Current Events > Do you think most people are inherently good or evil?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I remember someone making this topic some time ago here and I thought about it and I have realized that most people are inherently selfish, narcissistic and evil even though most of them think they are good people simply because they don't break the law or something.
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There's no 'inherently'.

You get to make a choice.
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Inherently stupid.
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I believe the vast majority of people arent inherently anything.
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Good or bad are reflections of how you perceive someone, not a statement of what someone "is."

We're all varying shades of gray
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I mean if we're inherently evil you think a few good minority can somehow stop a majority from turning the world into chaos?
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Gafemage posted...

I believe the vast majority of people arent inherently anything.

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No.
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Most people are just trying to be a person who is still alive tomorrow. That's neither good nor evil.

I think people are inherently good and learn negative behavor through negative influences.
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No to both.
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Yes, didn't any of you n00bs use the character generator?
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Steve Nick posted...

There's no 'inherently'.

You get to make a choice.

Not everyone gets a choice IMO.
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I think people who want to take away other people's freedom are evil.
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Darkrobotisback posted...

Steve Nick posted...

There's no 'inherently'.

You get to make a choice.

Not everyone gets a choice IMO.

yes they do
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Pepys Monster posted...

I think people who want to take away other people's freedom are evil.

by taking way x type of freedom, someone then obtains y type of freedom.
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Dragonblade01 posted...

Good or bad are reflections of how you perceive someone, not a statement of what someone "is."

Milkman5 posted...

Dragonblade01 posted...

Good or bad are reflections of how you perceive someone, not a statement of what someone "is."

This is just laughable. A way to enable abhorrent people.

It's combination of:

Gafemage posted...

I believe the vast majority of people arent inherently anything.

YourDrunkFather posted...

We're all varying shades of gray

These IMO. Like all things in life it's a combination of being a product of your enviorment along with the decisions you make based on the knowledge one posses.

This is pretty damn important too though:

Questionmarktarius posted...

Most people are just trying to be a person who is still alive tomorrow. That's neither good nor evil.

All IMO of course.
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Unless you're mentally ill, it depends on le parenting I think
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i would say people are inherently evil

but i could say that people are naturally selfish and self-centered. and a large majority of people are unable to have compassion for people of different background and walk of life
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There is no entirety good or evil people. Everyone has good and evil in them. We have a choice on who we want to be.
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I don't think people are inherently evil, but it is incredibly easy for children to commit atrocious acts before they actually learn about morality or empathy.

A baby for example isn't anything, but they can then grow into embracing better traits that mean they care about more than their own satisfaction, or they can gladly inflict harm on others (bullying etc) which I think shows that "being evil" does come more naturally and easy to us than people going out of their way to be altruistic.
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People are both inherently compassionate and inherently selfish

I think dumb people are inherently kinder, everyone else varies from situationally pragmatic to selfish jerks.
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Good and bad are fictional, people can do anything at a moments notice.

We are all inherently flawed, some more than others, and over time can get psychologically fucked up.

But it isn't as black and white as "good" or "evil"
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Shadow-Moses posted...

I remember someone making this topic some time ago here and I thought about it and I have realized that most people are inherently selfish, narcissistic and evil even though most of them think they are good people simply because they don't break the law or something.

i think it might have been me who made the topic you're talking about
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Shadow-Moses posted...

I remember someone making this topic some time ago here and I thought about it and I have realized that most people are inherently selfish, narcissistic and evil even though most of them think they are good people simply because they don't break the law or something.

yeah i kinda agree with your assessment of most people, tc. And i was the one who made this topic first.
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Zeeak4444 posted...

Milkman5 posted...

Dragonblade01 posted...

Good or bad are reflections of how you perceive someone, not a statement of what someone "is."

This is just laughable. A way to enable abhorrent people.

It's not laughable, it's true. "Good" and "bad" and all similar words are exclusively used to appraise something or someone. They can only reflect someone's perception.

human nature is not static, and is very much a product of our environment
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averagejoel posted...

human nature is not static, and is very much a product of our environment

That's not always the case, there have been cases where psychopath had a normal family. Where of course in reverse, just because you have a bad life, doesn't mean you'll end up a criminal.

One evening, an elderly Cherokee brave told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people.

He said, my son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all. One is evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

The other is good. It is joy, peace love, hope serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.

The grandson though about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, which wolf wins?

The old Cherokee simply replied, the one that you feed.
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Ultimately, I think this is a question many people have asked over the ages and I'm not sure we have a proper answer yet.

Books like Lord of the Flies and many songs touch on the subject of what human nature is at its core, and again and again it does seem to point to humans at our core being terrible creatures - just with the ability to be good when we actively choose to be. Of course, these are just books and songs intending to send a particular message rather than any actual study, but I think it could be hard to disagree when you just take a look at the world around.

From the outright evil attitude of kids who bully, to the maddened indoctrination of various cults. Both religious in this age, and for other causes over the ages. People are all too willing to put aside what we deem as right, when it suits them or can benefit them.

Then you have the question of what morality is. Is it something absolute, or something designed by society? The latter is often what is used to justify the terrible things some do - to them, they aren't doing anything immoral.

But then you have all the examples of people who do wonderful things for society and others just to help. I'm really not sure if you can call human nature one thing or the other, just that we have a very easy capacity to be either.
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I don't know...but this is an interesting topic. Sadly, I do not have a good answer.
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Look at disasters, sure there are some opportunist looters, but as a whole, people come together to help one another. We could not have advanced this far as a species with out our empathy and desire to help one another.
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Good or bad is based on a person's actions and how their actions affect others around them.

Most people are self centered and honestly, not very smart (IQ highly corralates with empathy...)

Most people are bad people, but everyone has a bit of good in them.
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LordRazziel posted...

Look at disasters, sure there are some opportunist looters, but as a whole, people come together to help one another. We could not have advanced this far as a species with out our empathy and desire to help one another.

A cynic could easily interpret it as that people wanting to benefit themselves, or simply using others for their own advantage. Something that goes on all across the world everywhere you look.
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You ever stop and think that all humans have the capacity for both?

thrashmetal14 posted...

You ever stop and think that all humans have the capacity for both?

We certainly do.

But you just need to look at kids and how easily they take to bullying and other evil behaviour (with how far many gleefully push it) and many don't need to be taught to do this. Sure, some bullies have shitty lives at home but a large number are just plain fine and the attitude they revel in comes from somewhere.
Maybe we are just easily impressionable and readily pick on the weak to not become the "weak member" in a social circle ourselves. I dunno.
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I know that it's not always either one way or the other, in this case, good and evil. I understand we all have positives and negatives but I think a conclusion can be made judging by the actions of most people which are indeed done in self-interest. You can see it everywhere - from work and even back in school/college. People in a higher/better position try to make sure that the people below them stay there and do not succeed while the people in lower spots try to bring down people who are more successful than them and take their spot. Everything is a competition for most.
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EdgeMaster posted...

Most people are self centered and honestly, not very smart (IQ highly corralates with empathy...)

Struggling or being unable to relate with others is a well known drawback for people with high IQ and documented geniuses.
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LepartialJury posted...

EdgeMaster posted...

Most people are self centered and honestly, not very smart (IQ highly corralates with empathy...)

Struggling or being unable to relate with others is a well known drawback for people with high IQ and documented geniuses.

This is true. But I don't think that makes high IQ people do shitty things to others.

There aren't a lot of evil geniuses in real life. Every time you hear of some kid with a 160 IQ who graduated high school early and got a full ride to an Ivy League school they're also working with/setting up charities or something.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Republic of Congo has an average IQ of 67. Seriously lol. But don't get mad at me, get mad at the world health organization. Check their website if you don't believe me. Think of all the shitty things that happen in that part of the world and how well their education system is set up. You see where this is going lol....
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I think most people try to do whats right.

If you saw someone drop a $20 bill, I believe most people would tell the person they dropped it instead of just picking it up and putting it in their pocket.
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Nomadic View posted...

I think most people try to do whats right.

If you saw someone drop a $20 bill, I believe most people would tell the person they dropped it instead of just picking it up and putting it in their pocket.

SJW: "I kept it because as a gender neutral person, I'm part of a marginalized group and needed it more than the cis white male who dropped it."
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Shadow-Moses posted...

most people are inherently selfish, narcissistic and evil even though most of them think they are good people simply because they don't break the law or something.

Pretty much where I am at with most of humanity at this point.

MKScorpion posted...

Shadow-Moses posted...

most people are inherently selfish, narcissistic and evil even though most of them think they are good people simply because they don't break the law or something.

Pretty much where I am at with most of humanity at this point.

yeah i know some people act like if you're not a serial killer then that makes you a good person.
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Rika_Furude posted...

Darkrobotisback posted...

Steve Nick posted...

There's no 'inherently'.

You get to make a choice.

Not everyone gets a choice IMO.

yes they do

Someone might be born into a government body where the government tells them whatever to do (even kill people in this instance).
If they don't do whatever the government tells them, the government kills them without thinking twice about it. I don't see that as a choice.
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Yes and no. Evil is not born, it is taught.

But to truly answer this question, you'll have to make some comparisons.

What is man in his natural, unaltered form? To answer that question, you must look at a wild animal.

A lion will kill other animals, but does that necesarilly make him evil? No, it is simply acting on it's instincts programmed by nature. If a human grows up without any form of moral teachings, discipline, he becomes equivalent to that of a feral animal that relies on his instincts to survive. So with that in mind, humans are not inherently evil until they have to rely on their primal instincts which can be viewed as evil by today's standards.

Upbringing is very important. Raise your children in a postive image.
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Dragonblade01 posted...

Zeeak4444 posted...

Milkman5 posted...

Dragonblade01 posted...

Good or bad are reflections of how you perceive someone, not a statement of what someone "is."

This is just laughable. A way to enable abhorrent people.

It's not laughable, it's true. "Good" and "bad" and all similar words are exclusively used to appraise something or someone. They can only reflect someone's perception.

Except for the fact that you can assess yourself too.
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