Ontopic What's your basic level of a "good deed"

Mr. Argumentor

Mr. Argumentor

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This might be a little unclear, so you might have to do some interpretation to understand what I'm talking about here. Anyways

Got to talking with a friend today. We got onto the subject of what a good deed was and at what limit you should expect someone to say "man, they went out of their way" or "that was a good thing you did there"

My friend seemed to be of the opinion that it depends on the person and you can't truly know what a good deed is for them until you know them. So a good deed for one might just be a deed for another person.

I found it harder to articulate what a good deed was for me, but basically if you go out of your way and don't expect or want any reward you're on the right track.
 
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A good deed is a selfless action that puts a positive dent in the world, but can't be explained by basic human decency.

Holding open a door for the person behind you isn't a good deed - that's the act of not being a dick by letting the door slam shut in their face. Yeah, there's the "thanks buddy" verbal exchange that goes with it, but that's just a polite formality. You don't get to strut around thinking your karma went up 1000 points by doing it.
Bringing a bag with you and picking up garbage when you go for a walk, that's a good deed.
 
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A good deed is picking something up off the ground that was dropped on accident.

A good deed is telling the person who empties your trash at work, "Thank you"

A good deed is holding a door for someone as they're following you out of a building.

A good deed is standing up and giving your seat to an elderly person as they're waiting in the restaurant to be seated.

All in all, a good deed can be as simple as an acknowledgment or just letting someone know you notice them. To most people, that defines a good deed.

Of course there are people who go way above and beyond and build a house for a homeless person or rescue someone elses dog from a burning building, but good deeds don't have to be complex. A good deed is something that makes others feel good, or makes them smile. Even if the deed is sometimes considered being a normal human being.
 
gee said:
A good deed is a selfless action that puts a positive dent in the world, but can't be explained by basic human decency.

Holding open a door for the person behind you isn't a good deed - that's the act of not being a dick by letting the door slam shut in their face. Yeah, there's the "thanks buddy" verbal exchange that goes with it, but that's just a polite formality. You don't get to strut around thinking your karma went up 1000 points by doing it.
Bringing a bag with you and picking up garbage when you go for a walk, that's a good deed.
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Yeah.
 
gee said:
A good deed is a selfless action that puts a positive dent in the world, but can't be explained by basic human decency.

Holding open a door for the person behind you isn't a good deed - that's the act of not being a dick by letting the door slam shut in their face. Yeah, there's the "thanks buddy" verbal exchange that goes with it, but that's just a polite formality. You don't get to strut around thinking your karma went up 1000 points by doing it.
Bringing a bag with you and picking up garbage when you go for a walk, that's a good deed.
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I disagree. A good deed, is a good action. It can be very basic and simple. I personally think that a good deed starts by doing something a good person would do. You don't HAVE to hold the door for someone behind you, but being polite is rooted in doing a good deed.

Besides, people who do good deeds don't look at it in karma points. They do it because it makes everyone's life a little better. It makes them feel good that they did something simple, and it makes the receiver feel good because they were acknowledged. Most of the time, it's the simple things that are the greatest deeds.
 
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thintoast said:
I disagree. A good deed, is a good action. It can be very basic and simple. I personally think that a good deed starts by doing something a good person would do. You don't HAVE to hold the door for someone behind you, but being polite is rooted in doing a good deed.
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I agree with gee because at a certain level you should have common courtesy for your fellow man. At that point you go above into a good deed or dip below it.
 
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thintoast said:
A good deed is picking something up off the ground that was dropped on accident.

A good deed is telling the person who empties your trash at work, "Thank you"

A good deed is holding a door for someone as they're following you out of a building.

A good deed is standing up and giving your seat to an elderly person as they're waiting in the restaurant to be seated.
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every one of these is just basic decency
 
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ok, lets list some more items

Helping someone jump their car
Helping someone jump their car, without being asked
Buying a homeless person lunch, and sitting and talking with them
Offering a homeless person a job at your company
Giving someone down on their luck $100, with no expection of payback
Giving someone down on their luck $1000, with no expectation of payback.
 
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