Mankind: Good or Evil?

I came across this discussion in class a few months ago, and thought it was a really interesting, controvertial issue.

Overall, do you think the human race is, overall, good or evil ?

We had to do an essay on this....I can't remember what I wrote though.
I think it would just be interesting to see people's opinions about the mannerisms of their own kind I suppose.

Your input?

(I don't know if this has been done before, if it is, apologies )

All humans consist of good and evil, but mostlly evil. Through out the history of makind, there has been bad times and good times. And it will always be like that. Humans will always have the balance of Yin and Yang within them, no matter if you are a Christian, Atheist, Muslim, etc., you are still going to have both evil and good inside you.

Unforunatley, the evil seems to outweigh the good. There's so much evil in the world. Not to sound too much like a hippie but, can't we all just get along?

I'd like to say that the human race is, on the whole, good, but only because I'm not even sure if evil exists. What is evil? Anything "evil" can be put into a light to make it seem like a positive quality. (Example: He betrayed his friends in order to make a sale. What a go-getter!) Sometimes, people do evil things, but only out of some sense of justice. The world doesn't seem to look on justice as a bad thing. This is a heavy subject, and maybe I'll finish my statement on it later, but I'm a bit tired right now.

human population is for about 95% good, but it's a pity that this other 5% is evil.. what's even sadder (is that a word?) is that evil people are the ones to become powerfull money hungry dictators and presidents, or use religions as an excuse to kill gay people and non believers making the world seem like an evil place.. It's sad to see good people do bad things because they are ordered to (war, for example)

If good exist then there is evil, no matter what the circumstances, good and evil will be everywhere. No matter what you do, if it causes harm to people then it's evil. Even in the name of justice, law, and the good of mankind.

Originally Posted by SS-88

human population is for about 95% good, but it's a pity that this other 5% is evil.. what's even sadder (is that a word?) is that evil people are the ones to become powerfull money hungry dictators and presidents, or use religions as an excuse to kill gay people and non believers..

There's more than 5%, my friend. Much more. Evil doesn't just exist in dictators and people who start wars. These's evil in the millions of murderers and rapists out there. People who commit crimes against their fellow human beings show more evil than good.

A human being is not born with evil, and so is not both good and evil naturally. WHAT a human is at birth depends on your religious preference or other belief.

And then it all depends on a person's definition of Good and Evil. I'll be assuming the 'Bad' is selfishness, greed, hate, wrath, apathy, etc.

I believe we're born good, or in a better term: pure. Yes, that seems a better choice of words. Pure, or untouched by anything, both good and evil.

It is the life experiences, the upbringing, and in the end the mental thinking of the person himself that decides whether he's deemed good, bad, or something entirely different.
Basically, I think we're all born and through our experiences, build a world view and moral structure about us. Then, with whatever reasoning, we act on what we know.

And, I don't believe that evil outweighs good at all. It's just what makes the evening news much more often than the good in this world. An evil act carries over for a long time after the act, but the good a man does usually ends up forgotten along with him. Evil is just more impactful per act than good - and that maybe why we see Evil being more commonplace among men than good.

A lot of this kind of discussion is based on religion. In my religion it is said that when a baby is born it is techniclly 'evil' until it is 'washed of it's sins'. I am catholic.

I just thought I should say that because it wasn't brought up, but I won't bring religion into it more than that^. Now...I believe it's fate whether one will become good or evil. It is all based on indivdiuals. Obviously, family and upbringing has a huge impact upon ones life and 'goodness and evil factor' as well. People learn/are influenced by both. But overall I believe there is more good in this world than that of evil.

I think that perhaps there is more good than most people realize because evil is more noticable. People notice negative news more quickly than positive. Nowadays, it's incredibly hard to see the good cause of these terrorist attacks, wars, struggles for power... so I can understand why people will believe that there is more evil then good. However, I'm always a bit doubtful about the portrayal of life in the media- bad news is good news, and so we see lots of it. It could be because of this doubt that I find it hard to come to a conclusion as to whether the human race is more evil than good (or vice versa). I can see both sides, but I can't choose.

Good and evil is what a certain person perceives it as. You think what Hitler did was evil? He didn't. The people he did it to did. If you don't beleive in what someone did or a reason why they did it (murder, rape, ect.) then it would be evil. If you did, well it could be either way, based on what you think. There's no "big book" of what's good and what's evil (unless you follow a certain religion).

That being said, I don't think anyone's opinion of good and evil can be exactly the same as someone else's. So I won't add my opinion into the mix, just to have people dis/agree with it.

Originally Posted by Re-Dead

There's more than 5%, my friend. Much more. Evil doesn't just exist in dictators and people who start wars. These's evil in the millions of murderers and rapists out there. People who commit crimes against their fellow human beings show more evil than good.

you are VERY wrong, saying 5% was actually a bit of an overstatement I made and you're forgetting one thing: let's say we randomley take a hundred people.. how many of them will be rapist or murderers? or let's take a thousend randomly selected people, how many of them would be rapist's or murderers? 5 or less is what I guess..

you say that there a millions of them out there, what's a couple million people compared to the other 6 billion? It's just like virtigo said: evil has a much bigger impact on people than good... keep that in mind, my friend.

Originally Posted by SS-88

you are VERY wrong, saying 5% was actually a bit of an overstatement I made and you're forgetting one thing: let's say we randomley take a hundred people.. how many of them will be rapist or murderers? or let's take a thousend randomly selected people, how many of them would be rapist's or murderers? 5 or less is what I guess..

you say that there a millions of them out there, what's a couple million people compared to the other 6 billion? It's just like virtigo said: evil has a much bigger impact on people than good... keep that in mind, my friend.

That is a good point and well made. Although, there was a certain coldness to it that wasn't necessary.

Originally Posted by Re-Dead

That is a good point and well made. Although, there was a certain coldness to it that wasn't necessary.

lol, sorry if I sounded harsh or cold or anything, that wasn't my intention .. I just wanted to make my point clear.

Originally Posted by SS-88

you are VERY wrong, saying 5% was actually a bit of an overstatement I made and you're forgetting one thing: let's say we randomley take a hundred people.. how many of them will be rapist or murderers? or let's take a thousend randomly selected people, how many of them would be rapist's or murderers? 5 or less is what I guess..

you say that there a millions of them out there, what's a couple million people compared to the other 6 billion? It's just like virtigo said: evil has a much bigger impact on people than good... keep that in mind, my friend.

Really? How can you even make that statement that only 5% of the population is evil? You don't know that, so stop making assumptions based on just your opinions. The balance between ''good'' and ''evil'' people is no where near equal, there are a bunch of people out there that are evil without having to be a rapist or a killer.

-TFS

Originally Posted by Darth Numra

Really? How can you even make that statement that only 5% of the population is evil? You don't know that, so stop making assumptions based on just your opinions. The balance between ''good'' and ''evil'' people is no where near equal, there are a bunch of people out there that are evil without having to be a rapist or a killer.

-TFS

well, I'm glad you took my post so seriously but that was just an example to make my statement clear.. you're gettin all heated up for nothing, you don't really think I would've said that if I was totally serious, do you?? if that was so I would atleast added some proof or something. my statement is based on what I see and hear every day so calm down

I don't like to repeat my self but: read my second post, now add thieves, terrorists etc. to the rapist and killers, would it make much of a difference? no.

and if the balance was 50% good and 50% evil, than the world would be a living hell.