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Okay. I’m going to throw out a few words. Pop open Notepad and write down your personal definition for as many as you can from the list. Don’t worry. Nobody’s trying to set anybody up or psychoanalyze them, so don’t think too hard on this. Go with your gut.
One of the most basic fallacies when people disagree is using different definitions for the term in question. I’ve done it many times, and not just because I was hung over every day in my logic classes. Some of the following words even have many definitions in academic texts so it’s inevitable for people of different cultures, personalities and life experience to associate words with different definitions. A great example is in Ancient Greek. Love has 5 different words whereas we just use one in English.
Anyway, thought it might be interesting 
Here are the rules:
- Answer quickly. The first definition is the closest to what you think and that’s what we want to hear
- Keep away from using sources or at anybody else’s comments. Defeats the purpose…
- No busting on other people’s definitions
- No term papers - keep it brief, people
Finally, post your definitions in the comments and submit. I’ll post mine too whenever I roll out of bed.
Here are the words - you don’t have to do them all, but it would be a lot cooler if you did.
- Life
- Death
- Hope
- Hopelessness
- Logic
- Grace
- Mercy
- Science
- Peace
- Love
- Integrity
- Faith
- Evil
- Luck
- Joy
- Pride
- Humility
- Success
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Life - what I do between birth and the rest of eternity
The choice to place another’s needs before my own
Death - my body finally gives out
Hope - Belief that what I can’t see or understand is true
Hopelessness - What I feel in between remembering hope
Logic - an orderly method of examining a situation
Grace - the unmerited favor of God - Getting what I don’t deserve”
Mercy - Not getting what I do deserve
Science - a method of observing and learning about God’s creations
Peace - Removal of enmity and distance between God and me.
Love - (that’s tough to boil down)
Integrity - my life is integrated. I am the same in every situation and association
Faith - Belief that God is who he says he is
Evil - Anything that does not represent the will of God (as set out in the Bible)
Luck - an imaginary force associated with randomness
Joy - Steady happiness based on knowledge trumping circumstance
Pride - Exalting myself over others
Humility - Exalting others over myself
Success - Following God’s plan for my life with minimal quibbling on my part along the way.
Life: Eternal with a purpose.
Logic: Man’s attempt at the impossible
Death: Beginning of forever.
Hope: Daily Promise
Hopelessness: This blog at times
Grace: Sufficiant, never ending, enough
Mercy: Need alot, need to give alot
Science: An attempt at explaining what God already knows.
Peace: Something that passes all understanding
Love: Unconditional, hardest thing to do with the greatest reward.
Integrity: Walking the walk you talk…
Faith: Believing God without question
Evil: Real, comes in many forms, coming to an end
Luck: What’s luck?
Joy: A strength through hard circumstance when found in the Lord
Pride: Thinking higher of yourself than what’s true…blinding
Humility: Having a servants heart
Success: Being obedient to God and His Word to the best of my ability, keeping my eyes on the big picture :)>-
* Life: A gift of the universe, not a waiting room.
* Death: The ultimate threshold.
* Hope: The essence of humanity.
* Hopelessness: The end of true humanity.
* Logic: Language of reason, the beginning of wisdom…but not the end.
* Grace: Synergy of potential, ability, practice and execution.
* Mercy: Compassion in spite of adversity.
* Science: Self-correcting method by which we come to knowlege and understanding.
* Peace: Calm despite the storm.
* Love: The best of things.
* Integrity: Honor and Truth in yourself.
* Faith: Subjective belief or acceptance without evidence, generally not applicable in objective matters.
* Evil: Anything done to further the self without consideration of the others.
* Luck: Doesn’t exist.
* Joy: Learning and understanding.
* Pride: Confidence in your abilities.
* Humility: The wisdom to recognize your limitations.
* Success: The world being a better place for your having lived.
I’ll just comment on ‘grace’ for now.
Matt, I know you used a common Christian definition of grace. I prefer one which doesn’t have to say ‘it’s not deserved’ - I think the original word simply means gift. And who shows up at a birthday party, holds out a gift and says “You didn’t deserve this, you know - can you just verify you agree with me before I hand it over?” No, no-one does that because a gift is about the generosity of the giver - imo.
So I prefer this definition of grace - simply a gift, given because the giver is generous and loves to share what he/she has (or has been given) with others.
Hi Helen - True, I did use a common Christian definition (since we asked everyone what their definition is) but ahem… rule #3… ahem
Life - The state of being alive as in not dead.
Death - the point in time where life ends.
Hope - An emotional state of anticipation whether realistic or not.
Hopelessness - An emotional state whereby hope does not exist.
Logic - A series of steps that follow on from the previous step in order to make sense of a topic or thought process.
Grace - The fluid motion of the physical form. Particularly in dance or movement of animals running.
Mercy - Another emotional state where a decision is made with respect to mitigating circumstances to be fair to all.
Science - The study of the real world using evidence to determine rules for it’s operation as well as properties of the area being studied.
Peace - A lack of war or conflict.
Love - An emotional state of happiness involving another person. Particularly where the other person’s well being is more important that your own.
Integrity - Consistently acting in a manner that you would find acceptable. Being fair to others even when it may disadvantage yourself.
Faith - Expectation of a result without evidence.
Evil - A lack of empathy for others on a personal level. On a larger scale the willingness to put your own luxury ahead of others’ needs.
Luck - See faith. Also attributing successful events or random events to a supernatural force.
Joy - An emotional state of elation.
Pride - An emotional state of satisfaction at your own achievements.
Humility - A lack of false pride.
Success - Achieving what you set out to achieve.
* Life - ambiguously defined complex biochemistry
* Death - non-functioning ambiguously defined complex biochemistry
* Hope - wish for a desired outcome
* Hopelessness - lack of ability to see a desired outcome as possible
* Logic - strict rules about what must and what doesn’t necessarily follow from premises
* Grace - forgiveness
* Mercy - foregoing a deserved punishment
* Science - a discipline that inductively develops models about what IS
* Peace - a state of non-violence and nominal cooperation between parties
* Love - intense affection and attachment
* Integrity - honesty in thought and deed
* Faith - wishful thinking; not wanting to know what is true
* Evil - egregious acts of harm
* Luck - receiving better or worse than average outcomes
* Joy - extreme happiness
* Pride - esteeming self
* Humility - not considering yourself special
* Success - achieving a desired outcome
I’m sure I posted my answers a while ago. They aren’t in the spam catcher are they?
Matt, re: rule 3, yeah, I know…but I wanted to explain my definition
hoverfrog, I can’t imagine why the spam catcher would think a post from you is spam, but I’m afraid that might have happened, inexplicably, since I don’t see your post in the ‘awaiting moderation’ queue.
Noone except Bill can see the spam catcher so we can’t go fish for your post in there.
Maybe try submitting it again?
Life - what you do while you’re alive
Death - the end of something
Hope - a positive attitude
Hopelessness - pessimism
Logic - rationalization of things seen and heard
Grace - allowance of missteps with forgiveness
Mercy - empathy
Science - utilization of past proven knowledge to look ahead
Peace - restfulness
Love - adoration of humanity and humans
Integrity - honesty
Faith - belief without question, disregarding lack of proof or substance
Evil - disrupting the ways of the world or other humans
Luck - how i win at poker
Joy - expression of elation
Pride - doing what you can to the best of your ability
Humility - respect for differences
Success - impacting even one person with your kindness
From an atheist perspective:
Life - what you do while you’re alive
Death - the end of something
Hope - a positive attitude
Hopelessness - pessimism
Logic - rationalization of things seen and heard
Grace - allowance of missteps with forgiveness
Mercy - empathy
Science - utilization of past proven knowledge to look ahead
Peace - restfulness
Love - adoration of humanity and humans
Integrity - honesty
Faith - belief without question, disregarding lack of proof or substance
Evil - disrupting the ways of the world or other humans
Luck - how i win at poker
Joy - expression of elation
Pride - doing what you can to the best of your ability
Humility - respect for differences
Success - impacting even one person with your kindness
(if this posts twice, my apologies)
Curses! I’ll have to type it all over again. Ho hum.
@hoverFrog
I blame Simon Barsinister!
Life - A state of being. What happens between some point after conception and death.
Death - The point in time where you cease to be alive.
Hope - An emotional state of expectation. Often unrealistic.
Hopelessness - A lack of hope. Also often unrealistic.
Logic - A method of determining the validity of a statement. “Logic, logic, logic. Logic is the beginning of wisdom, Valeris, not the end.” - Captain Spock - Star trek VI - The Undiscovered Country (1991).
Grace is something that a dancer or a runner has. It is a physical manifestation of beauty in motion.
Mercy - an emotional response to a situation where an action is taken that less harsh than the alternatives. Often a merciful action is one that is derived from empathy rather than logic.
Science - methods for discovering how the universe operates and what properties it has.
Peace - what you have before you have children. A lack of conflict.
Love - an emotional state where someone else’s well being is placed above your own.
Integrity - moral reliability.
Faith - confidence in the rightness of something.
Evil a growth industry. We’re always hiring. :d Morally repugnant actions.
Luck - something that a person can attribute seemingly random events to. Not real.
Joy - an emotional state of elation.
Pride - an emotional state of satisfaction in your own achievements or abilities.
Humility - an emotional state of humbleness where successful actions are often not attributed to personal achievement.
Success - achieving a desired outcome.
@Robert - who? I blame Mojo Jojo.
Life = Before death happens (hee hee)
Death = When life ends (double hee hee)
Hope = Belief in a positive future or result
Hopelessness = Inability to see a positive future or result
Logic = Application of reason, evidence and experience
Grace = What I lack on the dance floor
Mercy = Compassion despite being justified in not showing compassion
Science = process for evaluating, validating and assimilating knowledge through experimentation and observation.
Peace = a process for maintaining a harmonious balance between differing entities (peace is not a thing it is a process)
Love = a special kind of affection (tough one to define, no wonder the greeks had 5 different words)
Integrity = honesty in both thought and actions
Faith = Belief in something beyond reason and evidence
Evil = intentional, malicious actions
Luck = When skill meets opportunity
Joy = Extreme happiness?
Pride = a belief in your own personal worth and value; self-respect (to be used in conjunction with humility)
Humility = a necessary component for tempering pride, a correction against false pride or my-s4!t-don’t-stink syndrome.
Success = the achievement of sought after accomplishments:d
Simon Barsinister, lol. I had a great math teacher, looked just like him. First day of school (8th grade I think) the bell rings we’re all waiting for him to get done brushing his Donald Trump-esque hair-do and his toupee(sic?) falls off as he’s brushing it. You can imagine the sheer force of will it took an entire classroom of 12-year-olds from busting out laughing.
Later I find out this is his standard break-the-ice gag with a new class.
That my friends is your random story of the day.
* Life - worth living
* Death - beginning
* Hope - looking forward to something
* Hopelessness - dread
* Logic - judgement
* Grace - beauty - God
* Mercy - undeserved favor
* Science - brilliant
* Peace - comfort, assurance
* Love - risky
* Integrity - good character
* Faith - indescribable
* Evil - reality
* Luck - winning the lottery!!!!
* Joy - bliss
* Pride - Pleasure or arrogance
* Humility - meek
* Success - accomplishment
Life = the stuff you do between birth and death
Death = nonlife
Hope = expecting somethin good down the pike
Hopelessness = nuthin good ’round the corner nor the next corner nor the one after that…
Logic If a=b and b=c then a = c
Grace = getting good when you deserve bad
Mercy = getting nothing when you deserve bad
Science = logic as applied to careful measurements of nature
Peace = absence of strife
Love = willingness to self-sacrifice
Integrity = what you do over there is the same as what you think you’d do while over here
Faith = believing what you have no reason to believe/ or trusting someone with something valuable
Evil = intentional harm of others with no other object in mind except the pain caused
Luck = when things just happen to go your way through no effort of your own
Joy = pleasure, especially mental or emotional
Pride = taking joy in accomplishment / or an overly high opinion of one’s own worth
Humility = recognizing your own faults and/ or dependence on others
Success = accomplishing what you set out to do.
I did not look at any other posts.
Life = the stuff you do between birth and death
Death = nonlife
Hope = expecting somethin good down the pike
Hopelessness = nuthin good ’round the corner nor the next corner nor the one after that…
Logic If a=b and b=c then a = c
Grace = getting good when you deserve bad
Mercy = getting nothing when you deserve bad
Science = logic as applied to careful measurements of nature
Peace = absence of strife
Love = willingness to self-sacrifice
Integrity = what you do over there is the same as what you think you’d do while over here
Faith = believing what you have no reason to believe/ or trusting someone with something valuable
Evil = intentional harm of others with no other object in mind except the pain caused
Luck = when things just happen to go your way through no effort of your own
Joy = pleasure, especially mental or emotional
Pride = taking joy in accomplishment / or an overly high opinion of one’s own worth
Humility = recognizing your own faults and/ or dependence on others
Success = accomplishing what you set out to do.
* Life - the span of time we individually and collectively have here on earth
* Death - the end of life
* Hope - optimism
* Hopelessness - pessimism
* Logic - coming to conclusions based on observed evidence
* Grace - smooth bodily movement
* Mercy - forgiveness
* Science - advancement of worldly knowledge
* Peace - an absence of hate
* Love - intense care for the well being of another, willingness to sacrifice for the well being of another
* Integrity - doing the right thing under any conditions, good or bad
* Faith - belief in something good
* Evil - deliberate unkindness, deliberately hurting another for any reason
* Luck - coincidence
* Joy - happiness
* Pride - delight with one’s own accomplishments
* Humility - acknowledging that while one may be good at something one is not the necessarily best; not exaggerating one’s skill or ability
* Success - accomplishing one’s personal goals and being happy with these accomplishments
• Life - breathe, being, growing
• Death - the absence of life, decayed
• Hope – yearning for what is to come
• Hopelessness - death
• Logic – systematic approach
• Grace – extending favor
• Mercy – withholding pain
• Science – study of
• Peace – living in symbience, harmony
• Love – embracing all
• Integrity – saying what you mean, meaning what you say
• Faith – system of beliefs guiding life
• Evil – absence of ‘good’
• Luck - coincidence
• Joy – deep seated positive emotion from the heart
• Pride – thinking highly of something
• Humility – knowing its not me
• Success – mastering of something even if that means surviving it.