my friend and i always engage in torrential arguements about the nature of our existence... she believes that ideas aren't original (they are improvements upon preexisiting thoughts), that copywriting and patenting wrongfully assume that originality exists, and that people wouldn't view marriage/college/having respective jobs/ living in nice homes as a key to happiness if society didn't dictate their reactions. i don't really disagree with all of her premises, but they frustrate me because they kind of sabotage the idea of free will.... and i find it disconcerting...

as far as ethics and morals go, i find them to be rather opportunistic...lying and cheating are bad, only if they doesn't serve as a benefit...and aside from murder, most "moral codes" are only unconscionable when a risk of disovery exists... i imagine that alot of my morals have been instilled by the universal commandments of religion (almost unconsciouly, because as of now i don't have a faith).. and even more ubiquitously, by the idea of good verses evil. through this vein, i've been taught that smoking is bad, doing poorly in school is bad, using drugs are somehow evil, etc. even through experimentation with the taboo, i find myself having to qualify my actions as "good" -- i'm a good person with good intentions.