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Are people inherently good or bad?

O

oznerol

Platinum Member
Yes, yes. "Good" and "bad" are arbitrary and subjective. Blah blah blah.

Based on whatever grounds and moral structure you want - are humans, at their very core, good or bad?
 
?When people see some things as beautiful,
other things become ugly.
When people see some things as good,
other things become bad.?
 
I would say they are inherently weak, as in they are very susceptible to doing bad things, but I do not think they are born good or bad. A lot depends on how they were raised etc...
 
We got asked this in high school (a long time ago!) as part of an assignment after reading Lord of the Flies. I've spent time on and off over the years coming back to the question. Ultimately I think it's a misframed question, and that people are not inherently good or bad. However, in general I think that people are inherently selfish (self interest is an evolutionary adaptation after all), which can sometimes lead to bad behaviors. The human mind also has an unfortunate proclivity for classifying people into categories, making it all too easy to create "them" vs "us" scenarios.
 
Bad, by far. Even the people who do nothing but good in life are bad, because they only do that good because some freak mutation in their mind makes them feel good when they act good, so they are actually only doing good for selfish reasons.
 
Originally posted by: Pheran
We got asked this in high school (a long time ago!) as part of an assignment after reading Lord of the Flies. I've spent time on and off over the years coming back to the question. Ultimately I think it's a misframed question, and that people are not inherently good or bad. However, in general I think that people are inherently selfish (self interest is an evolutionary adaptation after all), which can sometimes lead to bad behaviors. The human mind also has an unfortunate proclivity for classifying people into categories, making it all too easy to create "them" vs "us" scenarios.
Click to expand...

...and if the categories don't exist, inventing them.
 
People are inherently bad.

Look at what happens when you have societies/governments that base their structure upon the belief that people are "good". Take a look at socialist type governments.

If people were "good" at their core, we wouldn't need governments to create and enforce laws. A great example in current times is look at what caused the current financial mess. People got greedy and cared more about getting themself further regardless of who suffered because of it. If people were "good" at their core, we wouldn't have run into issues like the mortgage mess. People would have protected the person trying to get a home they never should have qualified for by not allowing them to.

EDIT: To give you a reference frame on my views, to answer this question you must take a look at our race as a whole and what is best for humanity. So from the standpoint of "Are people inherently good or bad", I take the view of "do peoples actions generally benefit humanity, or are they detrimental?" If you agree to define that as the framework for the question, then my arguement stands.
 
Originally posted by: moshquerade
I say more are inherently good than bad. We just hear about the bad ones far more often.
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I'd argue that even when people are doing something "good", it isn't really "good" for our race as a whole.
 
It seems you're completely ignoring the "nature vs nurture" debate with this question and declaring "nature" as the definitive answer. I've come to believe that it's truly a mix of a both and that there are traits we gain that can define us in certain ways.
 
Neither. It's more the combination of people's genes, upbringing, and social interactions. All of those things combined are what will make a person "good" or "bad".

KT
 
Originally posted by: Chiropteran
Bad, by far. Even the people who do nothing but good in life are bad, because they only do that good because some freak mutation in their mind makes them feel good when they act good, so they are actually only doing good for selfish reasons.
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So to open another can of worms, if nothing but external benefit is brought about through selfishness, is selfishness such a bad thing?
 
Being a nurse, I deal with people day in and day out, and in the worst of circumstances, I am constantly amazed at the innate goodness in my fellow man. Of course there are exceptions, but they are the exceptions.
 
I'm going to conduct a life long experiment. I'm going to adopt some very young children (0-1 years) and raise one half with psychological and systematic abuse. The other half with love and care. Let's see which ones turn out to be transsexuals/serial killers/criminals and the goodies.
 
Originally posted by: Aikouka
It seems you're completely ignoring the "nature vs nurture" debate with this question and declaring "nature" as the definitive answer. I've come to believe that it's truly a mix of a both and that there are traits we gain that can define us in certain ways.
Click to expand...

Originally posted by: KeithTalent
Neither. It's more the combination of people's genes, upbringing, and social interactions. All of those things combined are what will make a person "good" or "bad".

KT
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Then, refine the question to ask "Are people inherently good or bad in today's world?"

Do you believe the way society is right now, people are "good" or "bad"?

Do you believe that if you took a human, and raised it in another "perfect" society would that child be "good" or "bad"? Are humans able to be nurtured to be altruistic?

There are certainly "bad" people in our society who are "bad" simply because of how they were raised. The real question is, if you remove that "bad parenting" aspect and look purely on a natural level are humans "good" or "bad"?
 
Originally posted by: invidia
I'm going to conduct a life long experiment. I'm going to adopt some very young children (0-1 years) and raise one half with psychological and systematic abuse. The other half with love and care. Let's see which ones turn out to be transsexuals/serial killers/criminals and the goodies.
Click to expand...

Ummm....

transsexuals are "bad"?
 
Originally posted by: DisgruntledVirus
Do you believe that if you took a human, and raised it in another "perfect" society would that child be "good" or "bad"? Are humans able to be nurtured to be altruistic?
Click to expand...

We both answered the question in the same exact manner that also answers this one... it's a mix of both genetics and upbringing (although KT also threw in social situations, which I'd lump into upbringing as upbringing to me isn't just about parenting and guidelines but really the overall set of experiences). I don't see how someone cannot be bad but be altruistic at the same time either.
 
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