# Is Karma a really a myth, ...or is it real? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 14, 2010, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-karma-a-really-a-myth-or-is-it-real/564114 "2010-12-14T14:40:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![K-MAN](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/838e76/32.png) [@K-MAN](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K-MAN)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-karma-a-really-a-myth-or-is-it-real/564114/1 "2010-12-14T14:40:34Z")
Have any of you actually experienced something, where you found yourself saying, wow, that’s Karma (Good or Bad)? ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-karma-a-really-a-myth-or-is-it-real/564114/2 "2010-12-14T14:46:52Z")
Only if I had the standard, simplistic, Western misconception of the term. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-karma-a-really-a-myth-or-is-it-real/564114/3 "2010-12-14T14:47:17Z")
And if someone said they did, would that answer your question? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-karma-a-really-a-myth-or-is-it-real/564114/4 "2010-12-14T14:51:32Z")
As a mystic force, yes it’s a myth. As a social dynamic it isn’t a certainty, but quite commonly bad or good behavior comes back on the person or organization that indulged in it. Support a dictator today, you might get terrorist attacks a few decades later as a result. Suck up to fanatics and bigots to get elected, a few decades later you discover they’ve taken over your political party. ---
**Author:** ![xenophon41](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xenophon41/32/253_2.png) [@xenophon41](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xenophon41)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-karma-a-really-a-myth-or-is-it-real/564114/5 "2010-12-14T14:52:10Z")
Can you expand on what you think “karma” means? You seem to be describing something like John Lennon’s instant karma or the western religions’ dogma of moral consequences (reap what you sow), rather than the Hindu/Buddhist/Jainist belief that all of one’s actions effect one’s past, present and future experiences. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-karma-a-really-a-myth-or-is-it-real/564114/6 "2010-12-14T14:58:16Z")
Yes. Can we close the thread now? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-karma-a-really-a-myth-or-is-it-real/564114/7 "2010-12-14T15:01:27Z")
I grew hair on my palms once. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-karma-a-really-a-myth-or-is-it-real/564114/8 "2010-12-14T15:03:44Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > I grew hair on my palms once. Uh-oh. That’s one of the classic signs that you are a werewolf. Or about to go blind from masturbating. Or possibly a blind masturbating werewolf. ---
**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-karma-a-really-a-myth-or-is-it-real/564114/9 "2010-12-14T15:05:05Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Or possibly a blind masturbating werewolf. They’re the \*best \*kind of werewolf. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-karma-a-really-a-myth-or-is-it-real/564114/10 "2010-12-14T15:11:37Z")
The universe is random. If karma was ‘real’, there would be an awful lot of good people rewarded, and bad people punished. That said, it is my own personal belief that I should strive to put out there that which is good, to take the higher path, to avoid being petty/selfish/evil (which would cause me internal guilt). If I had a spare $50, I would think “hmm, give this to charity or spend it selfishly, on myself?” I would feel it was ‘good karma’ to help the disadvantaged, to spend on myself would make me feel vaguely guilty = bad karma. So I might go 50/50 - $25 to the SPCA, keep the rest for myself! (No saint, me.) I wish the law of karma really did work. We notice when a stupid crook gets a comeuppance (ha-ha!), or when the nice widowed lady is named volunteer of the year (aww, she’s raised thousands of dollars for that charity!), but nothing is guaranteed. Stupid crook could still escape and live in comfort someplace. Nice widow lady could embezzle the charity that trusted her. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-karma-a-really-a-myth-or-is-it-real/564114/11 "2010-12-14T16:33:00Z")
> [@K-MAN](#): > > Have any of you actually experienced something, where you found yourself saying, wow, that’s Karma (Good or Bad)? One could only say that when perceiving a fortunate or unfortunate event in one’s life as some sort of repayment for an otherwise unrelated past act of good or evil – something you did in **this** life and can remember. But, in Hindu thought, karma is something that affects you mainly based on what you did in **past lives.** Is it not so? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-karma-a-really-a-myth-or-is-it-real/564114/12 "2010-12-14T16:34:49Z")
> [@Wallenstein](#): > > They’re the \*best \*kind of werewolf. Or at least the most comfortable kind to be around. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-karma-a-really-a-myth-or-is-it-real/564114/13 "2010-12-14T17:26:56Z")
Regarding random events - people engage in confirmation bias to organize random events into “karma”. Regarding human behavior - sometimes the perception of “karma” is in fact how people treat each other - one who treats others well can usually expect to be treated well in return, and vise versa. This is not “karma”, but conscious reciprocal behavior on the part of the actors. This does not preclude people treating each other good or bad in ways unrelated. However, I believe one can increase the likelihood of how others treat you by how you treat them. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-karma-a-really-a-myth-or-is-it-real/564114/14 "2010-12-14T17:37:20Z")
My karma ran over my dogma. I believe in it insofar as when you act certain ways, you send messages to yourself about what kind of person you are, and this can affect your future decisions, especially subconscious ones. But I’ve seen people with really bad luck accused of sowing bad karma. Something bad happened to him, he must be a bad person. That’s blaming the victim. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-karma-a-really-a-myth-or-is-it-real/564114/15 "2010-12-14T18:40:07Z")
As Moe the bartender on _the Simpsons_ says: \*Rich people, from the moment they’re born to the moment they die, they think they’re happier than everyone else. But they aren’t \* If Karma exists it must have an extension into the afterlife, because I know too many people that live bad, cause problems and profit from it, and live to enjoy their profit. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-karma-a-really-a-myth-or-is-it-real/564114/16 "2010-12-14T19:28:20Z")
It seems to be a widespread concept. The Bible if full of instances where a king did something bad and suffered as a result. It is also full of instances where a king did something bad, died in bed happy, and the consequences rebounded on his heir. If you credit karma for something bad happening, you might as well credit the rainmaker for the ran that falls three months later. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-karma-a-really-a-myth-or-is-it-real/564114/17 "2010-12-14T19:34:34Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Or at least the most comfortable kind to be around. Only somebody who’s never been masturbated on by a werewolf would make an ignorant statement like that. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-karma-a-really-a-myth-or-is-it-real/564114/18 "2010-12-14T21:13:49Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > Only somebody who’s never been masturbated on by a werewolf would make an ignorant statement like that. Are nominations for most hilarious post/name combo still open? ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-karma-a-really-a-myth-or-is-it-real/564114/19 "2010-12-14T22:56:41Z")
> [@K-MAN](#): > > Have any of you actually experienced something, where you found yourself saying, wow, that’s Karma (Good or Bad)? No. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-karma-a-really-a-myth-or-is-it-real/564114/20 "2010-12-14T23:06:05Z")
[See–definition of Blowback](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blowback_(intelligence)). > [@](#): > > Blowback is the espionage term for the violent, unintended consequences of a covert operation that are suffered by the civil population of the aggressor government. To the civilians suffering it, the blowback typically manifests itself as “random” acts of political violence without a discernible, direct cause; because the public—in whose name the intelligence agency acted—are ignorant of the effected secret attacks that provoked revenge (counter-attack) against them.[1] Specifically, blowback denotes the resultant, violent consequences—reported as news fact, by domestic and international mass communications media, when the actor intelligence agency hides its responsibility via media manipulation. Generally, blowback loosely denotes every consequence of every aspect of a secret attack operation, thus, it is synonymous with consequence—the attacked victims’ revenge against the civil populace of the aggressor country, because the responsible politico-military leaders are invulnerable. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-karma-a-really-a-myth-or-is-it-real/564114.md?page=2)