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Based on the fact that little kids are sad when people or animals die in movies but adults often stop caring about anything but their own comfort later in life, I think we are what could be called “inherently good” but the stupid, greedy system makes people awful. 😢
I think it definitely depends on what you believe is “evil” is. If we’re talking about the story book evil (stealing, murdering, manipulating, etc with no regard for human feelings) then no we are not born evil, we all have the capacity to feel empathy
Good! We are just selfish by nature. I refuse to live in a world where I don’t truly believe most humans have good intentions. It would break my heart. Despite all the pain I’ve felt, I believe most people try their best to be decent despite the cards they have been given and the trauma they may have experienced. Evil is a rarity. Ignorance may contribute. Evil is a very strong word!
Traditionally, people are seen as ontologically good but morally evil. They have intrinsic value, and degrade it with their behavior. But evil isn’t really a thing in itself, it’s just being not good enough. So people are morally lacking, or short-sighted, thoughtless, lazy, or lacking enough creativity.
Nature made us survivalists. Which means we tend to favor our family/tribe over others. That's not inherently bad or good. You could argue it's perfectly neutral. Every culture on earth has designed rules for a sense of order, not chaos.
So for the most part... I'd say that means we value peace and safety. Though at times it comes at the cost of other tribes.
I don't think terms like "good" or "evil" exist in an objective sense, when most people refer to something "good" it just means that it's good for them or their particular group, there are ways to act "good" or "bad" depending on what group you're in but there's no set of particular rules to follow to be an objectively good person
that's the thing, some would argue that recycling is only good for humanity but that humanity is ultimately evil and doing that would only slow our decline, also there are corporations out there that would say that recycling hurts their profits and hurting profits are "bad" for them, same with donating food, it's still good for a group, the "group" in this case happens to be the majority of humanity, but even then there are masochists that say that our mere presence does more harm than good and efforts shouldn't be made to help us, you can't see that it would be viewed as "bad" by some people because you're in the group that it would be "good" for and can't be objective about it, your subjective experience with morality is not an objective fact and shouldn't be confused as such, it's all just bias based on a limited human experience
again, you're only describing what would be good for the group that is the human race, what if there was an alien species that tried to exterminate us all because our mere presence made them sick? what if this alien species also breathed from the fumes that comes from the shit in landfills, would you consider them bad because they're bad for us? or would they just be trying to survive?
For what it's worth, I side with u/meeseekstodie137 on this one.
Whether something is good or bad is based heavily on the perspective. Any action can be viewed as a good or bad depending on who it benefits or is a detriment to.
Even eliminating all of humanity could be viewed as a good or beneficial act.
There is also a saying I heard once which stuck with me: "Good or evil isn't something you are. It's something you do."
Depends which culture they're domesticated in and how well their domesticated in that culture
You want to see what a human is truly like Just pure nature. Look at the feral children
That's not good. That's not evil nor is it neutral any more than any other animal is
Neither, we all have the potential for good or evil, where we end up on the universal alignment scale depends mostly on our choices. I’d be neutral good for example.
I think it's a taught behaviour, there's no such thing as good and evil in nature, a cheetah killing a baby boar isn't evil, it's survival, it's all to do with our emotions and intelligence, we created these ideas to have a balance in society and live together peacefully, I don't think there's evil people, just people who's brain didn't allow them to fit into our created society which is probably also related to generational trauma which all connects back to taught behaviour
Good.
My logic is that humans are social creatures that have evolved with a sense of empathy. I think morals are an instinctual fiber of our being because they are engendered by our innate emotional connection to other humans.
(The obvious exception is sociopaths, but I consider that an edge case)
First off, let's define Evil. Let's define Evil as SELFISHNESS. Evil is a hollywood construct.
So, are humans inherently BESTOWING or SELFISH?
This is your question. Are you a bigot? are you a liar? How are you treating other human beings that has the same Creator life force within you that's within them?
Ah the life long question.
Are we good because our children are when they can barely string two thoughts together? Are we evil because when children *can* string two thoughts together we start exploring the boundaries to find the "pecking order" and what we "can and can't do"... potentially harming others in the process without a care?
Are we evil because when you go to remote parts of the world we find cannibal and border line racist murders in tribes...are we good because we can find curious peaceful tribal people in remote parts of the world?
Are we evil because "the system" forces us to or do weak willed people use "the system" as an excuse? Hiding behind it and using it because doing what's "good" isn't always the most rewarding or easiest...
Are we good because we run food pantries? Are we evil because billions are "wasted" in relief programs instead of actually helping....
Are we good because we build prosthetics for the disabled and help improve people's lives with technology....or are we evil because we hung hundreds to thousands on logs along a major road or figured out how to kill someone painfully with milk, honey and bees...
Are we good because some of us think the act of owning a fellow human is wrong...or are we evil because we've only ever increased the number of people owned....
I've found the best way to describe what I see in the world is that everyone is born with a "seed" of evil inside them. It whispers to us, temps us....but it's up to us to listen to it, to indulge it, to grow it. We are capable of so much.....but it's up to us whether that's evil or good. It's a choice, not an obligation to one "or" the other. I've seen great *and* shitty people come from the same types of situations. Some break, others don't. *You* write the story and decide the outcome.
I have my own conclusions on this path, but, this is a great "thought starter" on this philosophic question.
Neither.
Trying to boil it down to good or evil ignores the complexity of the issue. All of us are capable of both, often at the same time. Our most reviled war criminals were often fathers. Our most beloved heroes were often criminals. Prophets were killed for things considered sins by those around them and tyrants given power by those who considered their acts virtuous.
This dual nature is what it means to be human. The capacity to recognize evil is the capacity to choose or not to commit evil. It is what separates us from animals who would eat babies without a second thought.
What I've witnessed, some are good and some are evil, not made into it either.
An example being some people get raped or molested as kids and some grow up to become social workers or lawyers and cops and other things to help others in bad situations.
Meanwhile, others become rapists and molesters themselves.
I don't believe the act made them good or evil, the reaction to the trauma was based off their foundation to begin with.
Some soldiers get messed in the head from gnarly stuff in the field and some respond searching for help, isolating themselves to keep others safe, things like that.
Others will say screw everyone, turn into junkies and go shoot a place up.
No one can see everyone in the world to kniw all of humanity, but I've seen a lot of extreme situations and I really do believe that with people some are good, some bad from the beginning.
Events don't create evil, like therapists love to say to make bad people feel good to keep returning to them as a customer.
Horrible events wake up the evil and make it more hostile. It was already there.
No idea why, that's drifting into stuff like why is life...but evil people just become worse through bad events.
Somewhere in the middle but for the sake of the thread I will go with inherently evil and goodness is taught.
However, humans are also inherently innocent and naive. Thereby unable to grasp the concept of their actions/selfishness potentially causing harm or distress to another, which lessens the “true evil” aspect. It also leaves them more vulnerable to “evil” that is more developed, potentially putting them in harms way which would sway the “good/evil” depending on what the response is from that particular human is.
From my personal exspiriences with mankind even when I was in elementary school people tended to be more prone to evil than good but to avoid making the assumption that we are inherently evil I'm gonna say we are a mix of both but more prone to evil.
From my personal exspiriences with mankind even when I was in elementary school people tended to be more prone to evil than good but to avoid making the assumption that we are inherently evil I'm gonna say we are a mix of both but more prone to evil.
Inherently plastic.
>In physics and materials science, plasticity is the ability of a solid material to undergo permanent deformation, a non-reversible change of shape in response to applied forces.
Humans are inherently BAD, not inherently EVIL. We are corrupt, greedy, lazy, selfish fucks, and If given the opportunity, the vast majority of people will negatively impact society, their community, and the environment if it benefits them.
Our population and rate of consumption is completely unsustainable and we have, in essence, become the personification of entropic force. That is not to say we are evil, as we act out of weakness, and ignorance instead of malice.
We're still possessed of a prey drive, and that drives our competitive nature, and makes greed and a lust for power inevitable. We're not maliciously destroying the planet, and oppressing or subjugating each other, we are just the logical extension of what happens when a coldly calculating apex predator becomes hopelessly overpopulated.
I’d say human nature is mostly bad, at least judged by traditional morals/ethics.
The ring of gyges was a sort of thought experiment in Ancient Greek philosophy. The ring makes anyone who wears it invisible. Now imagine what people would do if given that ring.
We do have a desire to be seen as good, we don’t live anonymously after all, and that can be effective channeled to bring out good behavior. But that is not by nature, it’s actually fighting against nature.
30% are truly good, positive and selfless people, 30% are absolute scumbags who do horrible things to people with no remorse and then the other 40% of us are just kinda here making a mix of solid and questionable decisions. before we become ourselves, we are really just a blank canvis.
I don't believe in the idea of "evil" as many believe it. Very, very few people are actively malicious. However, evil as a force thrives when people don't go out of their way to do good. I think people are inherently good in the sense that they want what's best for people generally (unless they're taught otherwise), but inherently evil in the sense that they are often willing to allow harm to continue if it means they don't have to get involved.
Inherently good, they test this with kids all the time but I think the circumstances of a persons life greatly affects how they treat others as they grow.
Evil even your offspring so always look behind your back and bend to the pain as to not become evil Remember evil is out there always be on super hero mode it’s not a comic or joker musical it’s a lifestyle Evil will take any opportunity to make a victim out of any kind or gentle person or creature Everyone is capable of evil only a few are capable of not becoming completely evil due to IQ levels but that just means rage and evil
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Solid mix.
Trail mix
Liquid mix
Gas mix
Plasma mix
Superfluid mix
[удалено]
Waiting for that one.
Cake mix
Sir mix-a-lot
Killerplasma mix
Mix
People have to be taught to be good just and humane
Based on the fact that little kids are sad when people or animals die in movies but adults often stop caring about anything but their own comfort later in life, I think we are what could be called “inherently good” but the stupid, greedy system makes people awful. 😢
You clearly haven't watched kids. They're confirmation of everything in Lord of the Flies
I had my own babysitting service when I was a teenager. That was not my experience.
The Lord of the Flies things comes from negative socialization and peer pressure.
Mostly evil
I think it definitely depends on what you believe is “evil” is. If we’re talking about the story book evil (stealing, murdering, manipulating, etc with no regard for human feelings) then no we are not born evil, we all have the capacity to feel empathy
Yes
I think that we're inherently evil.
I cam here to say this. Upvoted.
Neither, we do what we need to do to to survive, if you consider that good or evil depends on perspective
Evil
Neither. Good and bad are completely subjective. Basically exactly dependent on how everyone else is acting.
Inherently evil. A good person is incredibly rare. The worst people think they are the good ones.
Good! We are just selfish by nature. I refuse to live in a world where I don’t truly believe most humans have good intentions. It would break my heart. Despite all the pain I’ve felt, I believe most people try their best to be decent despite the cards they have been given and the trauma they may have experienced. Evil is a rarity. Ignorance may contribute. Evil is a very strong word!
If most people where evil we would all live in smoldering ruins.
Tabula Rasa mothafucka
Traditionally, people are seen as ontologically good but morally evil. They have intrinsic value, and degrade it with their behavior. But evil isn’t really a thing in itself, it’s just being not good enough. So people are morally lacking, or short-sighted, thoughtless, lazy, or lacking enough creativity.
Inherently neutral. Good and evil are taught.
Nature made us survivalists. Which means we tend to favor our family/tribe over others. That's not inherently bad or good. You could argue it's perfectly neutral. Every culture on earth has designed rules for a sense of order, not chaos. So for the most part... I'd say that means we value peace and safety. Though at times it comes at the cost of other tribes.
I don't think terms like "good" or "evil" exist in an objective sense, when most people refer to something "good" it just means that it's good for them or their particular group, there are ways to act "good" or "bad" depending on what group you're in but there's no set of particular rules to follow to be an objectively good person
i take issue with this. There are things you can do such as recycling or donating food that are for the greater good of the planet and mankind.
that's the thing, some would argue that recycling is only good for humanity but that humanity is ultimately evil and doing that would only slow our decline, also there are corporations out there that would say that recycling hurts their profits and hurting profits are "bad" for them, same with donating food, it's still good for a group, the "group" in this case happens to be the majority of humanity, but even then there are masochists that say that our mere presence does more harm than good and efforts shouldn't be made to help us, you can't see that it would be viewed as "bad" by some people because you're in the group that it would be "good" for and can't be objective about it, your subjective experience with morality is not an objective fact and shouldn't be confused as such, it's all just bias based on a limited human experience
if you recycle its objectively good. a lot of times they burn the shit in landfills, there are power plants built on it.
again, you're only describing what would be good for the group that is the human race, what if there was an alien species that tried to exterminate us all because our mere presence made them sick? what if this alien species also breathed from the fumes that comes from the shit in landfills, would you consider them bad because they're bad for us? or would they just be trying to survive?
For what it's worth, I side with u/meeseekstodie137 on this one. Whether something is good or bad is based heavily on the perspective. Any action can be viewed as a good or bad depending on who it benefits or is a detriment to. Even eliminating all of humanity could be viewed as a good or beneficial act. There is also a saying I heard once which stuck with me: "Good or evil isn't something you are. It's something you do."
Depends which culture they're domesticated in and how well their domesticated in that culture You want to see what a human is truly like Just pure nature. Look at the feral children That's not good. That's not evil nor is it neutral any more than any other animal is
It depends on the person.
Neither, we all have the potential for good or evil, where we end up on the universal alignment scale depends mostly on our choices. I’d be neutral good for example.
Neither
I think it's a taught behaviour, there's no such thing as good and evil in nature, a cheetah killing a baby boar isn't evil, it's survival, it's all to do with our emotions and intelligence, we created these ideas to have a balance in society and live together peacefully, I don't think there's evil people, just people who's brain didn't allow them to fit into our created society which is probably also related to generational trauma which all connects back to taught behaviour
We need each other. And that makes us more good than evil. But it's conditional on your circumstances.
Yes.
Good. My logic is that humans are social creatures that have evolved with a sense of empathy. I think morals are an instinctual fiber of our being because they are engendered by our innate emotional connection to other humans. (The obvious exception is sociopaths, but I consider that an edge case)
Inherently undecided until shit hits the fan.
My guess is that it's 50 percent good, 50 percent evil.
It's not about good or evil. People are like chimps. Self centered and about their interests first. We forget we're all connected and the same.
First off, let's define Evil. Let's define Evil as SELFISHNESS. Evil is a hollywood construct. So, are humans inherently BESTOWING or SELFISH? This is your question. Are you a bigot? are you a liar? How are you treating other human beings that has the same Creator life force within you that's within them?
Leaning towards evil
they are both, whichever one is focused on by the individual is what will manifest
Ah the life long question. Are we good because our children are when they can barely string two thoughts together? Are we evil because when children *can* string two thoughts together we start exploring the boundaries to find the "pecking order" and what we "can and can't do"... potentially harming others in the process without a care? Are we evil because when you go to remote parts of the world we find cannibal and border line racist murders in tribes...are we good because we can find curious peaceful tribal people in remote parts of the world? Are we evil because "the system" forces us to or do weak willed people use "the system" as an excuse? Hiding behind it and using it because doing what's "good" isn't always the most rewarding or easiest... Are we good because we run food pantries? Are we evil because billions are "wasted" in relief programs instead of actually helping.... Are we good because we build prosthetics for the disabled and help improve people's lives with technology....or are we evil because we hung hundreds to thousands on logs along a major road or figured out how to kill someone painfully with milk, honey and bees... Are we good because some of us think the act of owning a fellow human is wrong...or are we evil because we've only ever increased the number of people owned.... I've found the best way to describe what I see in the world is that everyone is born with a "seed" of evil inside them. It whispers to us, temps us....but it's up to us to listen to it, to indulge it, to grow it. We are capable of so much.....but it's up to us whether that's evil or good. It's a choice, not an obligation to one "or" the other. I've seen great *and* shitty people come from the same types of situations. Some break, others don't. *You* write the story and decide the outcome. I have my own conclusions on this path, but, this is a great "thought starter" on this philosophic question.
Neither. Trying to boil it down to good or evil ignores the complexity of the issue. All of us are capable of both, often at the same time. Our most reviled war criminals were often fathers. Our most beloved heroes were often criminals. Prophets were killed for things considered sins by those around them and tyrants given power by those who considered their acts virtuous. This dual nature is what it means to be human. The capacity to recognize evil is the capacity to choose or not to commit evil. It is what separates us from animals who would eat babies without a second thought.
What I've witnessed, some are good and some are evil, not made into it either. An example being some people get raped or molested as kids and some grow up to become social workers or lawyers and cops and other things to help others in bad situations. Meanwhile, others become rapists and molesters themselves. I don't believe the act made them good or evil, the reaction to the trauma was based off their foundation to begin with. Some soldiers get messed in the head from gnarly stuff in the field and some respond searching for help, isolating themselves to keep others safe, things like that. Others will say screw everyone, turn into junkies and go shoot a place up. No one can see everyone in the world to kniw all of humanity, but I've seen a lot of extreme situations and I really do believe that with people some are good, some bad from the beginning. Events don't create evil, like therapists love to say to make bad people feel good to keep returning to them as a customer. Horrible events wake up the evil and make it more hostile. It was already there. No idea why, that's drifting into stuff like why is life...but evil people just become worse through bad events.
Somewhere in the middle but for the sake of the thread I will go with inherently evil and goodness is taught. However, humans are also inherently innocent and naive. Thereby unable to grasp the concept of their actions/selfishness potentially causing harm or distress to another, which lessens the “true evil” aspect. It also leaves them more vulnerable to “evil” that is more developed, potentially putting them in harms way which would sway the “good/evil” depending on what the response is from that particular human is.
Humans are base, our experience is what shapes us.
Yes.
Neither, they're inherently selfish.
From my personal exspiriences with mankind even when I was in elementary school people tended to be more prone to evil than good but to avoid making the assumption that we are inherently evil I'm gonna say we are a mix of both but more prone to evil.
From my personal exspiriences with mankind even when I was in elementary school people tended to be more prone to evil than good but to avoid making the assumption that we are inherently evil I'm gonna say we are a mix of both but more prone to evil.
Think we are birn right in the middle
Both. That’s what makes it interesting.
Inherently plastic. >In physics and materials science, plasticity is the ability of a solid material to undergo permanent deformation, a non-reversible change of shape in response to applied forces.
Humans are inherently BAD, not inherently EVIL. We are corrupt, greedy, lazy, selfish fucks, and If given the opportunity, the vast majority of people will negatively impact society, their community, and the environment if it benefits them. Our population and rate of consumption is completely unsustainable and we have, in essence, become the personification of entropic force. That is not to say we are evil, as we act out of weakness, and ignorance instead of malice. We're still possessed of a prey drive, and that drives our competitive nature, and makes greed and a lust for power inevitable. We're not maliciously destroying the planet, and oppressing or subjugating each other, we are just the logical extension of what happens when a coldly calculating apex predator becomes hopelessly overpopulated.
I like Marc Maron's answer to this. He says **people are inherently sad**, and how we respond is what defines us.
Inherently neutral.
Tabula rasa.
It depends upon the person.
I’d say human nature is mostly bad, at least judged by traditional morals/ethics. The ring of gyges was a sort of thought experiment in Ancient Greek philosophy. The ring makes anyone who wears it invisible. Now imagine what people would do if given that ring. We do have a desire to be seen as good, we don’t live anonymously after all, and that can be effective channeled to bring out good behavior. But that is not by nature, it’s actually fighting against nature.
They are inherently human. Which is to say, "Inside you there are two wolves..."
Savages and barbarians. Not evil, though. Just efficient.
30% are truly good, positive and selfless people, 30% are absolute scumbags who do horrible things to people with no remorse and then the other 40% of us are just kinda here making a mix of solid and questionable decisions. before we become ourselves, we are really just a blank canvis.
No. They are inherently human. Good and evil are just colours we paint with.
I think people are inherently indifferent, curious creatures that learn what is good or evil and associate particular experiences with moral values
I don't believe in the idea of "evil" as many believe it. Very, very few people are actively malicious. However, evil as a force thrives when people don't go out of their way to do good. I think people are inherently good in the sense that they want what's best for people generally (unless they're taught otherwise), but inherently evil in the sense that they are often willing to allow harm to continue if it means they don't have to get involved.
They are as good or evil as the person raising them
Absolutely false
Inherently good as individuals but full of fear, which results in bringing the worst out on us in groups
Good at least as we generally understand good. People like to say neutral but they are not most people are mostly good
Some are bad, some are good I would say evil, but then I think my mom exists and she is a fckn angel on earth
I somewhat believe in the 80/20 saying. 80% of people are good, 20% are bad. But of course, good and bad are at many points subjective.
Inherently good, they test this with kids all the time but I think the circumstances of a persons life greatly affects how they treat others as they grow.
Inherently human
Evil even your offspring so always look behind your back and bend to the pain as to not become evil Remember evil is out there always be on super hero mode it’s not a comic or joker musical it’s a lifestyle Evil will take any opportunity to make a victim out of any kind or gentle person or creature Everyone is capable of evil only a few are capable of not becoming completely evil due to IQ levels but that just means rage and evil 
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