Russell’s contribution to prose writing is a great one. He has written essays on almost all the social, political and religious topics. He has given his precious and thought provoking views for the benefit of mankind. He takes man as a rational entity at his high level. It is man’s rational ability which enables a man to ponder over any matter object and fact of nature. Human beings get or form ideas from these facts or objects of the universe. Some ideas can be very helpful to mankind and can lead mankind to the path of peace and prosperity. There are also some harmful ideas which can cause destruction for mankind.

Russell has written many essays on almost every topic or field of life and all his essays have their own worth and fame. But the essay “Of Ideas that Have Harmed Mankind” has its own unique importance. In this very essay, Russell discusses harmful beliefs that have harmed mankind. Huge destruction has already been made and will go on unless proper precautions and protective measures are not taken to eliminate them. History itself has shown the destruction caused by these harmful ideas.

Actually these ideas become such kind of beliefs which gradually start becoming a permanent source of man’s unhappiness throughout life. When such ideas or beliefs get into the blood of any society, the good and evil passions always go side by side within human beings. These ideas also lead man to a conflict between evil and good passions and sometimes one dominates the other. It is often observed that evil beliefs instigate the evil passions and they become dangerous and destructive for the society. These ideas and beliefs very often become a source of evil passions which ultimately take the form of pride, cruelty, avarice, greed, revenge, etc.

Russell very beautifully argues that passion for cruelty is more destructive. To clarify it, he exemplifies that when some one enjoys the sight of the sufferings of others, it means that he is pacifying his own cruel passions. It is really below the ethics of humanity and is a kind of severe cruelty to beat the insane person to make him free from the evil spirits believing that the beating will affect the evil spirit but not the body of the patient.

Talking about the ideas of the future, Russell points out that beliefs about the future in most of the cases have been a permanent source of harm to mankind. As no orie can predict or foretell about the happenings of the future exactly, then it is useless to think about the coming harms of the future. It is equally difficult to choose one out of the variety of beliefs available. Russell very strongly condemns those who think about the harms of the future of which they have no solid proof or surety to happen. These are such kind of harmful ideas or thoughts which stop the progress of the future progress in a country. In other words, under the influence of these beliefs, human progress becomes standstill.

Russell further elucidates the harmful ideas which work through the fertile mediums of selfishness, pride, envy, conceit and superstition. Religious beliefs are actually superstitions which have already done immense harm to mankind. It is laid stress in the religion that there should be total destruction of the defeated enemy. In stead of sympathizing with the suffering people, dogmatic people always enjoy the sight of their torture. The people who are religious minded and have the belief in self-righteousness think or believe that they are right, and hence they can harm others who are the non-believers.

These are such kinds of people who cause of great destruction and harm for the non-believers and they treat the non-believers as beasts.

Talking about the passions of pride and envy, Russell says that these are the fruit of harmful ideas which have also done great damage to mankind. Pride generates a sense of superiority either of sex or color or race of religion. Speaking rationally, pride and envy are absolutely baseless. To exemplify it, Russell argues that except having tougher muscles, the male does not have any inherent superiority over the female.

Such a kind of sense of superiority even does exist in super powers America, Russia, England, France, etc. Everyone regards those above who are equal to him, but thinks that he is superior to those who are below from him in status. In Russia, a new privileged class has appeared which is termed as proletariat. Pride of creed makes one look upon all as sinners who profess a different faith and who are surely doomed for hell.

The passion for envy which is an outcome of harmful ideas in one’s inner self, does not only cause of great harm in personal and public life but also in an international life. Both envy and selfishness are responsible for the source of “undignified behavior in a person. It becomes even more harmful and dangerous when it erupts between two nations which ultimately becomes more harmful than the personal envy.

Economic interest of every nation is different and this tendency is very dangerous for mankind. To make this point clear, Russell exemplifies by saying that if a barber or a butcher does the same, it only affects a limited circle of life but if it is practised by different nations then the whole human race is affected by it.

Nationalism is another very harmful idea which creates anarchy and roots among the different nations. Any kind of sense of self-importance whether personal or sectional or of the species is condemned by Russell in a very strong and severe criticism. Belief in magic and witchcraft is the result of this sense of self-importance.

To check these such a kind of harmful ideas, Russell himself suggests some precautions. By acting upon such suggestions, one can avoid these dogmatic beliefs. If the precautions are taken in time then the tensions produced by the harmful beliefs and ideas can be minimized to a very large extent. It is very necessary for someone to remain conscious of any belief which causes flattering one’s sense of self-esteem. Russell also makes it clear that if one does so one must not think or regard him as a divine savior or scourge. Suggesting another useful point, Russell says that the knowledge gained from social sciences must penetrate to the great mass of men because, in a democratic country, people have the final authority to choose the government and to judge its success or failure. It cannot be practiced in a nation which does not welcome the process of democracy. Democracy is a constant and gradual process and an abrupt introduction of it would be harmful for the masses in a country.

So, we can say in the concluding remarks that harmful ideas are the result of base, worthless and cheap passions. The real remedy or solution of these harmful ideas lies in the restrictions on such moral passions. Tolerance, compassion and kindness are such kind of supreme virtues that must be cultivated among the people at personal as well as public level so that a society could be purified from harmful ideas or beliefs.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

410 COMMENTS

  1. Write more, thats all I have to say. Literally, it seems as though you relied on the video to make your point. You clearly know what youre talking about, why waste your intelligence on just posting videos to your weblog when you could be giving us something enlightening to read?

  2. Профессиональный сервисный центр по ремонту бытовой техники с выездом на дом.
    Мы предлагаем:сервис центры бытовой техники москва
    Наши мастера оперативно устранят неисправности вашего устройства в сервисе или с выездом на дом!

  77. Этот увлекательный информационный материал подарит вам массу новых знаний и ярких эмоций. Мы собрали для вас интересные факты и сведения, которые обогатят ваш опыт. Откройте для себя увлекательный мир информации и насладитесь процессом изучения!
    Ознакомиться с деталями – https://medalkoblog.ru/

  99. Предлагаем услуги профессиональных инженеров офицальной мастерской.
    Еслли вы искали ремонт холодильников gorenje, можете посмотреть на сайте: ремонт холодильников gorenje цены
    Наши мастера оперативно устранят неисправности вашего устройства в сервисе или с выездом на дом!

  101. ¡Hola, seguidores de la fortuna !
    Los juegos en vivo con crupieres reales estГЎn disponibles sin registro en casinosextranjerosespana.es. Esta plataforma de casino online extranjero te deja disfrutar sin trГЎmites molestos. Los casinos extranjeros como este priorizan tu comodidad.
    Esto evita sorpresas al momento de retirar.
    Lista actualizada de casinos online extranjeros confiables – https://www.casinoextranjeros.es/#
    ¡Que vivas victorias extraordinarias !

  104. Эта разъяснительная статья содержит простые и доступные разъяснения по актуальным вопросам. Мы стремимся сделать информацию понятной для широкой аудитории, чтобы каждый смог разобраться в предмете и извлечь из него максимум пользы.
    Выяснить больше – https://vyvod-iz-zapoya-1.ru/

  135. Хочу посоветовать современный информационный портал с постоянными обновлениями!
    Регулярно читаю материалы в статье: Экодорожки – материалы и обустройство
    Контент всегда свежий, много практических советов и полезных инструментов. Идеально для тех, кто хочет быть в курсе событий!

  187. Нужен чертеж? https://chertezhi-kurs.ru выполним чертежи для студентов на заказ. Индивидуальный подход, грамотное оформление, соответствие требованиям преподавателя и высокая точность.

  195. Проблемы с откачкой? https://otkachka-vody.ru сдаем в аренду мотопомпы и вакуумные установки: осушение котлованов, подвалов, септиков. Производительность до 2000 л/мин, шланги O50–100. Быстрый выезд по городу и области, помощь в подборе. Суточные тарифы, скидки на долгий срок.

  196. Нужна презентация? генератор презентаций Создавайте убедительные презентации за минуты. Умный генератор формирует структуру, дизайн и иллюстрации из вашего текста. Библиотека шаблонов, фирстиль, графики, экспорт PPTX/PDF, совместная работа и комментарии — всё в одном сервисе.

  212. Hi there mates, how is all, and what you desire to say on the topic of this paragraph, in my view its actually remarkable designed for me.
    keepstyle

  214. Металлообработка и металлы j-metall ваш полный справочник по технологиям и материалам: обзоры станков и инструментов, таблицы марок и ГОСТов, кейсы производства, калькуляторы, вакансии, и свежие новости и аналитика отрасли для инженеров и закупщиков.

  388. Wenn du unseren Vergleich regelmäßig nutzt, verpasst du kein kostenloses Bonusangebot.
    Du kannst mit einem lukrativen 10 Euro Bonus ohne Einzahlung im Casino einen zweistelligen und manchmal auch einen dreistelligen Betrag gewinnen. Deswegen empfehlen wir dir, nach einem kostenlosen Bonus eventuell auch
    einen Einzahlungsbonus aus unseremCasino Bonus Vergleichin Erwägung
    zu ziehen. Oftmals gibt es dann sogar auch noch einen passenden Einzahlungsbonus.
    Aber ein Einzahlungsbonus bietet dir mehr Möglichkeiten, insbesondere wenn du dazu bereit bist,
    einen ordentlichen Betrag einzuzahlen. Was du genau machen musst, erklären wir dir in der Anleitung, die in jedem
    Erfahrungsbericht zu einem Bonusangebot
    enthalten ist.
    Anders sieht es aus, wenn der Casinobonus ohne einzahlen als alleiniges Angebot bereitgestellt wird.
    Diesen kannst du oftmals zusammen mit weiteren Einzahlungsboni nutzen. In einigen Fällen stellt der Online Casino Registrierungsbonus ohne Einzahlung einen Teil eines Willkommenspakets dar.

    References:
    https://online-spielhallen.de/top-casino-freispiele-ohne-einzahlung-november-2025/

  389. Neu- und Bestandskunden kommen also gleichermaßen auf ihre
    Kosten und können sich durchgängig for free unterhalten lassen. Hier lernst du zudem das Angebot einmal genauer
    kennen – es lohnt sich also gleich doppelt. Nach der
    Kontoeröffnung erhältst du bereits die erste Million Chips auf direktem Wege auf das Spielerkonto.

    Der Anbieter stellt dir direkt im Zuge der
    Registrierung insgesamt fünf Millionen Spiel-Chips zur Verfügung.
    In beiden Fällen benötigst du keine Huuuge Casino Codes,
    sondern erhältst den virtuellen Münz-Bonus direkt im Anschluss an deine Registrierung.
    Mit Hilfe von Ranglistenplätzen kannst du dir zudem
    Münz-Booster und ähnliche Belohnungen sichern. Innerhalb der Spielrunden werden zum Beispiel neue Spielstufen oder Einsatzlimits
    freigespielt.

    References:
    https://online-spielhallen.de/1go-casino-bonus-codes-ihr-umfassender-leitfaden/

  390. You don’t have to make a deposit to receive it, making this
    option a risk-free way to experience casino games. Another staple promotion is the RocketPlay deposit bonus, which multiplies the
    amount of money you initially add to your account.
    This online casino is as fair dinkum as they come,
    decked out with a smorgasbord of games that’d make any punter’s heart sing.
    If you’re keen as mustard to find out about snagging no deposit free spins or cracking a
    top bonus code in Oz, then stick around. The terms are fair, and the bonuses
    add fun to playing.
    The casino also features a sportsbook section with dozens of sports
    supported, including soccer, basketball, tennis, and baseball.
    To get the most value out of your casino experience, here are some tips to save you time
    and help improve your winning chances. These organisations abide by strict rules and offer regular audits
    to ensure advanced security and fair play. In Australia, online gambling is partially legal, depending on the service you want.

    References:
    https://blackcoin.co/dolly-casino-australia-complete-guide/

  391. Some customers express satisfaction with the verification process.However, a significant number of consumers report inconsistent experiences with payments
    and withdrawals, with varied opinions on the speed and ease of these processes.
    Some people point out that the platform is easy to navigate.
    We use dedicated people and clever technology to safeguard
    our platform. Labeled Verified, they’re about genuine experiences.Learn more about other kinds of reviews.

    This selection ensures that every user can find entertainment suited
    to their taste, taking into account functionality, bonus rounds, and
    additional features. The game catalogue at King Billy Casino online combines a variety of genres with
    exceptional quality. King Billy Casino attracts players not only with a premium atmosphere but also with carefully considered conditions that make play convenient, fair, and rewarding.
    Below, consider the key advantages that make the casino popular,
    as well as aspects that may warrant attention before you start playing.
    Every gaming platform has its strengths and weaknesses, and King Billy Casino also has some good and bad sides.

    References:
    https://blackcoin.co/best-payout-casinos-in-australia-2025-guide/

  392. Crown does not operate an online casino or provide online gambling in any form.

    Sydney’s Kingsford Smith International Airport is the main gateway to this New South Wales capital, and only a short distance from the city centre.
    The famous Bondi Beach is the starting point of a walk along the cliffs to the equally
    photogenic beaches of Bronte and Cooggee. Whether it’s the quirky
    King Street in Newtown or the elegance of the Woollahra, travelling outside of the centre uncovers each suburb’s distinct flavour.
    The Sydney Tower is the highest point on the skyline and offers a restaurant with panoramic views.
    From the glitz and glamour of the Star City Casino and trendy King Street Wharf in Darling Harbour to the waves
    of the Northern beaches, Sydney is full of great restaurants, bars and shopping.

    They even offered suggestions for dining options nearby.
    With 349 guest rooms, 20 villas, and 2 premium villas, Crown Sydney stands as Sydney’s first 6-star hotel,
    boasting luxury at every turn. You’ll find loads of table games and electronic machines.

    References:
    https://blackcoin.co/excalibur-hotel-casino-in-depth-review/

  393. The Microsoft 365 Copilot app empowers your employees to do their best work with Copilot in the apps they use daily.

    Since Microsoft established its headquarters in Redmond, Washington, in 1986, the company’s campus has grown from four buildings to
    more than 100. Architectural portals connect the campus to the garage below, allowing employees and visitors quick access
    and creating a pedestrian focus on campus.
    Create equitable learning environments that
    help students develop knowledge with familiar apps essential to both academic
    and future career success. Spark creativity and collaboration in any learning environment with a variety of Microsoft 365 apps and free templates to choose from.
    The Microsoft 365 Copilot app brings together your favorite apps and Copilot in one intuitive platform.
    Cloudflare Access protects internal resources by securing,
    authenticating and monitoring access per-user and by application.
    In 2018, The Huffington Post documented that Cloudflare
    provided services for “at least 7 terrorist groups”, as designated by the United States
    Department of State including Al-Shabaab, the Taliban, the Popular Front
    for the Liberation of Palestine, the al-Quds Brigades, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party
    (PKK), the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, and Hamas.
    The blog post mentioned Cloudflare’s terms of use agreement, which allows them to terminate service due to
    “content that discloses sensitive personal information, [and] incites or exploits violence against people”
    but, according to The Guardian, the statement did not address how Kiwi Farms users’ doxxing behavior did
    not violate these terms. In 2019, Cloudflare was criticized for providing
    services to the far-right discussion and imageboard 8chan. In 2017, after previously refusing to take any action against
    the website, Cloudflare stopped providing its services to The Daily
    Stormer after an announcement on the website asserted that Cloudflare executives were privately supporting its ideology.
    Cloudflare attributed the outage to a change in the configuration of
    a database, which caused an invalid file to be sent to all
    servers on the network.

    References:
    https://blackcoin.co/3000-welcome-bonus-a-comprehensive-overview/

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here