Do you believe a dark side exists in all of us?

Question

As an example, think of those serial killers. What we see in them is evil, but is that all there is within the person?

Answer 1

In some more than others . You have a point about serial killers . One of the most interesting serial killers , Richard Kuklinski , was also quite a complicated individual , as serial killers go . His life-long career as a hit man was just a job to him . Although he was able to commit horrific crimes for profit , without remorse - his only regret - besides getting caught - was the pain he caused his wife and children . He was able to feel empathy ; which is usually void in serial killers . Also , with many serial killers , he was severely abused by his father ..which , consequently , his only brother also committed murder and was sent to prison . Many times a dark side results from a childhood completely exposed to evil . Kuklinski was bullied at home , and by his peers , and began to kill his abusers before making a career of it . Many more others , I believe , are born with a flawed mind ..that upbringing can not touch .

Answer 2

Simple - what you see as dark and light or positive and negative or good and evil - is just a matter of "you think it there for it must be true". Which is farthest from the truth. If people could understand what the truth really is - we would have World Peace, but that is another matter.

Back to the question - think of it as this - your mind works like this ---- (simplified for dramatic effect - lol)

1. When the consciousness feeds the subconscious – it produces results which in turn feeds the consciousness that expands and exemplifies the results either negatively or positively depending on the over all polarity of the consciousness demands.
2. If the consciousness demands positive or negative results from the subconscious – the subconscious reacts and delivers the results – positive results for positive demands and negative results for negative demands that in turn - see #1.

The subconscious and consciousness each play by their own set of rules. There are conflicts between the two that have to be taken into consideration, but as a whole our minds works on positive and negative polarities that merely and wholeheartedly act like a force of nature seeking the path of least resistance.

Now envision the statement above but Replace -
Positive = Living
Negative = Survival

Meaning - we sometimes confuse survival instincts in the conscious and do really jacked up things when we perceive a threat - real or not. Plus, we justify anything we do with the reasoning - "we think it there for it must be true". Believe me - you can reason yourself into anything - next time your disagreeing with someone - switch sides and you will find yourself just as believable on both sides of the fence. Again - just because you think it or feel it - does not mean it is true, right or good. Here in lies the problem - anyone can be anything if put in the right conditions. People are caught up in good & evil, instead of truth and understanding, and because they are caught up in the Light/Dark or Pos/Neg or Good/Evil - they continue to encourage conflicts within themselves and others.

Answer 3

Everyone has both a good and an evil side within them. It's the heart which balances the two forces. A person who has a corrupt heart will act in an evil manner but it's possible that he will still do some good things, even if they're not enough to balance his evil acts. The same way, when a person has a pure heart he will use his good side but he may still do some bad things.

Answer 4

Yes I do believe that a dark side exists in all of us. It is the natural balance of order. Lets lay aside all talk of religion and politics and just speak of the obvious. Mankind was blessed with the power of choice. The debate here is weather the choice we have is indeed a blessing, or a curse. What we have chosen to do with these choices is grow and learn and overindulge all our senses to the point of disinterest in newer generations. I think our biggest challenge to date, appears to be knowing when to let it be. Serial killers cannot be labelled as strictly evil, even though in there adult form that is all they appear to exude. However, I am sure, throughout their lives each and every one of them has at least one person who remembers a tender moment with that person or a time when they were innocently playing with their toys.

Answer 5

Yes, I believe a dark side exists in all of us. It's always been there. We keep it in check with our morals, our perspectives of right and wrong and our laws. But it is conditional, what I consider evil, may not in fact be evil for someone else.

Eg. Cannibalistic tribes. For us to kill and eat another person is an unspeakable crime, in another culture, that is completely acceptable, maybe even required.

I guess the same could be said of each individual person.

Good and evil are conditional, dependent on culture, dependent on the individual.

Answer 6

No. The dark side lives outside one's soul but is at one's reach at any time. A person's knowledge of good and evil is the important point. Taking on evil behavior is a choice that is influenced by the world and secular thinking. People perish for lack of knowledge. Knowledge of truth is life sustaining.

Answer 7

Definitely. How do I know? Temptation. We're almost always tempted to do what we don't want to do.

Now how far we let that dark side extend is a different matter. Some people use iron will and determination to stifle it, fighting a constant battle.
Others, out of love for someone else or something or for some noble cause, try to refrain.
Others embrace it willingly because it's interesting.
Others, because of pain inflicted, become victims of darkness.
Others, because of what they believe, embrace a type of darkness as truth and act accordingly.

(Oy, I sound like a Jedi)

Answer 8

I believe there is a balance of good and evil in all of us! One of my favourite philosophers (Pico Della Mirandola) says something like humans are created higher than angels becouse they have to struggle with the evil they carry inside which makes their battle a lot harder and their sacrifice stronger! In acting, our professors teach us to be aware of this part in us and by that tring to understand it! Plus I believe you made a good point with the serial killers, I don't think that evil is all they are, maybe evil is all they ended up to be!

Answer 9

Good and bad, light and darkness, day and night, God and Satan, male and female; a duality that will never cease to exist.

The Yen and Yuan of life of which we are a part. Therefore, both dark side and its counterpart do exist in all of us. What makes the difference is..which part is dominant or more dominant. Dominance is more likely determined by:

1. Our education.
2. Our experience in life.
3. Our environment.
4. The peer we mix up with.
5. Our direct and indirect family.
6. Physical and mental issues.

Answer 10

noone TRIES to be evil, they just think what they are doing is right, because they have a reason. everyone can do something that would be called 'evil'.

i don't think that someone ONLY has a dark side, because they would still have their memories of the past and past feelings, and if they saw a councilor, the GOOD side of them would come out again