In your opinion, is humankind inherently good or evil?

Evil for me. I just feel that it's in a person's nature to do evil before he/she would do good. I feel this many times when I'm in a situation where I have a choice between the two. My first inclination is to do the wrong thing, even though I know I shouldn't. Your thoughts?

We inherently act with survival in mind.

Good and evil are societal concepts.

If you ask me, survival is good, so I vote good.

On a whole, I think mankind is capable of great evil, but I don't think man has an instictive evil as a whole.

Evil? Depends on what values we create.

I think the only thing Mankind inherently "is" is stupid, but that doesn't seem to be an option...

I really don't believe it can be broken into just good and just evil...but that's just my personal thing (not believing in either good or evil :p)

Here, sit on this stapler.

Yeah, then make yourself comfortable while I go get a crowbar...

I vote good because I am an idealist. I vote good because I am an idealist.

There is no right and wrong just like there isn't good and evil. It's all socially constructed, it isn't nature.

Reminds me of the quote:

"There is no right, there is no wrong. There's only popular opinion."

The lot of ya are all rotten b*****s..

According to the "societal" conceptions of good and evil, which are still well-defined concepts, whether or not you believe in them...

Yes. We are very evil indeed.

I chose evil. Think about it...


We know the difference between right and wrong, yet we still intentionally and purposely do wrong things. Does that not make us evil?

I'd say it makes one a moron.

Wow. Deja vu. I had a huge discussion/debate on this exact same question today in school.

Anyway, IMO, mankind is inherently evil - example: the many of us will do whatever we can to acheive our goals, even if it means hurting someone else to get their. We do wrong thing s just to spite others. We often choose pleasure and want over morals.

Of course we're evil. I know I'd rather toss a midget than help him climb into a bunk bed. Anyone else?

Right and Wrong are completely subjective. What you see and wrong is going to be completely right to someone else. Just look at terrorism as an example. I think it is completely evil, but the terroists (by my definition) think they are completely right.

Evil.

And there's no need to protect humankind's goodness with love, as it is 75% evil!

I can quote this, for it pretty much reflects how I feel.

There are people who think humans are something completely different than the rest of the living nature around us. Yet the only thing differentiating us is the much higher ability to think. If you have a look at how the wild nature works, you will see it's very cruel. It would be preposterous of mankind to believe that just because we are smart enough to be able to build an atom bomb, we are any less naturally cruel than any other omnivore or carnivore out there.

Both. Or possibly neither.

I'd say that Mankind is good.

Objectively, there may not be good or evil. However, they both affect our emotions, which create our subjective sides and we often have a hard time seeing beyond that.

"If you prick us do we not bleed? If you tickle us do we not laugh? If you poison us do we not die? And if you wrong us shall we not revenge?"

Life is full of causes and effects. When someone takes away something you love dearly and rely on, how can you not react to that? You may do nothing physically, but you do have to evaluate what's been done, how you feel about it, how you'll recover from the loss, did you deserve it, what does the person who stole from you deserve, will you forgive them. It's natural. It's just as natural to yank your finger away after you touch a hot stove. To not think about any of that just seems so impossible. (Even if it was possible, I can't imagine what a person could stand to gain from it.)

Regardless if it is possible to not react at all to evil (assuming you're mentally able to react or not react) I think most people are going to choose to live life in light of good and evil, pain and happiness, and they are going to choose to bring the least amount of pain upon themselves, which usually includes bringing the least amount of pain upon others. When you bend over backwards to help someone in dire need, you feel great. All the problems of your life seem to recede into the shadows of your mind temporarily and all you can think about is that there is still good in the world, you can be proud that you were responsible for making it happen, you put someone else above yourself for once, and you feel like grabbing the world by the horns. I'd hate to do something really nice for someone and not feel one way or another because I believed all actions were equal, neither good or bad, right or wrong. That would seriously have to suck more than I think a lot of people think. It's absurd. Sure, you dodge pain, but what's the point of living if you can't enjoy it, too?

There's no such thing as an objective measure of good and evil, so the question doesn't make sense.

It all balances out eventually

Exactly. I think most people do what they think is the right thing to do. To them, they are doing good, and those who disagree with them are evil. It's just a perspective.

so there is no good OR evil.... so this poll is outdated

Sin is evil, and man is inherently sinful, so man is inherently evil.

We intentionally and purposefully do right things, too. Does that not make us good?

Seriously...I'm a habitual doorman. In Boy Scouts, I learned to hold doors open for people and I've done it my entire life since. I've often stood there holding the door open for a stranger longer than I should've quite a bit. It's a habit. Of course if I see an attractive lady is behind me, I'll wait around and hold it open for her, naturally. Hasn't gotten me any dates yet, but it might get my foot in the door.

And yet some people consider action A a sin while others do not. Some people believe that people are born with sins/inherently sinful and others do not. It's subjective, even among Bible-believers. Personally, I think it's ridiculous to claim that man is inherently sinful, even after reading the Bible.

Evil will always win because Good is just dumb!

or something like that. It's been a while since I've seen it.

No such thing as good, no such thing as evil...

If you're an atom, maybe. I'd really like to hear a person's outlook on life if they really swear by this. Give my regards to Surak.

And if you take away the conditioning imposed by society, what are you left with? Someone who will act in their own self interest, which can very often mean hurting others.

What if you happen to find it's better to act in someone else's interest and be nice first?

Again, strip away the conditioning of society, and you're left with someone who places themselves first, others second. Benevolence is a rarity in the animal kingdom (outside of humans).

Perhaps some are more sinful, and therefore choose to fool themselves into believing evil is "not so evil after all".

Perhaps there is objective good and evil, and those who choose roads in between are in fact subjected to evil, and therefore lose the ability to distinguish the two.

Perhaps this self denial is clearly and obviously a consequence of evil, as it lends itself to more evil.

Subjectivity and relativism are derivitives of evil and sin, forerunners if you will, because they claim "gray areas" and other ambiguities exist. They claim that because good and evil cannot be known, they cannot be obeyed, and therefore, it is unnecesary to do so.

Deep down we all (except for those mentally impaired from it) know good and evil. The question is whether we choose to care. Relativism dampens the conscience.

And no, I cannot tell you what absolute morals are. I am sinful and evil as well, and therefore anything I say will have been twisted as well, and may not be absolute good and righteousness at all.

In response to the question, I believe humanity is an amalgamation of both good and evil. Yes, we are inherently evil. But we are also inherently good. We all vary in between these two absolutes without the ability to truly adopt either completely.

You cant have one without the other. If we had good but not evil, no one would know what good was. If we had evil, but not good, no one would know what evil was.

Wolfy, you're basically reducing humans to animals. If you're created in God's image, which it sounds like you probably believe, then you would have some sense of right from wrong. Did gaining the knowledge of evil destroy the knowledge of good? No, because you still knew God. Maybe He had to refresh your memory, but you still knew Him and knew how to know Him. Where does society play into that? It's just you and God, bud.

How did Abram become aware of God if he was in a society full of "evil?" He lived in a land of pagans, and was likely one himself, until God called him out of Ur.

Many here will disagree with the point I'm making, but if I were trying to make it for them, I would've addressed them.

Beautiful. It's funny how when given only two options, so many try to fall into one or the other, rather than choose the third, which is the truth. I feel like bipartisan gov'ts work the same way.