are we not living in somekind of extremism today as long as we have to oblige to laws?


What are your thoughts on this?

There are many cases of extremeism that have all yielded phenominal and brillian changes.

First, let's look at one example that yielded both good and bad changes.

The early Greek religions were not structured and had no common creed. Although there were many gods and goddesses which were popular from polis to polis, there were no written sacred books. One believed as they chose AND ACCTEPTED what others wanted to beleive. In fact people often incorporated aspects or gods/goddesses of anothers' beliefs.

There were temples but they were affiliated with the prolitical structure and were maintained by that structure. HOWEVER, it not only served to be a 'mutual' holy ground for all citizens, no matter their belief--but also served the political structure as a place to hold fiests and celebrate particular festivals. EVERYONE was so tolerant of the various beliefs that people joyfully and willingly pooled their festifities and shared in sacrifices. it was a great social atmosphere. THIS WAS GOOD EXTREMEISM, becuase the government did not dictate, but helped support whatever the people wanted to believe, as long as they got along doing it.

THEN THINGS BEGAN TO CHANGE:
With the spread of Hellenism came change. While Greek civilization profoundly effected evey conquering or conquored state they also suffered the consequences of their good nature and tolerance. They were doomed to take that long trip down the religious road of fundamentalism. THAT WAS A BAD EXTREMISM.

There are a lot of examples where extremeism has been beneficial for humanity - the problem is, that people change, cultures change through many means and the good extemeism is often clouded when change causes a shift in direction.

REMEMBER - everything changes, extremeism can be the vehicle of change but it can disrupt from good extreme to bad or anywhere in between.

We needed to make the shift from food collecting to agriculture or we would not have thrived as a species. Agriculture was an extreme measure that allowed us to continue on the path of evolution. Agriculture has been going for some 10,000 years - now that's exteme.

One of my first memorable act of extremism was when I was trying to change the bicycle pedals on my bicycle. I asked my athiest father to help me. He told me that I could change it. He had confidence in me since he had taught me the difference in the sizes of wrenches. It would help him for me to hand him wrenches while he was under the vehicle on his back. I was so thrilled that he trusted me with his tools. But he had taught me about left handed threads, yet. The 9/16 wrench fit the pedal fine. I was so proud that I had figured it out on my own. But then I got frustrated because the no matter how hard I tried to turn the wrench even with the four fit cheater pipe it would not come off. He caught me about the time I had the pedal connector half cut off with the hacksaw saw. He told me to just get away from the bike. He turned the wrnech the other way and said, "Now, see how easy that was?" Then he said, "Boy, you got a bad attitude and are going to have a hard time in life." Luckily for me my father was a welding instructor and just welded the bike back like it was before I had started on it. I will never forget when He gave me one of my most treasured possessions form him which is my anvil that is over 200 years old. He told me that it was mine but not to break it. It has been over 41 years and still I haven't figured out how to break it, yet. Lefty loosey- Righty tighty is one form of extremism because there are left handed threads.

I agree with some of the other comments being made here that "extremism" really needs to be defined first and foremost. Its not necessarily bad. A good approach to handling a problem can be taken to extreme or excessive levels and thus become problematic. Are you confusing fundamentalism with extremism I wonder? They arent exactly interchangeable terms.

Another act of extremism I have became aware of is doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results. It can be like a form of insanity or a learning process. It didn't work the last time but maybe it will this time. With evolution this might happen. As a species I think we have the ability to learn from our mistakes as long as we can admit our mistakes. We as a species can adapt. I think we have adapted or otherwise we wouldn't be here.

Be moderate in all thing in life, including moderation.

Thanks for the great examples

Very good information. Thankyou