Are humans by nature good or evil?

How would you describe human nature in general?
Are we inherently good/loving/compassionate beings? Or inherently bad/evil/cruel being?

Or, Are we inherently born neutral...

What are your opinions on the nature of humans?

We are both. God created us as a likeness of Him, and since he is the Author of good and evil, so we are.

IN MY OPINION:

Without humans, Earth and its species would live/die, evolve/be extinct, naturally.
But, with the existence of humans, the natural laws of Earth can be violated through our progressive knowledge.

I hypothesize that the existence of humans beings are a complete anomaly within this Earth.

We were never anything. We just reflect the environment that we were born in.

reply to post by saabacura


I don't think humans are by nature anything. Good and Evil are concepts we have created, and they really have no meaning outside of specific uses in language. We can call a thing 'good' or 'evil', or an action, or turn of events, philosophy - what have you! The meaning has developed conceptually; organically over time. They didn't exist until we came along to create them.

So I don't think people are 'naturally' good or bad, but i'm open to the idea that they are predisposed to one or the other (as we imagine them) by a combination of breeding and training. I think people are influenced heavily by their environments, and that our global environment is very negative in many ways, while still good in others. I think we are "very good" in many ways, and "very bad" in others. It's hard to work out the complexities of the equation and arrive at a final value.

We are certainly out of balance. We are a species of extremes. We are both gods and devils. The terror of the cosmos and the promised Light. Often both at the same time.

Are you feeling the weight of the responsibility? I hope you are.

Cheers.

I believe we are both good and evil like yin and yang. By nature we are born wanting to survive and thrive and in the worst of situations our true more selfish side comes into play. As it should. Else we humans would have become extinct long ago. On the other side our compassion and generosity also keep the human race going. With no compassion and love our children would fail to exist as well. We cannot survive being one way or the other. We survive because we are both.

Humans are not things - we are a process, a pattern that exists at all levels of existence - our focus at the moment is biological, social. intellectual (biological, astral mental)

What is a good for your (selfish) genes, might be an evil for your social self.

What your social self may strive for (fame, wealth, popularity, status, dominance) - your intellectual self may despise.

In short - it is all good!

I think that we are all born with some serious baggage from our lineage, but we have the power to choose our destiny.

Use the Force, Luke

I believe we are evil.
but the bigger the group of humans the more evil we become.
if you had just a small family,
that is 100 miles from the next family's.
there would be almost no evil.
it is only when groups get together.
like two men could be trouble.
but a group of ten men is trouble.
I think it is some thing from the pack mentality.
they try to show how good useful they are.
so they can be pack leader.
but with humans it goes wrong?
you can see it in a group of chimps.
if a chimp if told off by the pack leader,
he will do the same to the chimp below him.
humans are just messt up.

Saabacura, nicely put.

Good and Evil are subjective, just like the morals of our societies. Some societies find it good to kill blasphemers, while others find that imposed death of any kind is evil. Ultimately it's a pointless question to ask.

The concept of good shifts depending on the perspective. Like Nietzsche's famous analogy with the birds of prey and the lambs. The birds of prey representing the nobles/warrior class and the lambs the weak/priests which he discusses in many of his works.

The lambs hate the birds of prey whom they consider evil because they feed on them but the birds of prey say that they don't hate the lambs, in fact, nothing tastes better than the flesh of young lambs.

In the Genealogy of Morals he goes further back and examines morals even closer. For example; what was once considered mistakes "I shouldn't have done that because I didn't get the desired results" changed over time into your bad conscience, this came too from the repressed primal instincts of man who now lives an order and structured society, but man's "will to power", that is, the inherent nature of man to conquer, to destroy, is still very present. The will to power is inherent in all things, it is the fuel of the "will to live", it is progress, it is the destruction which paves the way for evolution and perfection.

I could go on but this gives you a general idea of good, evil and the history of moral values. Basically, there is no such thing, it is a human concept and nothing more. The only thing you need to know is that destruction is inevitable, it isn't evil, in fact it is necessary.

Originally posted by PieKeeper
Good and Evil are subjective, just like the morals of our societies. Some societies find it good to kill blasphemers, while others find that imposed death of any kind is evil. Ultimately it's a pointless question to ask.

Nah - that just a cop out!

Robert Persig outlined this brilliantly in his book 'Lila' - he defined evil as when a lower order 'good' destroyed a higher oder 'good'.

In this case a social good, conformity to the religious norms (balsphemy laws) - is destroying the higher order intellectual value, of freedom of thought.

Neither.

We define Good and Evil by Good or Evil deeds, but any human is capable of both.

Neutral under the will of heaven with the gift of choice.
Karma is our underlying governor.

A.

Are monkeys good or evil? Are ants good or evil? we are just another branch of the animal kingdom. we are just animals driven by instincts, we may have invented some fancy laws, but all they do is allow one set of humans to exploit another. The conditions created will effect how humans behave. I think our natural state is as creative beings yet are forced into the monotony and alienation of a modern world that we are not really built for.

Originally posted by woodwardjnr
Are monkeys good or evil? Are ants good or evil? we are just another branch of the animal kingdom. we are just animals driven by instincts

You can't be serious..?

Originally posted by NewAgeMan

Originally posted by woodwardjnr
Are monkeys good or evil? Are ants good or evil? we are just another branch of the animal kingdom. we are just animals driven by instincts

You can't be serious..?

of course Im serious.

By nature we are simply alive.

Any tendency toward good or evil is learned behavior.

Good or evil is interpreted by the perspective of the observer.

Like having a good attitude is whether or not you are useful to those who consider you to be their subordinate.

Your question cannot be answered.

Originally posted by saabacura
How would you describe human nature in general?
Are we inherently good/loving/compassionate beings? Or inherently bad/evil/cruel being?

Or, Are we inherently born neutral...

What are your opinions on the nature of humans?

BOTH. Good because most have good intents but can be distracted and pressured into what others may want to be involved in. LIKE POLITICS and parties within them GANGES-HIRED FORCES-MOBS-CARTELS ect. And many get involved in these peer groups only out of mis guidence and wanting to belong which can lead to BAD practices if you are a follower and not your own leader.

Bad because something within causes some to seek power over others = gain egos over others ect. this causes the populace to become seperated overall in intentions and wants. So again humanity possess both. As if created with one force and modIfied by another force.

PEACE good question.

I have issues believeing Good or Evil exists at all...

Humans work like everything else on this planet...by nature. There is a constant struggle or competition if you will...for the stronger, smarter, faster of the species to succeed.

By nature we are greedy selfish creatures...and though this may sound evil its not, its just instinct...

Understanding of spiritual things helps people over come the lesser of human instincts...

Originally posted by woodwardjnr

Originally posted by NewAgeMan

Originally posted by woodwardjnr
Are monkeys good or evil? Are ants good or evil? we are just another branch of the animal kingdom. we are just animals driven by instincts

You can't be serious..?

of course Im serious.

Well that's up to you. I choose to be a self aware being with free will, not a thing, and more than a mere animal, not that there's anything wrong with animals. I'm curious as to how old you are, and please don't take that the wrong way.