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Inherently good vs. Inherently evil


cekaikay

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The other day in my debate class, we had a discussion as to whether humans were inherently good or inherently evil. What are your feelings on this?

 

I believe, for the most part, that humans are inherently evil. One can, however, be taught to be good, through observations, religion, etc...

 

When the word, "evil" is brought up, most people think of Hitler and such, however, evil is also on a smaller level. We all are evil through our everyday actions, as we all were born sinners. If you think about how extremely selfish small toddlers are, it brings up a good point. If we are all born good, then why are such small children so selfish?

 

What do you think?

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We're not evil, we're selfish. And we are inherently selfish because selfishness is the key to survival. Selfishness is burned into the deepest grooves in our brain. Survival of the fittest, babe. I don't know if there really is such a thing as good and evil. Perhaps more of a humane and inhumane.

 

The real question now is that can humanity (as to say our ability to perceive more beyond ourselves and our family) overcome this instinct?

 

If you ask me, I think humanity, intellegence, and technology will be the path of evolution of humans now, rather than the normal kind seen up to this point...

 

Rather than taking two loaves of bread for today and tomorrow, we have the humanity to give one loaf to someone who doesn't have any, the intellegence to know we can find more, and the technology to make ourselves a second loaf.

 

But that's just my uneducated guess.

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I think evil is a very strong word indeed. I think that evil is the complete and total disregard for life or any good. I think that if a person was truly evil, they would be so caught up in destroying things that they would die within a few minutes of their creation. Evil longs for destruction and must have that, or else it will destroy itself. Therefore, I think you are correct in that Humans are selfish creatures. Instead of evil, however, I will use the word negative for lack of a better word.

 

Humans, I don't believe are actually negative on a person by person basis. But grouped together as a singular entity, I believe that humans are negative creations. Selfishness, is a huge part of it I believe. The entity of humanity disregards the world, and moves and spreads, as Agent Smith says in the Matrix, like a disease. A cancer of the planet. Humans do nothing positive for the world, except fix things that they have destroyed. This cannot be considered positive, it can be considered nothing, since the negative and positive actions cancel each other out. Humans break the symbiosis between flora, fauna, and the world as a whole. We are selfish creatures, and because of our free will and ability to make decisions as opposed to being limited to impulse driven sensory. Most of the world creates, consumes, and gives back. Humans however, create and consume. They never give back to the world. Therefore, I believe that humanity is a negative entity.

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