Do you think humans are inherently "evil"?

Contrary to popular belief, we are not animal. We are human and there is a big difference of which I will not reiterate again. Yet survival was, it can be concluded, a survival trait but we are beyond that now.

When it comes to rationalizing human behavior, I rather not. That's what got us in the fix we are in.

And the above statement is why I don't. When we believe the notion we are animal, we justify those animalistic traits we observe in humans and "call" them inherent when in fact they are not.

...but the human brain, which is architecturally continuous with those of other mammals (animals) hasn't really changed much since the Stone Ages

and the rest of us will laugh as the grim real world comes with motorcycles and weathered knee-high boots grinding conservative fantasies about the way things really are into the mud

what do you think is "animal"

ps I'm ironically thanking all your posts from now on

Funny you should say that.

Mud? Like a sty?

A predator, varmint, parasite and in some cases a pet or puppet on a sting or leash.

Thank you

I think "good and evil" is absolutely universal phenomenone and can not be associated with societies, it does not depend on religion, culture or politics.[/COLOR]

It certainly does seem that good should be a universal phenomenon. But then how do we account, for instance, for the fact that owning slaves was once considered good in some places, but now is considered evil? Or is that not the sort of good and evil you're talking about? Is there a good and evil that transcends such societally based practices as slavery? Were there, for instance, good people who happened to own slaves? This would seem to leave us with two levels of goodness - one societally based, and one somehow transcendent. I'm sure I could have put all of this better, but what do you think?

But the poster said only that the notions of good and evil are common to all societies, and that seems to be true. He did not say that what is good, and what is evil, is common to all societies, since, of course these differ from society to society. It is like saying that all objects are colored, although many objects have different colors.

Sadly good people are so often held at at ransom and forced into bad behavior by the few really evil people like Hitler The old saying bad things happen when good people do nothing

I do think humans are inherently "evil". But first let me say that good and evil are terms that depend upon the society and reality we live in. In truth, both good and evil are based on perception and what we define each as.

In my opinion i believe society has come to define good and evil as mainly two ideas...

Evil: One is selfish and puts his/her needs above that of others. In all cases of "Evil" i believe a certain level if selfishness is involved. What we think of evil as is when someone puts others at sacrifice for their own personal gain and benefit. To give some examples, lying cheating and stealing are intolerant and "evil" acts that involve one putting his/her own desires (survival needs to trivial wants) above anyone else's desires.

Good: One is selfless and puts others above him/her. Giving, honesty, and fairness are opposites of what was listed above. These are the traits and quality of someone that is commonly deemed as "good" by society.

Why are humans inherently evil? Because humans are biologically programmed to meet our survival needs. Our desires naturally come before others. Unfortunately this of course is at the sacrifice of others' needs and wants. Human's are born with the idea of putting others' before themselves. In the most basic situation, we will desire to survive and meet our needs. Our wants naturally come before others'.

Again, evil and good are based on perception. One person's view of another person's "evil" may be different from that person's view. So for the purpose of proving the idea of humans being inherently "evil" we will assume that all "evil" acts are directly or indirectly related to someone being selfish in some way.

I believe we do have the ability to break free of this inherent selfishness and become a "good" person who may sacrifice for others and that may give care to others before themselves. This argument states that people are created selfish not that humans may not overcome this natural inheritance.

Selfishness is a biological survival trait purposefully designed to promote the well being of one's self without any sort of care for others. Naturally we focus on ourselves before anyone else. Because we as humans are aware of the others we must coexist with, we can understand the needs and wants of others and therefore have the choice to compromise of or possibly be a selfless person, one who is conscious and shows caring for those other than his/herself.

A neutral mindset is impossible to achieve because people will always have conflicting desires. One cannot be neither selfish nor selfless. Everyone has their wants and needs and how they prioritize those in relation to the wants and needs of others determines the type of person society will consider them.

Good and evil are again dependent on your whether your desires benefit yourself or if they benefit other people and possibly humanity as a whole. To survive we must have this inherent and natural selfishness to benefit ourselves above other or else our race would die off due to not being able to survive on our own.

The origin of conflict comes from many having similar if not the same wants or needs. Therefore, someone will get the get the short end of the stick. This will deem the victor, "evil".

So to conclude, all commonly considered "evil" acts will be traced back to one being selfish. We are naturally selfish because that is how we fight to survive. Evil is based on perception and i believe evil is how are race has come to survive.

Btw, most people holds what morals and ethics you grant them, however most people are utterly stupid.

morals and ethics were long before any god(s)

morals and ethics have been around for thousands of years

How do you know?

If gods created our world, meaning they were there before humans to define ethics and morals ..I don't get you?

not only are humans not inherently " evil "

they never were or are