I think I know what most people will say, but maybe I’ll be surprised.
I have a theory about how the answer to the question relates to politics, so if you want to also state your politics, I’d appreciate it.
Thanks.
No, life isn’t fair, and I don’t see how anyone with even a marginal understanding of reality could think otherwise. Now, if you’re religious, perhaps you believe that the entire cycle of existence that compromises life and whatever comes after is fair is some capacity. But it should be empirically obvious that, from birth to death, sometimes the good guys lose and the bad guys win.
ETA: I guess if you’re a moral nihilist then you might be able to define fairness as “the absence of unfairness”, and then say that because life is ultimately meaningless the concept of fairness is an indefinable and arbitrary metric (ergo, life is not unfair=life is fair). But that seems like dividing by zero to me.
Don’t think there really is an answer since fairness is a human concept and life exists outside of that.
My mom used to have a cartoon that said, “Expecting life to treat you fair because you are a good person is like expecting a bull not to charge because you are a vegetarian.”
So yeah, I don’t think life is fair.
I don’t think life is fair. It’s been more than fair to me, which makes me believe it has been much less fair to many others.
Theoretically, every personal attribute is laid out on something like a bell curve. Some people will be smarter, some prettier, some healthier, etc. but in the end it all balances out. But, since it’s all random, there’s nothing preventing cases where one person is born smart, good looking, and healthy where another is born dumb, ugly, and ill. But in the majority, theoretically, we’re all about even.
A second theory would be that some people will think, “Well I’m good looking and I can use that to peddle my way into X, which is enough to satisfy me.” And other people will think, “Dammit, because I’m not beautiful, I’ll never be able to X. I’ll never be satisfied!” Even though that second person could easily have done something else with his life within his capabilities, he instead has decided on or accepted from outside a particular view of satisfaction that isn’t compatible with his reality. But, of course, having the mindset that only X is worthwhile isn’t necessarily something that we can choose. Some of us are born depressive. Others are born highly impressionable and take their cues from others, rather than from introspection. So it would be unreasonable to say that these people are getting a fair chance, but are squandering it.
A third theory would be that “fair” is a human construct with no practical definition from the vantage of the greater universe. Of course, that theory would, in a sense, be the greatest statement that life is unfair.
And I’ll go with that final one. Minus any greater force to create fairness, in a randomly generated universe, nothing guarantees fairness and consequently, life cannot be fair (except by random happenstance).
ETA: My politics are “true neutral”
So you think fairness in life is a zero sum game?
Life is not fair, but that isn’t an option. We are fair, or we are not, and we choose.
No. Life isn’t fair and I’ve been explaining this to my kids for 15 or so years.
Well, that’s an odd statement. If fairness itself doesn’t really exist, then we may invent any conception of fair we feel like.
Thinking about this more, you really need a rigorous definition of “fair” and of “life” to try and answer this question. Otherwise, everyone will just be working from their own personal definitions and won’t reach any sort of meaningful conclusion.
Not to answer for Procrustus, but assuming that “fair” is a human concept and that people think of things in terms of “high”, “average”, and “low”, then there would be an even number of things in the high category as the low, since we define those in terms of the average.
This reminds me of a memorable quote from Bill Clinton, who once said in a candid personal moment that most of us are treated better by life than we really deserve. That’s a deeply subjective observation, but certainly an interesting world-view.
A lot of it is, actually. Certainly not all. Someone getting a disease doesn’t make someone else more healthy. But a lot of life is financial, and financial transactions are certainly zero-sum. So are competitions like elections and business promotions.
You got life for free. So if there’s any unfairness it’s in your favor.
What we call life is us needing to realize that God is our parent and we need that. As such some people will be pressed harder then others, some will have horrible lives and some will be living the life of luxury. The end result is the same, all God’s children will realize that they do not want to be on their own and want to join the loving family of God.
So Life is fair that all God’s children will make it, none will be lost, and after all will be gloried for what they went through. So in that sense life is fair.
Removing God, life is unfair. There are cast systems in this word, a subclass and people who prosper from robbing those that they can, there are children who should be playing/learning chained to their school desk bound by fear and threat of pain. Same with cubical workers. Same with the lowest class who just needs the nurturing to be able to understand this world that they were denied.
Sure, why not? After all, in the end whether you are born rich or poor, healthy or sick, in the long run we will all die. Not just all of us here, but everyone on the planet, as well as all other life. And in the long run, all life in this universe will also die…the planets and stars, the black holes and eventually even the very atoms will fade away and there will be nothing left but the big empty cold.
Depressing, no? On that sort of scale, or on the scale of species, life is fair enough to make no difference. Species come and species go, as will we, and all this talk of ‘fair’ will go with us as if it never was.
(Just playing devils advocate here since everyone was jumping on the ‘of course life isn’t fair!’ bandwagon ;))
In some ways yes but mostly no.
Within human civilization, we have motivations to make life ‘fair’. However fair varies from society to society but there are some things that are generally considered fair.
People who deviate from ‘fair’ will feel shame, guilt, remorse, etc. while those who witness the deviation will feel anger, rage, disgust, and a desire to retaliate. Parents harming kids, unnecessary suffering, ‘theft’, mistreatment of those considered of value to the social group and/or your genetic line are all considered unfair among various other things.
So in some ways there is, but that is like trying to keep a life raft afloat in a very turbulent ocean.
The sad thing is that unfairness of this type sets a person up for the more random bad luck type of unfairness. If I am discriminated against employment-wise, I will likely be poor, which means I’m more likely to get a disease, which means I’m more likely to be discriminated against.
I think people who are perpetually bitter and resentful are often that way because they’ve been lost one too many “zero-sum games”.
No, life isn’t fair, the world isn’t just, and there is no karma or heaven to make it all okay in the end.
Liberal.
Sure, life is fair.
Of course, the very concept of “fair” is totally subjective and my notion of fair may not match yours.
Short version: YMMV
Fair? Life is what it is, it is not either fair or unfair.