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Kiran
May 22nd, 2009, 06:52 PM
Hmm...what is your take on the perception of good? and then evil?

Do you think that people are inherently good and things happen to make a person be negative?
Or do you think people can be born evil/negative?

inutero
May 29th, 2009, 02:59 AM
Hmm...what is your take on the perception of good? and then evil?

Do you think that people are inherently good and things happen to make a person be negative?
Or do you think people can be born evil/negative?

I think that most people are inherently good, but somehow they lose sight of that "goodness" as time passes. On the other hand, I also feel that some people are inherently bad as well.

I also think that some people are in a median, where they can be good people, but at times they can also be evil.

Logio
May 29th, 2009, 03:21 AM
Hmm...what is your take on the perception of good? and then evil?

Do you think that people are inherently good and things happen to make a person be negative?
Or do you think people can be born evil/negative?

I think people can begin with a positive attitude, then lose faith the human condition. They may either decide that it isn't worth it to be good, carry the attutude that things in general will not change - or they can continue to do right and use the wisdom of protective understanding.
I believe that all lower animals (or our primal minds) have an innate selfishness to survive. While this does not necessarily make them evil, they may use methods that are not based upon truth or fact to gain advantage of others. Most human brains have a higher conscious mind that can differentiate between fact and fiction or truth and falsehood. Going against the dictates of the higher mind, may cause psycholigical problems in most people. I believe that there are some people who can accept going against what is fact or truth, and not be bothered by it. This is because their higher awareness may accept what they are doing as self interested protection - therefore a survival mechanism.
It may be difficult to do the right thing when many people in a society are getting by by doing wrong; this unfair advantage may cause a cheating culture to increase in numbers.

Nathan

Rana
May 29th, 2009, 09:15 AM
hi lorri , i think everyone as individuals there are so many scenarios that affect this , many children arent given alot of things in childhood to nurtue what is essentially "good" in them .. when faced with witnessing abuse from parents , or being exposed to violent or abusive behaviors, neglect on all levels , at a stage in their life they face negativity and anger at their parents and society .. many are directly abused sexually or emotionally .. when in direct care with parents .. sometimes their good natures are shaved down ..until in some cases they realise their potential in life ,have a positive role model somewhere along the path .. sometimes adults who "act out" are merely these abused children who havent dealt with or known how to acknowledge and channell this hurt,neglect and abuse through proper councelling ..and it gets seen through all means usually negative in nature maybe alcholism,drug use,promiscuity,violence,selfharm and crime to name some..sometimes people are mentally damaged their brains have been injured in some way psycologically or physically and they act out in very violent and damaging ways to themselves but to those around them they know or dont know.. then yes there are people i would describe as conciously evil ..that choose to injure and abuse people in the most violent and terrible ways imaginable ...

Kiran
June 5th, 2009, 10:04 AM
Hmm...thanks for your answers guys. It seems that most of us see humans as positive on the whole and that people are mostly good/positive.
I think we all accept that there are negative people who just get off on hurting others, doing harm or damage with malicious intent.

So if some feel that our environment can affect this....what do you think can change those who have this malicious intent and had the most normal upbringing etc...?

BlueStar
June 5th, 2009, 03:27 PM
Lao-Tzu answered this better and more succinctly than I ever could:

"Every human being's essential nature is perfect and faultless, but after years of immersion in the world we easily forget our roots and take on a counterfeit nature."

'Darkness' or 'evil' is, I believe, simply a lack of light - or a lack of recognition of the light that is, at essence, our true nature. Like a glass lamp in which the inner radiance is obscured by layers of grime and dirt on the outer casing (comprised of a lifetime of accumulated and dysfunctional thoughts, beliefs, conditioning and assorted 'mindcrap').

BlueStar
June 5th, 2009, 03:42 PM
So if some feel that our environment can affect this....what do you think can change those who have this malicious intent and had the most normal upbringing etc...?

I honestly don't think you can change people with malicious intent, or who are ignorant of their true nature. The more you try, the more they seem to resist, the worse it can make them. Kind of reminds me of a quote I once heard: "Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig".

All you can do is simply be yourself and accept the other person 100% (although obviously if their behaviour is dangerous or criminal you would have to take the appropriate action). Certainly what I learnt from Eckhart Tolle was that by bringing the light of your presence and consciousness, and absolutely accepting another person regardless of their behaviour, it can have a subtle but transformative affect on them. Not always, but sometimes.

Kiran
June 5th, 2009, 03:47 PM
I honestly don't think you can change people with malicious intent, or who are ignorant of their true nature. The more you try, the more they seem to resist, the worse it can make them. Kind of reminds me of a quote I once heard: "Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig".

All you can do is simply be yourself and accept the other person 100% (although obviously if their behaviour is dangerous or criminal you would have to take the appropriate action). Certainly what I learnt from Eckhart Tolle was that by bringing the light of your presence and consciousness, and absolutely accepting another person regardless of their behaviour, it can have a subtle but transformative affect on them. Not always, but sometimes.

I have to agree with you here and you summed it up very well.
HUGS

Rana
June 9th, 2009, 04:31 AM
Hmm...thanks for your answers guys. It seems that most of us see humans as positive on the whole and that people are mostly good/positive.
I think we all accept that there are negative people who just get off on hurting others, doing harm or damage with malicious intent.

So if some feel that our environment can affect this....what do you think can change those who have this malicious intent and had the most normal upbringing etc...?

hopefully reincarnation ..

little bird
June 9th, 2009, 04:39 PM
It's a really interesting topic and my opinion waivers towards one side and the other depending on situations but overall, I think we are all born inherently good but I still believe that there is an undercurrent of some other influence there be that good or bad. In most cases, I believe that undercurrent to be good but I've seen situations where someone who has been raised completely away from their abusive and destructive father to find that they too grew up with almost the same personality and destructive trait that her father had. Her mother is lovely and raised her in a very honourable and positive way but despite this, her daughter still grew up to be so like her father, it was scary. He was never in her life so you have to look at that a bit more closely to try and understand why that happened. Perhaps genetics are involved, I don't know but in her case, I couldn't put that down to external influence.

Of course that is just one example but in my experience throughout my life, I believe we all start out our lives good however personalities can still be shaped/affected externally as we grow up.
I'm not even sure if this makes sense. Sorry.