Poll: Are human beings born good or evil?

[Talshere]

I believe that humans are born with a scale with both good and evil balanced at 50%, everytime that person does something good the balance shifts to the good side. when they do something bad the balance shifts to the evil side

when the person dies depending on the balance of their soul determins if they go to heaven or hell.

and stuff...

In this case, how can we know who is evil? History is littered with examples of war's, murder's and a like that have been carries out "for their own good", "to protect everyone else". Who are are we to decide if they are evil. Or anyone? They did what they believe best, and knowing how it would end, would do it again for the same reason.

by that logic your saying a murder could kill a defenceless child if he thought it was for the greater good

No I'm saying they are people who would murder a baby to prevent Hitler from ever coming to power. There people would kill a small child, who is innocent of anything, after all at this point he has done nothing wrong, and they would have done it "for the greater good" and tbh a lot of people would support them for it, while a lot of others would decry it as murder. My own opinions on killing Hitler as a child can be found elsewhere on these forums. But this however, is an example of being able to murder someone "for the greater good".


But even Hitler killed of the Jews for a "good reason" he just got carried away. At that time, the Jewish population held the majority of Germanys wealth, which during the great depression was a big deal. You kill the Jew and you give the German people 2 things they need, control over their wealth, as the government would seize assets, and someone to blame for their current state, something to focus the people, so that action could be taken, after all, disillusioned and depressed people rarely do anything to help themselves.

I've no doubt that Hitler did what he thought was necessary to help bring the German people confidence again, and drag them out of the depression, and to be fair to him, it worked. Germany were the first country out of depression. Had he won, no doubt in 200-400 years time, once the whole "suppressed nation" wore off, we would all believe this. After all, history is written by the victory.

 

[Dumbfish1]

I believe that humans are born with a scale with both good and evil balanced at 50%, everytime that person does something good the balance shifts to the good side. when they do something bad the balance shifts to the evil side

when the person dies depending on the balance of their soul determins if they go to heaven or hell.

and stuff...

Thats a nice idea but there's really far much more going on in life than a scale with 'good' on one end and 'bad' on the other. I mean, right and wrong aren't even predetermined, everyone has their own morale compass.

It's generally accepted that stealing is wrong. Now say a woman steals a loaf of bread to feed her starving baby. I personally belive that that is an act of kindness, but the owner of the bread is unlikely to think the same way.

Even less black and white than that you have conflict between what is belived to be right and wrong by the catholic church and the goverment. The goverment have absolutly no problem with contraception, even promoting it and handing out free condoms at clinics around the UK. As far as they're concerned it stops the conception of an unwanted child, who is unlikely to be as well looked after as a planned child (a generalization on my part). The clever ones among you will of no doubt guessed my next point which is that the church views contraception as a sin. Who are we to deny the conception of one of gods creatures. Sex in their eyes is supposed to be for conception, not pleasure. Right and wrong in that sense depends entirely on you social predudice, wether you adhere to the monotheistic doctrines, or are atheist.


In answer to your question I belive how we are brought up effects how we behave, and that there isn't an afterlife.

 

[oktalist]

I believe that humans are born with a scale with both good and evil balanced at 50%, everytime that person does something good the balance shifts to the good side. when they do something bad the balance shifts to the evil side

Then tell me which is the good choice and which is the evil choice here: you are the first to arrive at a car crash. The car may explode at any moment. Inside it is a little girl and her elderly grandfather. The man's injuries suggest he has a 90% chance of survival. The girl's injuries are more severe and she has more like a 50% chance of survival if rescued immediately. [del]Who do you rescue first?[/del] Which is the good choice and which is the evil choice?

now who the hell said anything about ME being good or evil, i know im a disrespective bastard and the people i know have gotten used to it...

Fixed. I didn't really mean what would you do, but which choice is good and which is evil. Making the point that actions cannot be defined as 100% good or 100% evil, because there are always going to be good and bad consequences to any action.

but if i had to i would save the girl first and TRY to go back for the man

Well emergency personnel are trained to save the man first in this situation, as he has the higher chance of survival.

 

[ssgt splatter]

Some are born good, some are born evil, and some are born to be assholes.

 

[Cozzzy]

Voted other. Some people are nasty and sadistic from a very young age (even without any influences) yet others are the total opposite. I believe it's random, then influenced by genetics and then upbringing.

 

[Broken Boy]

Children are born totaly devoid of any concept of morality. I don´t think anyone would question that. Without these concepts, they just do what is natural: Ensure their own survival.
This can come across as evil, becaus it is uncaring and selfish, but it can not be called that, because for someone to be that, they need a concept of what their doing.
A dog that bites you is not evil either, and babys are like animals in their behaviour.

When they grow some kind of morality, and continue to be assholes, yes, then they are obviously assholes ;-)

Seconds this.

My thoughts put into words & made simple most I try to explain this to cant grasp what I'm saying. tyvm ; )

 

[Cazza]

What is this? A role playing game? It all a matter of opinion.

 

[UnwishedGunz]

I believe that humans are born with a scale with both good and evil balanced at 50%, everytime that person does something good the balance shifts to the good side. when they do something bad the balance shifts to the evil side

when the person dies depending on the balance of their soul determins if they go to heaven or hell.

and stuff...

In this case, how can we know who is evil? History is littered with examples of war's, murder's and a like that have been carries out "for their own good", "to protect everyone else". Who are are we to decide if they are evil. Or anyone? They did what they believe best, and knowing how it would end, would do it again for the same reason.

by that logic your saying a murder could kill a defenceless child if he thought it was for the greater good

No I'm saying they are people who would murder a baby to prevent Hitler from ever coming to power. There people would kill a small child, who is innocent of anything, after all at this point he has done nothing wrong, and they would have done it "for the greater good" and tbh a lot of people would support them for it, while a lot of others would decry it as murder. My own opinions on killing Hitler as a child can be found elsewhere on these forums. But this however, is an example of being able to murder someone "for the greater good".


But even Hitler killed of the Jews for a "good reason" he just got carried away. At that time, the Jewish population held the majority of Germanys wealth, which during the great depression was a big deal. You kill the Jew and you give the German people 2 things they need, control over their wealth, as the government would seize assets, and someone to blame for their current state, something to focus the people, so that action could be taken, after all, disillusioned and depressed people rarely do anything to help themselves.

I've no doubt that Hitler did what he thought was necessary to help bring the German people confidence again, and drag them out of the depression, and to be fair to him, it worked. Germany were the first country out of depression. Had he won, no doubt in 200-400 years time, once the whole "suppressed nation" wore off, we would all believe this. After all, history is written by the victory.

i like your logic, but hitler never had a "good reason", his father was jewish and his father was a major dick to him as a child, also his mother died in surgery and the doctor who preformed it just happend to be jewish

(hitler is half jewish but believes hes more germen then jewish)

lots of people say that was his real motive, that the jews were evil cause of the things he experienced in the past but thats no reason to go killing off an whole race

(i also agree with you on the money stuff)

 

[Talshere]

snip

Speculating as to his mental state and the potential reasons for his actions is a mute point as we can never know. The effect it had on the people of Germany however is obvious in hindsight and so we must assume that these reasons were part of the reason behind his actions even if not their whole reason. But I find it unlikely his targeting and removal of this group of people given the control and impact they had to be a lucky break. Hitler was paranoid, arguably mad, and possibly vindictive, but he was most certainly not stupid.

This is all however slightly besides the point The specific case made a good example in the point I was making as it is easily identifiable to almost everyone.

 

[TheScottishFella]

I did this in school. I think it is the nature vs nurture debate, I would side with nurture we are neutral but our surroundings dictate how we become.

If that makes sense.

 

[Kiefer13]

'Good' and 'Evil' are such subjective terms, especially in a discussion like this. In any case, people are not born with any ideas about morality. We're neither intrinsically good or evil, though capable of becoming either.

I did this in school. I think it is the nature vs nurture debate, I would side with nature we are neutral but our surroundings dictate how we become.

If that makes sense.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if you believe it's environmental factors that affect us then wouldn't that mean you were more a believer of nurture rather than nature?

 

[HuntrRose]

Yep, you need to teach a person to act civil.
You don't need to teach them to kill each other. That comes natural.

Some people simply never learn to be good. You can tell based on people's reactions to things.
Especially now-a-days. It's all selfishness and unaccountability for today's youth.

"Me me me" unless something is wrong, then it's everyone else's fault but their own. They never learn to take responsibility for their own actions and instead get taught the opposite.


Also, we're all going to hell. No matter how nice of a person you are, your soul is stained with sin. Simply being human causes that.

So this guy getting himself nailed to some pieces of wood did it for the lulz?

What?
Oh, you mean the whole going to hell thing.
I don't believe he was God's child in the way Christians and Catholics do. However, I don't want to derail the thread too much. Suffice to say, you believe what you want, you have the right to that. Just don't expect everyone else to think the same.

Me neither. Don't really believe in an old bearded guy in the sky either...

Anyway, going on-topic here... Humans are born neither good nor evil. We have the potential for both, but to be good or evil you need a point of reference, which comes from your cultural and moral upbringing through the subsequent years.

Note that what is considered good and righteous in one cultural reference may very well be both evil and heinous in another.

 

[Bobbovski]

Don't quote me on this. But as I understand it the part that makes us feel empathy isn't fully developed until your an adult (or it might be earlier). Which is why children can be very selfish. I also read somewhere that if children are exposed to allot of horrors and atrocities the empathic part of the brain never fully develop (one example of this was child soldiers).

 

[archvile93]

For the most part, your very DNA demands that you look out for number 1 and fuck anyone who's hurt by your actions, they don't matter. Why do think business loves to screw their consumer base for an extra fifty cents, or would by the slightly cheaper but vastly less safe materials with blatant disregard for the public or their employees if it wasn't illegal. Therefore, people are born selfish greedy and short sighted, otherwise known as evil.

 

[TheScottishFella]

'Good' and 'Evil' are such subjective terms, especially in a discussion like this. In any case, people are not born with any ideas about morality. We're neither intrinsically good or evil, though capable of becoming either.

I did this in school. I think it is the nature vs nurture debate, I would side with nature we are neutral but our surroundings dictate how we become.

If that makes sense.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if you believe it's environmental factors that affect us then wouldn't that mean you were more a believer of nurture rather than nature?

Sorry, that's what I meant. I must have not been paying attention, will go correct it now.

 

[Tipsy Giant]

Well adult humans invented morals, so there is no good or evil and children haven't had these false morals beaten into them yet which is why they are "monsters"

 

[hawkeye52]

i believe that we arnt born as tabula rasa since instinct (which is the only knowledge that exists when you are first born) is there and this instinct is pure selfishness and the need to survive above all else and this isnt really evil since its not a need to make other peoples lives a misery on the way to make yourself survive its just a consequence that we dont think of. however we do become good (most of the time) when morals in our brain are developed and when we mature.

so to say we are all born good is to naieve. to say we are all born evil is just simplistic. tabula rasa is out since we are born with instincts to survive because since tabula rasa means that there is nothing there it would mean that we all just sit there as babies not doing anything at all because we wouldnt know any better. so we cannot be a pure tabula rasa just a knowledgeless one which in itself defies the point of being a tabule rasa. so i selected troll because trolls are there to seek their own amusement and self pleasure anything else is just a consequence. so its close to evil but lacks the intended malice to make it evil.

 

[Zorg Machine]

all humans are evil selfish fu**wads but not all humans are good people.
Everybody comes into the world as an evil demon.

 

[teisjm]

You ever seen a baby? they're incapable of both good and evil actions.

No-one is "good" or "evil" by default IMO, and everyone is capable of both good and evil actions, it's just a matetr of what they choose.
Whether you're percieved as good or evil depends on your actions, and ofc depends on who you ask. A suicide bomber prolly thinks he's doing something good, even though the vast majority of the world sees him as evil.
And lots of stuff percieved as good in your country might be seen as wrong/evil by peopel from otehr cultures.

 

[benoitowns]

It depends on your definition of good and evil. But I would say slightly good with self interest and morality as motivators.