Are humans innately good or evil?

Are humans innately good or evil?

good	15.7%	[ 8 ]
evil	15.7%	[ 8 ]
neutral (they learn one way or the other)	68.6%	[ 35 ]
Total Votes:			[ 51 ]

[Lucky~9~Lives]

LaughingWombat

I'm having to make the assumption that whatever belief you do hold to it's not one you feel you can defend.

Not on my account, I hope.
- ninja

[Aporeia]

Evil. Some view our animalistic nature as evil, and it is certainly something we can't avoid. Others see our animal side as good, and say it is our sentience which draws us to darker shores. However you view it, be it these or other thoughts, the way I see it is that we must strive to be good, but evil comes naturally.

[chessiejo]

the Christian story says we were originally made in God's image (good)

but fell from grace through sin and messed up the whole world (bad)

but Jesus is the "second Adam" and through faith in him (and getting close to him, trying to live like him) we can recapture that first divine image (good).

so it's like a back and forth tug of war, maybe.

[The Manly Catholic]

rshl

An interesting question posed to me by one of my instructors that has continued to randomly haunt me for the past few months as I struggle for an intelligent or rational answer.

Personally, I would like to believe that humans are naturally good. Any other thought would cause me to question why I like to be nice to people. I enjoy being kind, and the thought that perhaps humans naturally are simply designed to be evil and against one another would be highly depressing. It would also cause me to seek out those who are also kind and question their motives, for if we are all evil, are the good ones crazy?

Humans being are innately Good. But we are predisposed to the temptations of Evil because of Original Sin which we are all born with, and which is helped with by Baptism in the Holy Spirit.

[rshl]

According to that logic, the only reason the fruit was bad was because we were told not to eat it. It was named so. If ignorance allowed them to eat the fruit, the would still be neither good nor evil still. Is curiosity evil?

[daionara]

I'm a Christian so of course my viewpoint comes first from the Bible. Then, from life.

Humans are innately evil. Evil covers ALL sin. Lying is evil. Jealousy is evil. Stealing is evil. Coveting (wishing you had what someone else has) is evil. So, we are innately evil beings.

If we were innately good, we'd be pushing ourselves to feel evil things, to do evil things. Instead, for most humans, it takes strength of character to turn away from that which is bad.

I consider myself to be (by human standards) a good person. But, I still sometimes wish I had what someone else has. I still have lingering disharmonious thoughts towards the woman who waggled herself in my husbands face, thus causing him to become my ex husband.

[Mitsuki Horenake]

Humans are innately selfish. That doesn't mean that they're evil, however: they are selfish in the same sense that the predators are selfish for not sharing their kills to other animals. Remember, one of the major notions of religion (at least, my inner scientist claims) is to provide the "selfless being" a "reward" for their deeds, namely being saved. In a way, that is kind of selfish.

But that's just the animal genes we have.

[MonickerPenis]

The question that haunts every educated person's mind.

"Good or evil?"

[Ashenflame]

I think people in general are simply opportunistic. If it's in their best interest they do it. Whether that's robbing a store to pay your bills or turning in a robber so they don't steal from you again or those you care about. Not saying living examples of good and evil don't exist, there are some who always try to help others regardless of the impact it has on themselves and those who hurt others for no good reason.

[Ryo Tarn]

Neither. We're innately selfish, but that's not evil or good.

[Stevoner]

I believe we are all neutral until we decide otherwise, we decide based on how the world has treated us. Everyone has something that will turn them into a bad person it's just a matter of time until that something finds you. I don't want to sound crazy but I wish I could be evil sometimes, I wish I could be mean and devastating but it's just not me, I learned that being nice is the right thing to do and I can't bring myself to do otherwise, but one day maybe something will come around and I'll say enough is enough time for some payback and there you have a person can turn to evil or good. A person is either good or evil dependent upon the circumstances. Also what we see as evil is good to somebody else. I could steal food from somebody and it would be evil, but if I give that food to someone who needs it then I'm a good guy in their eyes. Everything is dependent on perspective. Hitler killed millions of people and that is evil, any one of you would think Hitler is pure evil, but his people loved him, he saved them so to them he was the good guy. He was a good guy with bad methods, but when it comes down to it he helped make millions of peoples lives better. I'm not justifying what he did, I'm just saying when you judge someone to be good or evil you have to look at both sides of the coin before you flip it.

[HeIIoKrissy]

Has anyone ever read up on the Eichmann trials? He's a good example when discussing human disposition. Basically, he was a Nazi war criminal that was sentenced to death after WWII. But before he was sentenced, they did a lot of psychological testing on him. To their surprise, Eichmann was a really normal dude. Some of the psychologists reported that he seemed more sane than themselves. Going through his past, however, we find that he had a hard time fitting in in Germany. He didn't graduate from high school, his family was displeased with him, and he bounced around from job to job before finally being admitted into the Nazi party. This was finally somewhere he fit in, and it was an entire political system that treated the Jews as pests. There seemed to be a complete shift in morality there. People in Germany were looked down upon for hiding Jews in their homes, not turning them in was the "wrong" thing to do. Like mentioned before, morals are defined by a society-- and for this society, everything was a** backwards.
Basically, the point I'm trying to make and the point my professor brought up while discussing Eichmann is that... this could have happened to anyone. This guy was not very different from you and I. This is why it's important not to assume that just because something is legal, that it is okay.

[Spike_Flair]

rshl

An interesting question posed to me by one of my instructors that has continued to randomly haunt me for the past few months as I struggle for an intelligent or rational answer.

Personally, I would like to believe that humans are naturally good. Any other thought would cause me to question why I like to be nice to people. I enjoy being kind, and the thought that perhaps humans naturally are simply designed to be evil and against one another would be highly depressing. It would also cause me to seek out those who are also kind and question their motives, for if we are all evil, are the good ones crazy?

Humans are only as good or evil as you believe them to be.
Some sets of beliefs will tell you that humans are innately good while others will tell you that humans are innately evil, and some will tell you that there is no universal evil and that humans have a certain nature that is not inherently good or evil but simply is what it is.

Regardless of the nature of humanity, how we are is how we are, and thus we cannot be anything more or less than what we can be. Human nature is as natural as anything else and thus is just natural. Should we depress ourselves with what is only natural or should we accept it for what it is and learn to work with our circumstances?

[Mayve Yume Draygon]

rshl

An interesting question posed to me by one of my instructors that has continued to randomly haunt me for the past few months as I struggle for an intelligent or rational answer.

Personally, I would like to believe that humans are naturally good. Any other thought would cause me to question why I like to be nice to people. I enjoy being kind, and the thought that perhaps humans naturally are simply designed to be evil and against one another would be highly depressing. It would also cause me to seek out those who are also kind and question their motives, for if we are all evil, are the good ones crazy?

Based on my own observations and discussions I've had with other people on similar subjects. I would have to say that humans are innately neutral. As a species humans are social creatures and are instinctively driven to function in a way that encourages survival. That generally leads us to be empathetic because "safety in numbers" and all that.

I don't remember where I read it, but I'll loosely paraphrase the idea as I remember it: what we consider to be moral is what furthered our survival as a species; no killing each other, no stealing, or lying because it eventually leads to harm of ourselves and of fellow humans.

Sorry if I butchered that concept and if anyone else knows the source please let me know, I can't remember and would like to read it again.

People on the whole aren't really good or evil, selfish or self-centered maybe, but nothing is ever that clear-cut or black and white in real life. As thinking and rational beings we follow our own moral codes based on a mix of upbringing and instinct.

[Sir Kyle of Elsewhere]

A human being, from birth onward, naturally looks for the most beneficial ways to live. We are animals with an overdeveloped cortex so we are able to question and reason. Due to this, our actions caused by instinct are significantly less because we may now think. We can be envious, we can be malicious, we can be covetous, we can also be downright selfish. However, we may also be kind, empathetic, selfless, and just moral. Human beings go either way. This also depends on where and how you were brought up sometimes. For instance, a child may be born into a racist, malicious, and downright vile family, and they might grow up just the same, but the child could also meet someone who makes them think differently, or they may get put up for adoption and be taken in by a family that is the exact opposite of their real one. Good and Bad are subjective and they can rely on probability. You may be evil and do something good for everybody without knowing it because to you it was a selfish reason. Or you could be good and do something bad out of ignorance. So human beings aren't necessarily either all good or all bad. We're a bit of both and our environment may have a massive effect on how we are.


Oh by the way if you think this is a good observation could you do me a favor and quote it or tip it? I'm trying to get some achievements.