thoughtful
sparrowrose: People are fascinated with evil because there's a popular assumption that it's more fun to be naughty than nice.
My own perception at this point in my life is that naughty is more fun in the short-term but nice is more fun in the long-term.
From what little I know of Hinduism, I can see where the Judeo-Christian obsession with good and evil (especially with evil) might be confusing. I've gotten the impression that the perceptions of dark and light are somewhat different and possibly more complex in HInduism than in Judeo-Christianity.
As a basic example, many people from Judeo-Christian upbringings look at representations of Kali and assume she must be evil because she is dancing on corpses and wearing a belt of heads. But my outsider's understanding is that Kali is not evil and is Shiva's more fierce consort (Shakti appearing much gentler.) Kali is very powerful and embodies forces of destruction but (correct me if I'm wrong) destruction is not inherently evil in Hindu thought.
Whereas in Judeo-Christian thought, destruction is almost uniformly considered to be evil. There is little room for the notion of destruction so that more creation can occur. This causes many people of Judeo-Christian faiths to struggle with ideas like death, disease and so forth, wondering how a loving God could have allowed such things to exist and to plague mankind.
I'm kind of rambling now. But maybe that gives a little more insight into why folks raised in the Western spiritual traditions have more tendency to be fascinated by darkness, evil, satan, etc.
azurelunatic: wonder if there's a significant difference in the number of memory leaks in programs designed/coded by those raised with the traditional Western view of destruction versus those with different cultural attitudes towards destruction.
(A "memory leak" is when memory resources used by the computer program are not freed up after their time for use is over -- improperly disposed of, just sitting there taking up space rather than being properly destroyed.)
pyrogenic: Geek.
azurelunatic: Yes, Dear.
