are people inherently good or evil?

are people born good or evil?

Total Votes:

[ 0 ]

This poll closed on January 9, 2005.
No longer accepting new votes.

[K-chan_13]

winter__dreams

...i dun think that people r born evil...or good i suppose...yes i agree that as years past we kno how to become kind and generous to other people...but also as we grow older we kno how to become selfish, inconsiderate and greedy...i suppose that when we were born we innocent but neither good nor evil...and as we age we begin our life lessons and our personalities begin to form and take shape of who we r...

Can I throw a curve ball at you?

isn't innocence ignorance...?

and that in itself considered lack of knowledge so we are really not knowing whter something is good or bad, we just learn it when we are small as something we saw others do...

Monkey see, Monkey do...

[K-chan_13]

Lillith-Angel

K-chan_13

Okay, you complemented me... thanks for that...

i may have done some stupid things too but i have said i'm sorry and am ready to move on... can we plz do that?

<center>Meh. I was being sarcastic.</center>

?

[miss_honda]

K-chan_13

If people were so good, then why would god have to send his son down to repent for OUR sins?

I agree with you on this point especially. in fact I just wrote a speech on sin and salvation and our need for it.

[George Goat]

Neither, the interpretation of "good" or "evil" are seen differently by EVERY human in existence.

We, are born IGNORANT, and everything we do is just an effect, neither positive or negative in the eyes of nature ad physics. We have no comprehension of what we *believe* to be good or evil, (we're not quite as deluded back then I suppose) either, so certainly neither.

And everyone's behavior and actions are different, and fueled by many factors. That question, is ridiculous in that it is quite limited to personal generalization and is shallow, and neither option is really true.

[K-chan_13]

miss_honda

username_here

Neither...we are an open book from the time we're born to about the ages of nine and ten.
Anything we do that can be construed as evil during that time is all a part of our experimentation with the world. It's only after that do we begin to develope into who we become in the future.

Also, who we are brought up by and the people we are around influence us.

i disagree.
my little sister lied to me before she was two years old and my other sister who is three lies to me all the time.
and I don't think they were greatly infulenced to do that
you have to teach children what is wrong and how we should act
if people are born good then they would act good all the time right...?

Nice one... but if people were born bad... would they be bad all the time...

people who start charities are considered good people...

[Alexandrea Zenne]

K-chan_13

Alexandrea Zenne

K-chan_13

Okay, let me put it like so... they are doing there research but they want a difference of opinions... they sadly do not have access to Gaia and asked me to put this up for them and see what people thought.

is this hard to understand?

Ah, they want different opinions. In that case, it's not your place to go screaming (IE large font, angry tone) at others for having a different opinion than yours, because yours is not a factor in the purpose of this thread.

FYI, that was not for the differnt opinions... it was for the lacking of supporting thier ideas with evidence, otherwise everything said is an opinion.....

Opinion doesn't neccessarily entail facts, all the time. Supporting ideas with evidence is the job of the researcher.

[BlamHalo2]

It depeneds. stare

[My credit card number is]

K-chan_13

Falconee_Nyxis

I think you need to consider more dimensions.
We seem to have the irritatingly small capacity to contemplate ONLY good and evil, black and white, no grey.

What else would you suggest is there?
When we are born, all we know is: "i want this so I'm going to make my family's life hell until i get it."
As we mature over time... our parents normally teach us the difference between right and wrong.. The only thing stopping us from doing right all the time is knowing the easiest way is the wrong way...

Example: Your parents found someone stealing there money from thier room...
You either A. Take responsibility and get in serious trouble or
B. Blame a smaller sibling or tell them a lie flat out....

Donnie Darko: "Well you can just shove the lifeline up your a**!"

For those of you who haven't seen that movie, go back to sleep.

[K-chan_13]

JapKidd15

Okay, i can understand the angle you are taking on this but your interpratation of it is so far off.

the thing is, that people eirther are born good or evil.. no inbetween. if you want something so bad... what would you do in order to atain it?

steal?
lie?
even kill?

all babies can do is cry and get upset but you know they want something. to want is considered a bad and selfish quality in our society so on that... do you understand my point a little more or is it as clear as mud?

i myself had to ponder everything i typed a little to make sure it made sense.

i see what you are saying. but i disagree. i have an experiment for you, alright? i want you to stick a born baby in a room....no human contact. can the baby walk to obtain food? can the baby mash its own food to feed itself? the answer to the 2 are obviously no. just like animal babies, human babies can not survive without support. animal and human parents protect and feed their young until their offsprings are old enough to care for themselves.
as for the first question you asked, if i wanted something so bad...i would work for it. i am currently saving up for a car. i want to have a car really bad *i do*...i will not steal for it...i wont kill for it...i will work for it. to get food, i will work for it. to earn my master's degree in engineering, i will work for it.

Okay, i have two answers for you...

one: not all baby animals are cared for by their parents.... Baby sea turtles are left alone to fend for themselves by crossing the whole beach until the reach the ocean while most of them are picked off by carnavors...

Two: i'm not necisarily talking about what would you do at your current age... more of after you were born...

i can see you were mostly on the right track but, i wish in some way i could make what i'm typing clearer to you so we could have a full out discussion.

[K-chan_13]

miss_honda

K-chan_13

If people were so good, then why would god have to send his son down to repent for OUR sins?

I agree with you on this point especially. in fact I just wrote a speech on sin and salvation and our need for it.

I'm glad you understand my point...

Ps.... did you get your name from fruits basket?

I LOVE SHIGURE AND AYAME!!

**slaps herself** back to discussion...

[miss_honda]

K-chan_13

miss_honda

username_here

Neither...we are an open book from the time we're born to about the ages of nine and ten.
Anything we do that can be construed as evil during that time is all a part of our experimentation with the world. It's only after that do we begin to develope into who we become in the future.

Also, who we are brought up by and the people we are around influence us.

i disagree.
my little sister lied to me before she was two years old and my other sister who is three lies to me all the time.
and I don't think they were greatly infulenced to do that
you have to teach children what is wrong and how we should act
if people are born good then they would act good all the time right...?

Nice one... but if people were born bad... would they be bad all the time...

people who start charities are considered good people...

very true there are chocies that people to do good or to do evil
however the question remains do people start a certain way?
i believe they do and once they learn the difference then they can make the choice of how to act

[Sebastian B Gartner]

K-chan_13

Lillith-Angel

kaotik red eyes

@Lillith-Angel & KATLIN (haha): You guys are on totally opposite ends of the spectrum, meaning you won't get very far and all you seem to be doing is going back and forth. You're not really discussing the topic so much as trying to pick at each other's faults.

<center>Not really.

I, myself, am defending.</center>

As am I... Jane, your really not helping me now.... I want to work this out so we can have a good discussion....

I'm probably not adding to the discussion, but all this 'defending' is really making no positive progress in the discussion.

And why does this friend of yours need research anyway? I'm pretty sure nobody in our class researched...we didn't really NEED to, did we? All you really needed to do was write the essay with supporting facts and details and refer to the book in some way, right?

[K-chan_13]

George Goat

Neither, the interpretation of "good" or "evil" are seen differently by EVERY human in existence.

We, are born IGNORANT, and everything we do is just an effect, neither positive or negative in the eyes of nature ad physics. We have no comprehension of what we *believe* to be good or evil, (we're not quite as deluded back then I suppose) either, so certainly neither.

And everyone's behavior and actions are different, and fueled by many factors. That question, is ridiculous in that it is quite limited to personal generalization and is shallow, and neither option is really true.

That is true that the only answer to this question is only one choice... opinion. Yet, the opinions can be backed up with thought and evidence explainning how it could be logical. the question was not my invention but from the school system to get our school and possibly others thinking philisophically.

As towards what you said on ignorance;
people are born with ignorance cause then, a baby's brain capacity is probably the size of a large acorn. innocence is therefore found within the depth of ignorance...

the first time you here a baby cry, it sounds so cute and so helpless... but after maybe the 20th night in a row... you start to become annoyed and wish it would stop so you caould get some sleep. Yet the reason the baby is crying is so that it can get something IT wants... therefore selfishness is a trade we have learned since the day we were born.

[K-chan_13]

kaotik red eyes

K-chan_13

Lillith-Angel

kaotik red eyes

@Lillith-Angel & KATLIN (haha): You guys are on totally opposite ends of the spectrum, meaning you won't get very far and all you seem to be doing is going back and forth. You're not really discussing the topic so much as trying to pick at each other's faults.

<center>Not really.

I, myself, am defending.</center>

As am I... Jane, your really not helping me now.... I want to work this out so we can have a good discussion....

I'm probably not adding to the discussion, but all this 'defending' is really making no positive progress in the discussion.

And why does this friend of yours need research anyway? I'm pretty sure nobody in our class researched...we didn't really NEED to, did we? All you really needed to do was write the essay with supporting facts and details and refer to the book in some way, right?

Ja-san... you know of whom, i speak... and no, we didn't need it.. but the person is confused as to the whole qeustion of the essay and she does not know what to write and how to express her personal opinion...

[Silvermoonkasumii]

K-chan_13

George Goat

Neither, the interpretation of "good" or "evil" are seen differently by EVERY human in existence.

We, are born IGNORANT, and everything we do is just an effect, neither positive or negative in the eyes of nature ad physics. We have no comprehension of what we *believe* to be good or evil, (we're not quite as deluded back then I suppose) either, so certainly neither.

And everyone's behavior and actions are different, and fueled by many factors. That question, is ridiculous in that it is quite limited to personal generalization and is shallow, and neither option is really true.

That is true that the only answer to this question is only one choice... opinion. Yet, the opinions can be backed up with thought and evidence explainning how it could be logical. the question was not my invention but from the school system to get our school and possibly others thinking philisophically.

As towards what you said on ignorance;
people are born with ignorance cause then, a baby's brain capacity is probably the size of a large acorn. innocence is therefore found within the depth of ignorance...

the first time you here a baby cry, it sounds so cute and so helpless... but after maybe the 20th night in a row... you start to become annoyed and wish it would stop so you caould get some sleep. Yet the reason the baby is crying is so that it can get something IT wants... therefore selfishness is a trade we have learned since the day we were born.

A baby isn't crying because it is selfish, it's crying because it is helpless. Your means of obtaining food and other comforts are learned over a lifetime. The baby is physically unable,and learned that the only way to obtain things is by alerting you that it wants them. That is not selfish, it is life.