What are your uncommon moral influences?

I'm putting this topic in the Coffee House because I don't want it to include things like "I get my morals from the Bible (or parents)." And I mean it in a more light-hearted way then a serious discussion.We all understand that most people get their morals from the following places:-General Authority figures (the people who raised you/religious leaders/teachers...)
-Religion
-Philosophy books/coursesThis thread is not about such commonly praised morality sources. This thread is about uncommon sources of morality.What uncommonly praised sources had major influences on your moral compass?For example, mine are mostly from TV:Star Trek (pretty much all episodes in some way, but certainly some more than others)
The Cosby Show (I always that that the Huxtable family could be a model for "how to raise kids")
Fresh Prince of Bel Air (what other people think about you... "your rep"... is only important if you care about those "other people")It's certainly not a co-incidence that I watched these shows a lot during my teenage years.Just wondering, who else got significant moral influence from TV or some other uncommon (or at least uncommonly praised) source?Feel free to add a story of anything that sticks out in your memory.

Well, I got a lot from Star Trek as well. TNG was on during my more formative years, but all of the series to some extent at least made me question things.My mom had a big influence, and I rarely see anyone on here talking up how big an influence my mom was on them. In Phiulosophy classes, morality was always my favorite topic of debate. I was mostly influenced, in there, by John Stuart Mill and Utilitarianism. I'm not a Utilitarian, but the moral philosophy I crafted for myself started from there and became adapted by what I thought were deficiencies and overrequirements of the original theory.Finally, I would say the last big influence was probably myself. People don't often acknowledge themselves in their moral compass, preferring to give credit to outside forces, but in reality, it was you who internalized the messages and created a sense of morality out of them.

Your mom was, hopefully, an influence on a lot of the old timers here LOL

TV is definitely an influence for me as well. That would mean that TV writers influenced us. Interesting.Star Trek and the Cosby Show were also influences for me.
The Daniel Boone series. Don't ask me to remember an episode.
Stargate SG-1 and Atlantis remind me of the arrogance of some people or groups. The feeling that one group has the right to take or change another. This is when I think of the Prime Directive from Star Trek. Nature is also an influence for me. Mammals that I know of don't try to keep controlling their offspring after they are on their own. I try to offer advice only when solicited.

Probably music more than anywhere else. A good song with powerful lyrics that touch the listener have been known to make epic changes.There's nothing quite like well-composed music to enhance the lyrics.

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"Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call to her tribunal every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blindfolded fear." Thomas Jefferson

His Mom influenced me just last night as a matter of fact... In fact she's the best influence I've ever had. There's nothin' quite like a good 'ole Cougar pouncing on her prey.

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"Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call to her tribunal every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blindfolded fear." Thomas Jefferson

Interesting that you would direct that comment directly to the "good 'ole Cougar" herself.

Wha---? Wait...??? Uhhhhhhh......Does that mean what I think it means?*gulp*Sorry folks... I'm gonna shut up now. *smacks forehead*

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"Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call to her tribunal every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blindfolded fear." Thomas Jefferson

ROFLMAO

Guess I interpreted that right...

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"Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call to her tribunal every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blindfolded fear." Thomas Jefferson

It took me a minute but I got it! Feel like an asshole yet? ROFLMAO...that was priceless!- Oni

Yes

I feel like this has kind of hijacked the thread. It was a funny comment, mostly because of the anonymity of the web, you had no idea who my mother is. No one's feelings were hurt, so it doesn't pay to feel to bad about it.

Cool topic, Stile.Uncommon morality sources? HmmmThe Wonder Years: (It was the first time I saw youthful logic applied to situations from the outside looking in) - In my opinion it's still one of the best written shows ever.The A Team: (Basically, take no shit from anyone, stand up for yourself, and mohawks were/are cool)Cheers: (Friends, alcohol and sex...Some of the best things in life)In my adult years I've been able to find morality from sources that I never knew existed, or wasn't familiar with their work, people such as Noam Chomsky or Gandhi.But I think I like Perditions point about ourselves being the best moral influence, I never thought about it like that but it really makes sense. It's basically us finding the morality in the things we experience that set the standard for our moral compass. That's why when you're young it's from TV shows like Cosby or Wonder Years, but as an adult it's from reading philosophy or studying the works of Noam Chomsky. The older we get the broader our perspective grows and we become more aware of the issues in the world. It takes a different approach than what Cosby could help us with when looking at human rights issues, like say those in Palestine. We must then rely on other sources, and ourselves, to guage the situation properly.I would also say that music was a huge influence in my teen years. Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Sound Garden, NIN, Public Enemy, KRS One, Arrested Development - Those bands were my generations anti-establishment representatives, and they opened my eyes to the lies told to us by government and/or self appointed authority figures.- Oni

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If it's true that our species is alone in the universe, then I'd have to say that the universe aimed rather low and settled for very little.
~George Carlin

The Family Nobody Wanted by Helen Doss, a book I picked up out of my library's garbage, was a big influence on how I view my moral obligations.