Are people good or evil?

Question

Do you think people are inherently good or evil? Why?

Bonus brownie points/bragging rights to anyone who gives a logical answer without reference to religion.

Answer 1

i think people are naturally bad because u don't have to teach someone to "lie" or "steal", but their conscience prevents them from doing this a lot.

Answer 2

When a child is born, it has only good qualities. As a child grows, it learns evil from the family, visitors, and especially TV. If a person is exposed to only things that are good than they are inherently good. However, if a person is constantly exposed to evil and associates with evil people that that person will inherently be evil.

Answer 3

People are a collection of their experiences. It is my belief that who we inherently are is often imprisoned by our experiences. I am currently embarking on the perilous journey into my own mind on a quest to find my inherent self. To get at the core of who we are, the core that is uncontaminated by abuse or peer pressure, religion or guilt, is to find out whether we are good or evil. I think these two terms, good and evil are separate from the inherent self. If anything people are inherently gullible since we can so easily be swayed into adopting and practicing behaviors just because other tortured souls do them.

Answer 4

People are not born inherently good or evil. Genetic heritage might lean someone to a hot temper or chemical imbalances in the brain, but many people live with these without committing atrocities.

It's a simple matter of nurture vs nature. The genetics we're born with coupled with the environment that we're raised in. Yet people from the worse environments can raise themselves to the height of nobility. People from great environments lower themselves to beasts.

Ultimately it is a question of the choices we make.

Answer 5

I think that people are generally good with some evil tendencies, and that it is mostly our free will that determines which side we are on. All around us, life is really a LOT of choices, and people have a natural instinct telling us which is good and which is evil, so it really is whether or not you let those evil tendencies and temptations run you and make the bad choices.
Good and evil is also relative. I think that they are just words that tell which choices one usually makes.

Answer 6

Inherently good but some are inherently evil....................
No one can know why.......I used to think it was an evolutionary process by which the world was headed toward overall goodness, then the evil side of the Muslim empire raised its ugly head and now I have no hope for the good in mankind.

Answer 7

According to our maker, man is inherently EVIL.

This is the only standard we should know. We should fight this nature is our command. (The rules of engagement is written out in the Bible.)

And that is more important than twiddling our thumbs deciding whether we are good or evil.

Answer 8

i think we all start out evil. but during the course of our lives we turn from the bad and become good. sounds funny dont it? well thats the only way i can put it. to me that is how we all start out. we all arent inherently good or evil. we have to become that. we have to work at being good by doing stuff and saying things to people while watching our actions. of course i think we all know how to act evil at times. or all the time if you want to put it at that.

Answer 9

People are BOTH good, and evil.

When we do things that are perceived as helpful to the majority, we are generally considered to be "good."

When we do things that are perceived as harmful to the majority, we are generally considered to be "evil."

Therefore, my answer is that we are inherently good, and evil.

Keep in mind, even though we are "inherently" good, and evil, we are at the very core of our existence... GOOD.

Evidence of this can be seen by simply observing the fact that everyone is always trying to help someone in one way or another.

Answer 10

science has said that 10% of mans DNA is unmapped meaning that it has not been identifed for a trait yet. some specualte that this 10% is what makes our personality of drives our motives. Its said that this 10% is a map of the soul. So its not is 'man" good or evil but rather is that person good or evil

Answer 11

I think that people have both it just depends on what side of their nature becomes dominant. I think the real question is nature versus nurture. How do people from horrible situations come out perfectly fine and how do some who are raised in "ideal" families turn out to be complete sociopaths. I think it's within all of us to be either it's just a matter of what "side" wins out.