off-topic Do you think that people are good?

[Aufscherin]

Open up any history book and go to any era, any country, and any situation. There you will witness man's inhumanity to man. Hell, you don't even have to go back in time, just turn on CNN. We are nothing more than highly evolved primates and all primates are aggressive.

Once you strip away the thin veneer of civilization you see us at our worst. Really who can you trust in this world when it comes to money...anyone? Sure some people 'appear' nice but isn't that all an act? Squeeze them hard enough and the pus always comes out, no?

A cop once told me that based on his experience 10% are good and 10% are evil. As far as the remaining 80%, (he claimed) they can go either way depending on the circumstance. I think that his estimate of 10% being good was far too high. What do you think? Keep it real please and don't write in order make yourself appear like a loving, positive minded saint-thanks.

 

[Harsh World]

I think that people are self-serving by nature. That would put both the 10% good and 10% evil into the same pie as the 80% the cop referenced, they all just have different self-serving aspects in their lives.

If you stripped society of all rules and governance, you would see this self-serving aspect in much more detail. There would be a lot of chaos, and you would see both good and evil extremes. However, I would like to imagine that people would link up into groups and there would be more good in the world than bad, but evil would still prevail to get what they believe is theirs.

As far as I go, I can be good or bad. I like to donate my money when I can, but there's a self-serving aspect of not wanting to in some moments because I would prefer to have something over nothing, like a freshly brewed cup of coffee for instance.

That said, one thing that isn't self-serving, so to speak as it now makes me look like a better person thus fulfilling the self-serving prophecy I spoke of to make me appear better online, is regularly donate blood; I can always find the time to help save the lives of 3 other people with just 1 hour worth of my time every 2 months.

 

[Aufscherin]

@Harsh World that was very good and even convincing to a point.

 

[Harsh World]

@Harsh World that was very good and even convincing to a point.

What part do you disagree with?

 

[Aufscherin]

What part do you disagree with?

It's not so much a case of disagreeing. You mentioned acts of goodness including your own. But then again can you not turn evil given the right circumstances? I find it disgusting how easily 'good' or so called decent people can go from Mother Teresa all the way to Charles Manson at the drop of a hat. I believe that the police, courts, judges, prisons, etc. keep our ugly side in check. I believe that we are all intrinsically evil , but are programmed from birth by schooling, social rules, and by the fear of social ostracization, into behaving as if we are good...but the goodness is not natural, the evil is.

 

[Harsh World]

But then again can you not turn evil given the right circumstances?

Evil also needs to be defined.

Could I go in and help wipe out a country for my own country? My own country would see that as heroic and good, depending on the circumstances, but others could see that as pure evil too.

Like I said, it's for self-serving interests, both ways.

I believe that the police, courts, judges, prisons, etc. keep our ugly side in check

They are also self-serving, good or evil, depending on the circumstances. In the US, a judge, for instance, can rule over a court and issue a verdict if a defendant requests a trial by the bench and not by a jury. Is it good or evil for a judge to find a defendant guilty or not guilty? The judge also has bias. I would like to believe that they can overlook that completely, but they are also human with self-serving interests.

but are programmed from birth by schooling, social rules, and by the fear of social ostracization, into behaving as if we are good...but the goodness is not natural, the evil is.

I believe that we are born pure and learn to be evil, not learn to be good, as we were formerly neither. We are naturally neutral, but let the evil tendencies overcome our inhibitions to stay pure. I say this because at birth, you're a blank slate; you're not good or evil because you have no concept of either until you are introduced to systems, like family or school, that mold you into one extreme or the other.

This is a pretty good thought exercise though...

 

[Zoldos]

Humans are shit. If it were up to me, I'd make all females sterile. Let us die out, and return the world to nature as it had been for millions of years before us.

 

[Harsh World]

Humans are shit.

The humans around me certainly aren't. Keep a tighter circle, and your view on life might be better.

I'd make all females sterile

You might like the movie Only (2020) then...

But speaking about the movie Only, on the topic of good and evil, would it be good or evil for the government to put a bounty on fertile females to repopulate Earth? On one hand, we would die out without them, which would be bad for humanity, making the volunteer/forced reproduction a good thing. However, if it's not by will, it is an evil thing to do. Though, in the movie, there are so little females that can help make the attempt, especially with sabotage. So, would it be good then to force repopulation?

I'd make all females sterile

To add, this goes against all unalienable rights that I believe in, so I would never support such a thing, even for males.

 

[Aufscherin]

I believe that we are born pure and learn to be evil,

Babies are born screaming...feed me! They are spoilt right from the 1st day, become demanding and selfish. Have you ever watched big kids being mean to smaller kids in a kindergarten sandbox? Why do you think that school sandboxes require supervision? It's to control the natural evil impulses that all children have. Some become pacified by teacher and parent indoctrination...but their evil never truly leaves.

 

[Aufscherin]

Humans are shit. If it were up to me, I'd make all females sterile. Let us die out, and return the world to nature as it had been for millions of years before us.

Indeed we are, on this we are in 100% agreement.

 

[Harsh World]

Babies are born screaming...feed me! They are spoilt right from the 1st day,

Is that necessarily evil or bad though? A baby is helpless and only knows it needs to eat. It would be evil for the parents to not feed them.

On the other hand, is it bad or evil for a person capable of working to beg for food? I think that would be a better comparison, because they have learned the lessons that they need to eat, and no longer have a provider.

Have you ever watched big kids being mean to smaller kids in a kindergarten sandbox?

This behavior is self-taught by being in institutions and systems with kids who all act the same. I'm sure if you ran an experiment by selecting the most behaved children and put them in a room to do a puzzle, the outcome would be much different.

 

[Bawse]

Animals are better than people, more pure hearted. There are good people, but in general I think people care about self interests more than anything.

 

[Aufscherin]

Animals are better than people, more pure hearted.

That is so very true, a dog will never betray you.

 

[Bawse]

That is so very true, a dog will never betray you.

Dogs are super loyal. I have two females.

 

[Aufscherin]

Dogs are super loyal. I have two females.

Are those your dogs in your avatar? I don't recognize the breed , they are hounds perhaps Rhodesian Ridgebacks?

 

[Harsh World]

That is so very true, a dog will never betray you.

Mine would if someone broke in with a steak or even started petting her. She'd then give them a tour of the place to show them what they should take.

Dogs are super loyal. I have two females.

They really are though. I have one adopted female, and she's the greatest.

 

[Aufscherin]

Mine would if someone broke in with a steak or even started petting her. She'd then give them a tour of the place to show them what they should take.

 

[Zoldos]

The humans around me certainly aren't. Keep a tighter circle, and your view on life might be better.

I am speaking about our species as a whole. I have good friends, and a great family. But if you look at humans globally, all we seem to want to do is kill each other, pollute, and use up all of the Earth's resources.

To add, this goes against all unalienable rights that I believe in, so I would never support such a thing, even for males.

I respect that, of course. I was merely expressing my opinion.

 

[Harsh World]

I am speaking about our species as a whole. I have good friends, and a great family. But if you look at humans globally, all we seem to want to do is kill each other, pollute, and use up all of the Earth's resources.

I don't think that this is a global problem at all.

You're looking at a smaller population and applying that to 8,000,000,000 people. One nation of 10,000,000 might have a labor force of 2,500,000, and of that, 50,000 extracting natural resources.

Or, a nation of 2 million vs. a nation of 2 million, and only 100,000 of each are fighting each other.

You'd need to give examples to paint such a broad stroke over 8 billion people with a statement like that.

 

[Zoldos]

Another time, perhaps. I worked with the general public for around a decade. All I got was shit on daily. F that.