Are people inherently good?

By nature we are human with a range of emotions, feelings and complex thought. Nurture makes people who they are, be it good or evil which is a personal interpretation of an action or thought. Your perception of evil and good varies from mine and everyone else.

Good and evil are creations of man and every societal creation is to control one another. We are monkeys.
[video=youtube;pSm7BcQHWXk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSm7BcQHWXk[/video]

Just my opinion, but I've never been around a baby or toddler that wasn't nurturing. Yes they have inherint destructive nature as well. Children are born good. Yes there are defects in the human machine, but if we are talking a baby born with all resonable healthy expectations then people are inherintly good.

kinetic said:

Just my opinion, but I've never been around a baby or toddler that wasn't nurturing. Yes they have inherint destructive nature as well. Children are born good. Yes there are defects in the human machine, but if we are talking a baby born with all resonable healthy expectations then people are inherintly good.

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What makes that baby good? Is it naturally good or is it in a good environment? If a child was raised by wolves would it perceive itself as a wolf?

mr2shim said:

What makes that baby good? Is it naturally good or is it in a good environment? If a child was raised by wolves would it perceive itself as a wolf?

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I understand the enviormental factor aspect. Is not life self sustaining because it is inherently good? Yes we can be shaped and molded. No on is born a racist. A healthy mother and child share a bond despite the fact the process can and nearly does kill some women. The closest to altruism there is a proper mothers love for it's baby.

mr2shim said:

By nature we are human with a range of emotions, feelings and complex thought. Nurture makes people who they are, be it good or evil which is a personal interpretation of an action or thought. Your perception of evil and good varies from mine and everyone else.

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Yes there are cultural aspects of what is normally accepted as good. For example I assume you are not a cannibal. Yet cultures still exist in this world that are. There is also a collective consciousness that exists as we travel through space and time as a species. We are evolving. I do believe this. The human experience is profound and varied.

I just herd this story! I think it fits.

A Cherokee Legend
An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. "A fight is going on inside me," he said to the boy.
"It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil - he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego." He continued, "The other is good - he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you - and inside every other person, too."
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?"
The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

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i don't know about "good" or "bad", but i'm pretty sure people are inherently selfish. it's individual definitions of "us" that determine to some extent who is "good" or "bad. "us" could be as narrow as that one individual or as broad as the universe. some people care about whether their actions affect others and some don't. some people only care about how actions affect their family and fuck everyone else. some people care about their city or country or the people of the world.

a person who cares about only themselves is unlikely to have a problem with theft or murder. is someone who cares about how their actions affect the whole world more "good" than someone who only cares about their family? how is it different from someone who only cares about themselves? is it possible to care for one without shitting on another?

and why isn't this in the philosophy section? i don't come to TnT to think. now my head hurts. thanks, padawan.

This is a placeholder, for a long and detailed response, including responses to the "genetic defect" comments, and such. (Haters gonna hate, not our fault evolution skipped you and left you with empathy.) Right now, I'm off to buy incense!

Padawanbater2 said:

Generally speaking, excluding biological abnormalities, are we born good and sometimes turn bad because of society and our environment?

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dude this is class 101 philosophy
look up "Decart" if you are entertained by this idea

sorry to hijack but to continue this threads direction

I suggest you read the counter arguments form the origin of question asked in this op

Thomas Hobbes- people are evil

Jean Rousseau- People are good

sorry best video i can find drunk.... do your own research ... yes boring
[video=youtube;Vg2wJFpntvQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Vg2wJFpntvQ[/video]

I believe that we view society through a lens of our own making, one that mirrors our own personal soul. Consider that a thief is always worried about somebody stealing from him; a liar always thinks everybody else is lying. A good person thinks that people are generally good; an evil person thinks that people are generally evil. I think that there are a lot of fucked up people in the world, some that, if I were God, I would fry their asses to a crisp while they are standing. But alas I'm not.

I think is an impossible question to answer because I do not know everyone on the planet or even a majority of them. And I have to ask myself, does judging a person's goodness or badness refelect on my own character? I operate under the theory that all can good people can go bad, and all bad people can be good. Even a serial killer is likely to let someone in when the traffic is backed up and even though I think growing MMJ is a public service, to plenty of people that makes me bad. With that in mind its important to be careful about making judgements about other people's character.

Everyone has the potential for good and evil. It is part of our nature. The deciding factor is choice. Which will you choose?

I think people are both good and bad. We are capable of horrible things or great ones and its ultimately who or what WE choose to be that makes us who we are.