General Discussion

I'm asking this question in light of some of the responses to the posts I've made in threads of the legal/political sort seem to not jive with some folks here. The question is rather simple: do you see people on the whole as good or evil. I ask this because I believe the largest logical error is to assume that people on the whole are either good or evil rather than just people in the same fashion make similar assumptions about other things in Nature.


-- Brede

Now you know why evil will always triumph, because good is dumb! ~ Darth Helmet

i would say world population, people as a whole are more good than not. but the line of good and bad can get fuzzy, blurred depending on your enviroment

Hard to say, good and evil are products of social values, however take away these social values and do you still have good and evil?

Imagine being thrown into complete anarchy, no parents, friends or family, everyone for themself and no memory of pre-anarchy, good and evil would cease to exist until some form of society emerges.

So my option is Neither.

To me, good and evil are givens for the nature of rational beings is to judge the value of a given thing or action. What I don't agree with is that we're in-born with any values. And that's why I believe we're born neither good or evil, rather we learn from observation and actions we choose to instigate what is good and evil.


-- Brede

Good and evil only exist as opinion, no one is good nor evil, nor any action good or evil, things just are.

People are biological machines that basically have programming to make them act in certain ways and have certain goals, like live, eat, socialize etc., they also develope other goals and methods of acting by interacting in their environment, being other people or just nature, when these are deprived or threatened somehow people deem that as evil.  This is not to say that these actions are inherently good or bad just that it is percieved that way.

The universe is an amoral place, good and evil are inventions of man.

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Originally posted by CactusmanX
Good and evil only exist as opinion, no one is good nor evil, nor any action good or evil, things just are.

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People are biological machines that basically have programming to make them act in certain ways and have certain goals, like live, eat, socialize etc., they also develop other goals and methods of acting by interacting in their environment, being other people or just nature, when these are deprived or threatened somehow people deem that as evil. This is not to say that these actions are inherently good or bad just that it is percieved that way.
The universe is an amoral place, good and evil are inventions of man.

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People are not necessarily mechanical nor [philosophically/metaphysically] 'atomic' in their nature, in fact the entire Universe as we know it isn't either. It's a strange world when you delve into physics and mathematics, finding out that all the traditional assumptions of Cartesian Mechanicism are wrong (especially if you delve into Chaos Theory and its applications in climate studies). Also, the universe is amoral, but humans are im/moral because we have a mind to grasp it. As such one cannot attempt to state that the mind is magically aetheric and inapplicable to the real world in regards to those beings that have one, just as much I cannot state that flight does not exist in birds because the whole of the Universe doesn't fly. When one accepts that the mind exists then one accepts that the functions of the mind exist in turn (ethics and the like).


-- Brede

The human is just as nuetral as the rest of the inhabitants of the food chain.. We have the ability to align ourselves and change that alignment on a whim, and without thought or reason. We are capable of the best good and the worst evil.. We are able to bend like nothing else. We can change our mental states in seconds and carry a whole new mindset and personality at a moments notice.. Popes (the so-called good) can become "bad" or "evil" and rape young males.. Doctors, Nurses (so called "good" life saving humans) can become "bad" or "evil" and commit silent murder over the surgery table or through medication overdose. Pastors can steal from the church funds... etc etc..

Good and Evil are brands.. There is no definition.. We are nuetral till another human brands us OR we brand ourselves..

We are bi-pedal animals that just so happen to rule the world..

I chose good :)  My experience with life so far has been that yes, there are bad people out there, and I've gotten hurt before BUT most people are good, with good intentions at least.  Good intentions only get you so far of course... because ignorance and fear of different/unknown things can cause people to do horrible things (even though the intention might be to protect themselves or others).  Life is crazy :)  There will always be crappy people... and there will always be good people :)