The more important the issue or topic, the better!
Inspired by Reddit recently reminding me that there are very few opinions so niche that you can’t find plenty of people online who agree with it, especially in a species numbering in the billions.
Probably the classics of morality, like “theft bad” and “murder wrong”. They ended up considered “morality” in the first place because nearly everyone agrees they don’t want to be stolen from or murdered, so all that was necessary was convincing people that making the prohibition universal was the best way to protect themselves.
The fact you can find a thousand allies on the internet in a species numbering in the billions is evidence we don’t all agree, not that we do.
Ref @Der_Trihs’ good point. …
Damned near everyone agrees they don’t want to be a victim of theft or murder. Which is a very different, and much weaker, conclusion from “Everyone agrees there ought not be theft or murder”. Lots and lots of people are fully in favor of theft and murder. As long as the right people are stolen from and/or killed. Which, amazingly enough, rarely incudes themselves. Odd that.
IMO any discussion of universal agreement has to include the caveat that one’s opinion about treatment of any/everyone else must agree with their opinion about treatment of themselves. If not, their opinion is meaningless as to universality.
Maybe the Catholic church at it’s height before the reformation? That’s a big chunk of the word that believed in the same basic principles
Don’t kill. Don’t steal. Don’t harm children. Be nice to old people.
Don’t get caught.
2 + 2 = 4
Cannibalism is wrong in almost every circumstance.
Thinking about it, “menstruation is bad”. Men mostly think it’s yucky, and women hating it exists is one of the most universal opinions I can ever recall seeing from them.
Menopause is the only sign of aging I can think of that I see get a reaction of “free at last” instead of some semi-joking variation of “one step close to death”.
Disco still sucks.
It sucks that you and everyone you like (speaking to @LSLGuy’s exception as it were) has to die?
I know, quite a few people espouse that the afterlife is a much better place, but even then they seem quite willing for it to come in it’s own sweet time.
Having access – for yourself – to breathable air, potable water, and edible nutritious food.
As mentioned upthread, regarding theft and murder, one probably won’t find agreement that everyone should have access to those, but “yes, I want those things for me” is probably close to universal.
That there is a deity/deities.
I’m not sure the “be nice to old people” part is that universal. I’ve seen a whole lot of folks who argue online that old people are a “burden” to society in some way or other, and there’s plenty of anti-Boomer hate on Reddit.
What…? There are, and always have been, many many atheists.
Exactly. Looking at current numbers:
- About 5% of Americans identify as atheists.
- About 10% of Europeans identify as atheists.
A somewhat higher percentage, in both areas, appear to not specifically identify as atheists, but do say that they “don’t believe in God.”
And that sets aside China, and its 1.4 billion citizens; China is officially atheist, though it appears that most Chinese have some level of religious faith.
I know the Internet has shown there are some idiots out there, but surely ‘The Earth is round’ is pretty popular.
Perhaps the concept of money/transactional trade, cause when humans ran into other humans who didn’t agree… just had their stuff taken.
Taboos against incest (for very close relations) and cannibalism are close to universal, both now and at least for thousands of years
And lets not get stated about eating babies. Everyone knows that is the worst thing anyone ( and especially a democrat) can do.
Pedophile is widely regarded by just about everyone (including murderers) as being an abomination worthy of death.