# Is it ethical? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 10, 2013, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-ethical/655328 "2013-04-10T15:47:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CCitizen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@CCitizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CCitizen)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-ethical/655328/1 "2013-04-10T15:47:23Z")
If someone insults me even though I have not deserved it in any way, is it ethical to insult them back? ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-ethical/655328/2 "2013-04-10T16:11:59Z")
Yes, but you need to make sure the school yard monitor isn’t in earshot. ---
**Author:** ![AngelSoft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angelsoft/32/440_2.png) [@AngelSoft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelSoft)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-ethical/655328/3 "2013-04-10T16:13:02Z")
I think you’re making a mountain out of a molehill. It’s not about whether or not it’s ethical. It’s about whether or not you want to feed the fire or just walk away and let it die out. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-ethical/655328/4 "2013-04-10T16:14:28Z")
Define ‘insult’, ‘deserve’, and ‘ethical’. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-ethical/655328/5 "2013-04-10T16:14:59Z")
That would depend on your ethos. In a traditional Christian culture, the commandment to “turn the other cheek” would preempt such a response. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![AngelSoft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angelsoft/32/440_2.png) [@AngelSoft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelSoft)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-ethical/655328/6 "2013-04-10T16:19:04Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Define ‘insult’, ‘deserve’, and ‘ethical’. I’d assume the insult would be asking when someone last got laid. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-ethical/655328/7 "2013-04-10T16:20:51Z")
> [@AngelSoft](#): > > I’d assume the insult would be asking when someone last got laid. Isn’t making that assumption insulting in and of itself!? ---
**Author:** ![Ms.Pumpkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a87d85/32.png) [@Ms.Pumpkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms.Pumpkin)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-ethical/655328/8 "2013-04-10T16:22:41Z")
I don’t think so. “Be the bigger person”, and all that. ---
**Author:** ![CCitizen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@CCitizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CCitizen)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-ethical/655328/9 "2013-04-10T16:58:06Z")
> [@AngelSoft](#): > > I think you’re making a mountain out of a molehill. It’s not about whether or not it’s ethical. It’s about whether or not you want to feed the fire or just walk away and let it die out. Maybe. Anyone who insults me gives me negative psychological energy. Giving back that energy is important to preserve my health. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-ethical/655328/10 "2013-04-10T16:59:35Z")
> [@CCitizen](#): > > Maybe. Anyone who insults me gives me negative psychological energy. Giving back that energy is important to preserve my health. Woo! ---
**Author:** ![AngelSoft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angelsoft/32/440_2.png) [@AngelSoft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelSoft)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-ethical/655328/11 "2013-04-10T17:00:05Z")
> [@CCitizen](#): > > Maybe. Anyone who insults me gives me negative psychological energy. Giving back that energy is important to preserve my health. Yeah, well the thing is, it wasn’t an insult. It was a valid question and I think your own insecurities made you insulted by it. Or it might be a man thing. If someone asked me when I got laid, I’d answer and shrug it off. No big deal. It doesn’t speak anything about me as a person. ---
**Author:** ![CCitizen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@CCitizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CCitizen)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-ethical/655328/12 "2013-04-10T17:01:48Z")
> [@AngelSoft](#): > > If someone asked me when I got laid, I’d answer and shrug it off. No big deal. It doesn’t speak anything about me as a person. If someone asked that at work they would be fired. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-ethical/655328/13 "2013-04-10T17:03:11Z")
Jesus Fucking Christ. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![AngelSoft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angelsoft/32/440_2.png) [@AngelSoft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelSoft)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-ethical/655328/14 "2013-04-10T17:04:13Z")
> [@CCitizen](#): > > If someone asked that at work they would be fired. Because of sexual harassment laws in the work place. Not because it’s an insult. And this isn’t work. Like I said before, you’re making a mountain out of a molehill. If you really felt it was none of his business to ask that, then it would have been better to say so and explain that you didn’t feel it contributed to the conversation at hand. Not to take it as an insult and throw one back at him. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-ethical/655328/15 "2013-04-10T17:06:54Z")
Anyone have a link to what this is all about? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-ethical/655328/16 "2013-04-10T17:11:24Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > Anyone have a link to what this is all about? [WAG. Men’s rights thread where OP’s sexual success has been questioned? Page 3 and 4.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=687441) ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-ethical/655328/17 "2013-04-10T17:17:26Z")
> [@CCitizen](#): > > Maybe. Anyone who insults me gives me negative psychological energy. Giving back that energy is important to preserve my health. So you subscribe to the “I’m rubber, you’re glue” style of medical practice? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-ethical/655328/18 "2013-04-10T17:21:03Z")
> [@CCitizen](#): > > Maybe. Anyone who insults me gives me negative psychological energy. Giving back that energy is important to preserve my health. I think your reasoning is San Andreas Faulty. ---
**Author:** ![CCitizen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@CCitizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CCitizen)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-ethical/655328/19 "2013-04-10T17:22:18Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > So you subscribe to the “I’m rubber, you’re glue” style of medical practice? No. I just do not like people who are mean to me for no fault. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-ethical/655328/20 "2013-04-10T17:37:32Z")
> [@CCitizen](#): > > If someone asked that at work they would be fired. What work? I thought you lived off your parents. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-ethical/655328.md?page=2)