# Is it bad karma to open other peoples' post? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 14, 2007, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-bad-karma-to-open-other-peoples-post/422697 "2007-10-14T18:17:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_Purple\_Peach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9de0a6/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_Purple\_Peach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_Purple_Peach)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-bad-karma-to-open-other-peoples-post/422697/1 "2007-10-14T18:17:19Z")
First of all, three things: 1. I don’t believe in karma; 2. I don’t normally open other peoples’ post; 3. I will soon be joining this fine message board as a full member - am waiting for my dad’s credit card details 'cause I don’t have a card myself. Right, now that that’s out of the way… I am constantly getting post addressed to other people. Some of it is for the previous tenants of my apartment, some of it is for people living in the same number apartment as mine but in a different building, and some of it is just plain random. I have probably used ten pens’ worth of ink writing “_not at this address_” but don’t think my postman is much of a reader. I found an interesting looking envelope in my postbox yesterday but resisted temptation and put it back out to be re-delivered. Today, however, I found it back in my mailbox :smack: . Was so fed up with this (minor but darn annoying) occurrence and was also bored so I opened it. Turns out it was not at all interesting or important but I’ve been feeling a vaguely disquieting sense of wrongdoing ever since. Doubt this mail was important to So, did I just change my next lifeform from caterpillar to slug? If I get sent a very important letter will it end up in the wrong letterbox only to be opened, read and discarded? Is opening other peoples’ mail the start of a slippery slope? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-bad-karma-to-open-other-peoples-post/422697/2 "2007-10-14T18:22:02Z")
No. Karma doesn’t exist. What you did was merely illegal. ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_Purple\_Peach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9de0a6/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_Purple\_Peach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_Purple_Peach)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-bad-karma-to-open-other-peoples-post/422697/3 "2007-10-14T18:25:48Z")
Thanks - feel better now. Don’t tell me that natural curiosity/boredom have never led you away from the straight and narrow. ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-bad-karma-to-open-other-peoples-post/422697/4 "2007-10-14T18:38:53Z")
It is illegal, but I doubt it’s going to affect your karma badly enough for you to be reborn as a slug. I mean, it could, depending on the reprecussions, but that would take an extraordinary chain of events, I think. I suppose it could also depend on your motivations. Deliberately opening someone else’s post for a specific reason would probably be considered worse than idly opening a stranger’s mail that’s wrongly been delivered to your mailbox. (In terms of karma, not the law.) I don’t see what the debate here is, actually. If this were in IMHO I might share an experience or two, but I don’t have anything to say on the actual subject other than that it’s illegal. Debating karma seems rather difficult anyway because there are no set rules as to how it works (or the rules as to how it works differs from religion to religion). ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_Purple\_Peach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9de0a6/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_Purple\_Peach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_Purple_Peach)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-bad-karma-to-open-other-peoples-post/422697/5 "2007-10-14T18:47:50Z")
I was just wondering about other peoples’ opinions about this kind of thing. Most of my friends are fairly blasé on the topic. I did wonder about where to post this but as it was a question rather than an opinion, and I didn’t think it was factual, I thought here was the best place. Was just looking for peoples’ views on what they think is wrong and what they think isn’t a big deal. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Duality](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.duality/32/4098_2.png) [@Mr.Duality](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Duality)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-bad-karma-to-open-other-peoples-post/422697/6 "2007-10-14T19:28:54Z")
[QUOTE=Fuzzy\_Purple\_Peach] If I get sent a very important letter will it end up in the wrong letterbox only to be opened, read and discarded? Is opening other peoples’ mail the start of a slippery slope? [/QUOTE] What goes around does indeed come around, in this lifetime if not the next. Tread carefully, Grasshopper. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-bad-karma-to-open-other-peoples-post/422697/7 "2007-10-14T20:26:55Z")
Everybody, forget about karma, next lifetimes, etc… The OP doesn’t really care about karma. That was just a figurative way of expressing their topic. They just want your opinion on how ethical their action was. I’d say it was, obviously, unethical, but rather minor, in the overall scheme of things. Don’t do it again, but I wouldn’t beat yourself up over it, either. ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_Purple\_Peach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9de0a6/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_Purple\_Peach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_Purple_Peach)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-bad-karma-to-open-other-peoples-post/422697/8 "2007-10-14T20:53:15Z")
Thanks. I did try to post in a “_jokey_” kind of manner 'cause I wasn’t sure if this was a proper problem. I know that I was wrong to do what I did and it was very out of character. It was an aberration and I hope I’ve learned from it. Thanks again guys!!! ---
**Author:** ![Wakinyan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wakinyan/32/352_2.png) [@Wakinyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wakinyan)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-bad-karma-to-open-other-peoples-post/422697/9 "2007-10-14T21:18:22Z")
[QUOTE=Fuzzy\_Purple\_Peach] 1. I don’t believe in karma […] did I just change my next lifeform … ? [/QUOTE] If you don’t believe in your own question, why are you bothering us with asking? ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-bad-karma-to-open-other-peoples-post/422697/10 "2007-10-14T21:18:59Z")
See post #7. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-bad-karma-to-open-other-peoples-post/422697/11 "2007-10-14T23:45:18Z")
And post #10. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-bad-karma-to-open-other-peoples-post/422697/12 "2007-10-14T23:53:21Z")
As well as [this post](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=9073286&postcount=12). Although, it’s a bit unethical to look at someone else’s post. ---
**Author:** ![Intelligently\_Designed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intelligently_designed/32/20957_2.png) [@Intelligently\_Designed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intelligently_Designed)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2007, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-bad-karma-to-open-other-peoples-post/422697/13 "2007-10-15T06:33:02Z")
Ha ha. You think it’s wrong to look at someone’s else post, but you have no shame reading this one. And it’s _mine_. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/838e76/32.png) [@One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/One_And_Only_Wanderers)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2007, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-bad-karma-to-open-other-peoples-post/422697/14 "2007-10-15T07:29:04Z")
Circumstances have existed where i routinely opened mail for previous tenants. A few years ago I was renting a flat, and it seemed like everyone who had lived there before me had no idea what paying bills meant. I had to open the mail just to see who I needed to ring to inform them whoever they were looking for had moved on. This was in the nature of a defensive move to stop the bailiffs coming and taking my stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Staggerlee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/staggerlee/32/3134_2.png) [@Staggerlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggerlee)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2007, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-bad-karma-to-open-other-peoples-post/422697/15 "2007-10-15T11:32:00Z")
I have no time for reincarnation, but if you ended up committing various underhand activities, you might internalise this and end up coming across as a bit shady to people in the future, and consequently lose out on opportunities you might otherwise have been trusted with, perhaps. ---
**Author:** ![Taber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ac91a4/32.png) [@Taber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taber)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2007, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-bad-karma-to-open-other-peoples-post/422697/16 "2007-10-15T17:07:30Z")
[QUOTE=Intelligently Designed] Ha ha. You think it’s wrong to look at someone’s else post, but you have no shame reading this one. And it’s _mine_. :dubious: [/QUOTE] I beleive that if you read the fine print, you’ll note that it’s actually the Chicago Reader’s post. ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2007, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-bad-karma-to-open-other-peoples-post/422697/17 "2007-10-15T17:19:35Z")
[QUOTE=Fuzzy\_Purple\_Peach] Turns out it was not at all interesting or important but I’ve been feeling a vaguely disquieting sense of wrongdoing ever since. [/QUOTE] That’s not Karma, that’s your conscience. It’s actually a healthy sign. If the envelope was filled with giant slugs that crawled out and ate you in your sleep…THAT would be Karma. 🆒