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bdylanfan

- 3 years ago

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Are We Good Or Bad?

In school this year I was forced to read "Lord Of the Flies" by William Golding. This novel is all about the dark nature of human beings and how we are all basically evil but are capable of doing good. The author truly believed this, for he was a World War II veteran who saw the horrible atrocities of war. Since reading this novel I have been thinking about this a lot. Are we basically evil but capable of doing good or are we all basically good and capable of commiting evil acts? What do you think and why?

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People aren't basically good or evil; those words describe intentions and a morality that aren't you can't really attribute to human nature. We're a product of our genetics and our environment; you would be amazed about how strong of an effect a simple set of circumstances has over our decision making processes.

A concept from Scripture is that the tree may be known by the fruit it bears. What sort of fruit does Humanity as a whole bear? Any assessment would have to cover the full spectrum of Humanity from our few brightest stars to our multitude of worst perpetrators of evil. Such a picture may not be a pretty one. We are capable of great good, but all too often -- both collectively and perhaps even personally -- we opt for the easier path which too often leads to evil. We live in a modern world where acts of evil and hatred and selfishness are abundant (we need several hours of broadcast time and numerous pages of newsprint to run them all down), and acts of kindness, goodness and self-sacrifice are all too rare. Which would resonate in the concept of the original sin, perceived bs or not. Our nature, given the choice, is to to what comes easiest ("You shall not die but rather, become as unto gods yourself!" - the serpent). And what comes easiest is usually not the most wholesome or altruistic of paths. These require effort that we seem less and less inclined to exercise as we get busier and busier with the distractions of life. And I don't know if I agree with the idea of it being something we "grow into". We all know that children and even infants are capable of great cruelty to each other. "Naive", yes. "Blameless" perhaps, as they don't know any better. But "innocent"? I think we all carry not just the capacity but the inclination for great evil from our first breath. Youngsters will be cruel one to another without training or prompting, and as easily as breathing. And examining even an extreme case like Hitler, it really didn't take that much in the way of unusual circumstances to push him over the edge into an infamy that we as a species would just love to disown as a "fluke". But I don't think we can. The good news is that we (perhaps) unlike all other animals, can change our nature should we wish it. We can opt to focus on the Light, while setting the darker sides of our psyche aside to atrophy, and over time change does occur. But I would daresay that one cannot change, that which they will not first own. And that is a step that I think we are loathe to take: because it would be admitting a fundamental flaw. Which is perhaps why, after so many prophets, sages, wise ones, bright stars, messiahs and incarnations, we still have not made that much progress spiritually over 2000 years ago.

I'm not sure if we are all both.... but there are definitely both kinds all around us.... I confidently see myself as "good"... but able and have done bad things, with regret..... but I don't feed off of bad things.... I've seen people that thrive on being bad... and destructive.. and reject good deeds.... even getting mad at people who are kind... thinking they are weak and inferior... some people are troubled... and some people just like to cause trouble... with 7 billion people here... "good" or "bad"... can never be a common label..

http://www.lucifereffect.org/" target="_blank">http://www.lucifereffect.org/ ps. original sin is bs

I think we are innocent when we are born. We are also of course completely naive. Like a clean slate. Full of human potential and depending on the early circumstances of our lives develop accordingly.The book Summerhill by A.S.Neill is a real eye opener and well worth a read. It blows the lid off the way we understand children and the ways in which we go about teaching them and preparing them for life in the world.

Well first off I think "good" and "bad" are some pretty relative, even arbitrary terms and don't really advance the discussion. "Ugly" and "sweet," are probably going to yield better results regarding human behavior. I think it is important in any instance where there is a moral act to consider the moral agency of the actor and not just the act itself. What knowledge if any did the agent have of the situation? To what degree was the agent self-aware? How capable was the agent? Think of the play "To Kill a Mockingbird," and the characters in it. You had Atticus Finch who was at the pinnacle of moral agency, and you had characters whose moral agency was compromised due to age and lack of experience, prejudices, and so on. The play can be considered a primer on ethics as it relates to moral agency. Regarding "Lord of the Flies," every character on the island lacked moral agency to varying degrees. This is not evidence that human beings are inherently evil, it is evidence that human beings inherently at the least lack adequate situational knowledge. Here is an example I've used before: Let's suppose a mother brings home a newborn son and her three year old daughter sees the child's penis for the first time and asks the mother what it is. The mother tells the daughter that it is something the doctors forgot to cut off at the hospital. She leaves the room for a minute only to return to see her daughter holding a pair of bloody scissors. We can all agree that genital mutilation is an unfortunate action. As for the blameworthiness and praiseworthiness of the actors in this situation, who really, is at fault? Must fault be assigned, or can it be said to have been an accident? Morality is not black and white, but not for lack of trying on our parts.

Sometimes I wonder which model is more helpful. I think it is more helpful to say I am good. If I am "bad" do I have the tools to become good? But if I am good, then surely I have the tools to train my bad aspects. The I am good model helps me more.

We are both, and capable of both, of different times. BUT unless one is mentally unhinged I don't believe people deliberately set out to do something bad. What anyone wants is to feel good. Evil results when we care more about feeling good than doing good for everyone and not just ourselves.

SoulPancake

bdylanfan

Are We Good Or Bad?

geryllynn

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fungotheclown

Griz

calholli

TommyLew_Who

http://www.lucifereffect.org/" target="_blank">http://www.lucifereffect.org/ ps. original sin is bs

Dali

zamfir

Jennifer

Sometimes I wonder which model is more helpful. I think it is more helpful to say I am good. If I am "bad" do I have the tools to become good? But if I am good, then surely I have the tools to train my bad aspects. The I am good model helps me more.

BlueCrayon

We are both, and capable of both, of different times. BUT unless one is mentally unhinged I don't believe people deliberately set out to do something bad. What anyone wants is to feel good. Evil results when we care more about feeling good than doing good for everyone and not just ourselves.

Are We Good Or Bad?

(Binary/Image)

http://www.lucifereffect.org/" target="_blank">http://www.lucifereffect.org/ ps. original sin is bs

Sometimes I wonder which model is more helpful. I think it is more helpful to say I am good. If I am "bad" do I have the tools to become good? But if I am good, then surely I have the tools to train my bad aspects. The I am good model helps me more.

We are both, and capable of both, of different times. BUT unless one is mentally unhinged I don't believe people deliberately set out to do something bad. What anyone wants is to feel good. Evil results when we care more about feeling good than doing good for everyone and not just ourselves.

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