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Is mankind inherently good, or born evil?

HankSherman 8 Dec 13
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29 comments

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6

Neither. Human behavior exists on a spectrum: ultimate good would be never harming anyone in any way. Ultimate evil is harming everyone in every way. Most humans are middling. We do crappy things, but define ourselves as good people.

Not really. Irrespective of culture, victims of crimes like rape, murder and torture would never chose to be violated in this way. In my opinion, it's from the victim's perspective whether an act is good or evil.

5

Humans have the potential for both good and evil.

True, the question is, do you think one ot the other is inherant un humans?

4

They are not born good or evil but with the capability to become one or the other .I believe a person is shaped by a combination of their invironment -parents , friends ,where they live ,etc, and genetically predisposed personally traits.The combination of these is what determins who and what they are . Both not chosen by the individual .

Thank you. So you would go on the "no" side?

3

We are born human and we define what is good and evil. Of course, we are born "selfish" in that we are interested in self-preservation; but we also inherit the desire to create bonds and to care for others (at least most of us do).

I agree, thank you for your reply.

2

Good and Evil are relative terms depending on variables such as law, religion, and possibly ethnic traditions or community standards of a particular region. There is no strict universal definition.

I disagree. I do agree with whoever said "every human being knows the differance between right and wrong".

2

I think we all have darkness and light within us. I think they're inherent to some degree, as can be seen with children who go through phases when sharing is natural and when the feel possessive ("mine" ). And we see a sense of fairness play out in some animals, even to the point where crows will replace something they take with something else they think is of value. But, we also have a lot of learned behavior, some good and some bad in regard to wellbeing (human, animals, environment). I don't think human nature is black and white. Lots of factors, lots of shades of gray.

I believe that it is human nature to want to think well of ourselves. That built in is the knowledge of "good" and "bad" (evil). And when voices of authority try to mix the two up. Insanity follows.

2

To my way of thinking, there is no good, there is no evil. Those are just the value judgments of items and thoughts. If we do not use those terms, we can come to a more definitive understanding of the underlying issues. You can say that Hitler was evil, but so what.? You can say that the election of Doug Jones was good, but so what? Saying these things does not lead us to an understanding of what to do in the future. Putting labels on actions and words only diverts us from discussing the real issues and making life better in the future. The Holocaust was not good and it was not evil it was an event that I don't like. It was an event that most human beings do not like. The real question is what can we do to prevent it from happening again. Putting a label such as good or evil does not help; it only diverts our thought processes and problem solving skills to thinking we have said something useful. It does not allow us to look into the issues of the problem and thus attempt some way of solving them.

Thank you

2

Neither. We are born with the capacity to be either. Life is what determines what we become.

Thank you for your reply

2

Infants are outside of any concept of good and evil. The question, is humanity inherently evil is a complicated question, one which requires a proper definition which I've never seen, nor can I devise one. My gut says evolution needs us to be both self-serving and generous and some people lean one way or the other to varying degrees.

Thank you for your thoughtful reply. What your gut tells you evolution needs, my thinking is, what we as human beings need. And yes, I believe that self-serving, and generous go hand in hand toward "good".

2

Born evil? That sounds a bit like the "original sin" argument...

The concepts of "good" and "evil" are societal and thus largely environmental in their definition/practice/perception. We're a social creature though, so anything we do that "helps" our species is seen as "good" while anything that "hurts" is "bad" (yes, there are quite a few grey areas...).

So we're neither inherently good or evil.

Yeah...."original sin" is the tool that religion, and the religious use to instill guilt, and insanity in its followers. Evil, that which harms and takes from others. And I would submit, there are very few, if any grey areas.

2

Neither. Good and evil are made up concepts used to determine how we as humans should interact with each other and the world. They are points of view and what may seem evil in the eyes of one may be good to another.

I disagree.

Because...?

2

Inherently and born selfish

This is true, and that is not a bad thing. Our selfishness is just another way of seeing our survival instinct which is necessary to life. What makes the difference is the wisdom of how we express our selfishness.

And then there is selfishness, and selfcenteredness, one good, one not. Thank you for your thought.

2

Depends on the definition of good and evil. I don't believe in either. I believe in positive, negative, neutral. I believe that there are shades of grey everywhere. Our society doesn't have a true definition of evil or good. I mean, if society can approve of killing during war but not during self defense, if the accused can blame the victim for the crime, if the government can brainwash an entire world in believing that cannabis is the most evil drug out there because if the truth is known, big business could loose a tad bit of money - there is something inherently wrong with society's definition of good and evil. Therefore, I reject all of societies definitions and have created my own.

" and have created my own." Please share.

Thank you. I disagree

2

Neither. You learn right from wrong.

Thank you

2

Neither. Good and evil are ethically center conceptions that vary from system to system.

1

@mrlizzard not evil but just an organism fighting for survival. Not good , not bad. But to refer to an infant as a clean slate is probably not true. But that opens up a whole new can of worms. Is it nature or is it nurture.

1

At birth, we are a fresh, blank canvas awaiting instruction.

I don't believe that. At Birth the infant t must survive .it will scream constantly until it gets what he wants.

1

Inheretantly good

I think so also

1

Your question implies a value system; what are examples of "good" and "evil" from your perspective? I think we'd need to agree on that first.

Good: that which enriches you, without harming, or taking from others.
Evil: that which harms or takes from others

0

I think man has two primary drives. One is to survive and the other is to reproduce. The axquisition of power fulfills both of those drives and it is that which tends to lead to evil.

You have likely herd that "money is power". Well, not everyone who has money exercises power, but many people seek money in order to wield power.

There is a common misquote that says "money is the root of all evil". The full quote is "The love of money is the root of all evil," which puts things into a different context. I often wonder if the perpetuation of the misquote is deliberately propagated, so people wont' ponder the implications of the full quote.The quote by the way is from the bible. Just one of those nuggets of wisdom thrown in to get you to buy into the rest.

Anyway, the misquote. to any thinking person is obviously false. Nobody takes it all that seriously. However, the full quote, "The love of money is ht eroot of all evil", has implications and generates pondering as to what is meant by "The love of money..." In my own pondering, i have come to the conclusion that it means that to love money, and the pursuit of money, more than you love your fellow man, invariably leads to evil deeds.

So, I do not think man is inherently good or evil, but it is his/her intentions and pursuits which he/she chooses that makes him/her lean or head in one direction or the other. I think what we are taught, has a great deal to do with how we make such choices. Thus, I wonder about whether or not the propagation of the misquote, over the full quote, is deliberate or not. Do people who seek and exercise power propagate the misquote so that fewer people see them as being evil and even admire them for their ruthlessness?

Thank you, so your answer is neither.

Well, neither specifically. There are too many variations to see things in simple black and white categories.

Generally, mean is neither good nor evil, but if you look at a psychopath, which is basically a sociopath (a person who no empathy) with no regard for life human or otherwise, then I'd say such persons are inherently evil, but it woudl hardly be fari to judge all men as being of the same nature.

0

In my opinion mankind is neither good nor evil. As Shakespeare said: Nothing is good or bad but thinking makes it so".

Tomm Level 5 Dec 13, 2017

Thank you

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0

Good question. I think we are a product of our environment in some if our actions. Just dumb stupid crazy from our past down genetics in other cases.

0

I don't know what you mean

0

From a purely scientific perspective, Good and evil still have the same outcome so it doesn't really matter.

In order to serve the meaning and purpose of life, it is best that humans tent towards evil outcomes that arose from good intentions. That is ideal and usually the case.

The meaning and purpose of life is very enlightening but terrifying to know.

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