Do you believe in Karma?

[ed pluribus unum]

You should return it, but it has zero to do with any silly 'karma'.

You create the society you want to live in by your actions.

Karma only applies to whoever has the morals or values which help them choose between right and wrong.

You know for yourself what is right and wrong (obviously very subjective); if you go against this 'inner voice' and choose wrong, then it may be reflected in your bearing and how you present yourself to the world. Maybe you keep the phone, knowing it is 'wrong', and the result is you perform poorly in the interview; you don't get the job. "Karma" for doing the wrong thing? Karma doesn't necessarily have to be some mystical cosmic force.

 

[cascadecombo]

Logic dictates one thing, another would be your own personal morals.

If taking the phone would make you feel poorly, then that could directly effect your state of mind. With an altered state of mind your behavior changes, from that I would say that "karma" could be considered in that sense. Otherwise, I don't really see there being an equilibrium to good and bad actions. If anything seeing the world as it is today, it's quite obvious there is no such thing.

It's like an excuse to take bad luck and assume it's in retribution for other past deeds that may not have been considered good.

I don't wish to hijack the thread here, but it would be very interesting to know what people's religious stance is. A great many of the people I know who are vocal about karma, seem also to be amongst the first to inform you of their atheism. For me, it seems a somewhat inconsistent position.

I had never considered this, but after you mention it I can remember several examples. I would say that I am Christian, and do not believe karma to exist in a literal sense. Only in the sense that it is something people allows to change how they think and thusly how they act.

 

[Papaya]

True story

About 18 mos ago I stopped in fast food joint to grab a quick sandwich. As I sit in the booth I felt something at my feet which turns out to be some guys wallet. I open it up and there's' some cash (maybe a couple hundred $...I didn't count it) and his student ID. Turns out he lives about a half mile away, so I shove the wallet in large envelope from the trunk of my car, drive over there, and put it in his mail box with his name on it,...anonymously.

Two / 3 weeks ago I go for a long bike ride with a buddy on a Sunday morning. It was a freakishly hot day (like a 103 deg F) for coastal So Cal so after the ride I stopped by the beach a couple blocks from my house for a swim. I shove everything,: keys, ph, sunglasses wallet, in my back pack to leave on the beach. Afterwards I ride home, put the bike away, throw back pack in the closet and dont think about it until later that day. When I go to get my stuff from the backpack my wallet is gone. It must have fallen out on either the walk up from the beach, or the short ride home. Either way it's gone. Some cash but of course the bigger pain in the ass is the CCs and ID's...crap

Long story short, 3 days later and before I'd even made an appt to replace my DL at DMV, mail man delivers a thick envelope with, ...you guessed it,...my wallet, which someone had sent, cash and all...anonymously

I don't necessarily believe in Karma but I definitely believe you generally get what you "filter for" out of life

 

[Papaya]

OK then I'll bring another angle to the discussion:

Suppose you're out one night at a club and things aren't going well. Around closing time, you see this yummy piece of Mexico's finest walking towards you. She's drunk out of her tits, she can't even walk straight, yet she begs you to take her home and fuck her till kingdom come.

If I were to bang her, would you guys call that rape?

I'd call that you cockblocking me.

 

[dies irae]

In 2010, I lost my phone while entering a stadium for a football game. When I found my seat I realised that my phone is not in my pocket anymore. Since there were 60000 people in the audience, I wrote the phone off and decided to enjoy the game. It was this game:



While watching the second half of the game, the man next to me was holding my phone in his hand and asked me "is this yours?". I said yes and asked him where did he find it. He said it was passed to him from the adjacent seat. I realised that my phone traveled the whole tribune from hand to hand until it found its owner. Not a single person in the audience pocketed it.

To this day, I still find it incredible.

 

[Zeroblack]

The strong do what they will, the weak suffer what they must.

Just know that if you decide to return it, coming from a place of strength is considered true altruism.

 

[Wahawahwah]

The strong do what they will, the weak suffer what they must.

Just know that if you decide to return it, coming from a place of strength is considered true altruism.

Thank you

 

[Phatom]

Two answers:

1) No, but I do believe in self-fulfilling prophecies. Say you think that your blue shirt gives you luck, then each time you wear your blue shirt you become unconsciously confident. This will cause you to have a confirmation bias where since you are wearing your blue shirt and it gives you good results you will keep perpetuation this cycle.
2) Yes, somehow everything in the universe seems to happen for a reason. Not in a hard determinism but rather if you are a positive person naturally good things will come to you. If you are a negative person you will see the negative side of others. Now there's a difference between 'good' and 'positive.' A positive person can be evil and want to take advantage of others. However, since he's naturally positive people will be drawn to him. Same with the negative person, who may have the best intentions but is negative in his outlook towards life. For society, appearance is reality.

 

[pamplonabull]

Karma LOL.

How utterly pathetic.

 

[the Thing]

Well. The owner called back and I returned it the same day, and I'm having the worst week ever. Next phone I find I'm keeping for sure.

 

[pitt]

I don't believe in Karma. However I would return the phone. I would return the phone because I would hate to lose my phone and not have it returned, it's not even about the price of the phone, it's the fact of losing numbers, pictures, videos and personal notes, I would hate to lose it all and I would feel for somebody if they lose their phones.

I wouldn't return it because I believe in karma or because of my conscience, I would return it because what I don't like being done to me, I avoid doing it to other people. If it was money, I would keep it.

 

[Pride male]

I remember returning a hone to this white girl. She just took it, called me a life saver and walked off.

 

[YoungAngel1]

This is extremely fucked up, but if the wallet I found, had the ID of what I assumed to be a spoiled young white chick, or even a video model black chick. I'm keeping it. Fucked up, I know.

A middle class man, or even working class mother, and I'll give that shit up in a heartbeat.

 

[HOD]

Karma does exist. I feel the universe does speak to us. You reap what you sow, the truth will out, you get what you give and what goes around comes around.

I feel like that's mostly social conditioning. The universe only punished me for my own inaction so far, be it oversleeping for finals, not working hard enough, slacking off. I'm not responsible for some guy losing his phone, why should I get punished for it? I lost stuff before and I didn't blame anyone only myself for losing it.

That being said I have the phone running and I'll meet the owner and give it back if he calls it back. No way I'm driving all the way back to where I found it.

So this is only a discussion about the concept of Karma. I'm only wondering what you guys think.

Like you said, of course return it, on your terms only.

I found peoples keys, wallets and phone, and I turn it into the security office etc, I will never waste my time finding the person. Fuck them. I lost my cell phone, the phone was never return it to me.

If they want it, come and get it.

 

[RatInTheWoods]

Karma is very very real.

Fear it.

The more I do good in the world, the more abundance and fortune comes my way.

 

[Filbert]

I totally believe it.

"As you sow, so shall you reap".

It is said that the effect of your actions is even extending to next lives.
For instance, you seemingly did nothing wrong, but you're fucked in life. It could be a result of your prior life's actions.
Like some people in concentration camps might have done something wrong in previous lives.

 

[Pride male]

Karma may not be real but a guilty conscience is.

 

[iknowexactly]

In 2010, I lost my phone while entering a stadium for a football game. When I found my seat I realised that my phone is not in my pocket anymore. Since there were 60000 people in the audience, I wrote the phone off and decided to enjoy the game. It was this game:


While watching the second half of the game, the man next to me was holding my phone in his hand and asked me "is this yours?". I said yes and asked him where did he find it. He said it was passed to him from the adjacent seat. I realised that my phone traveled the whole tribune from hand to hand until it found its owner. Not a single person in the audience pocketed it.

To this day, I still find it incredible.

This is a great story, but if someone found the phone, how did anyone know where you were in the stadium?

 

[iknowexactly]

In 2010, I lost my phone while entering a stadium for a football game. When I found my seat I realised that my phone is not in my pocket anymore. Since there were 60000 people in the audience, I wrote the phone off and decided to enjoy the game. It was this game:

While watching the second half of the game, the man next to me was holding my phone in his hand and asked me "is this yours?". I said yes and asked him where did he find it. He said it was passed to him from the adjacent seat. I realised that my phone traveled the whole tribune from hand to hand until it found its owner. Not a single person in the audience pocketed it.

To this day, I still find it incredible.

This is a great story, but if someone found the phone, how did anyone know where you were in the stadium?

 

[dies irae]

^^
It could be anybody's phone in the stadium, so it was passed from hand to hand until it found its owner.