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Are People Born Evil? Does "Evil" exist?
noodkleopatra
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Recently, I had a discussion with someone about people being "evil".
They said that they believed people are born evil, and evil exists. I disagreed.
While I believe someone can do something "evil", I don't believe anyone is born that way, and "evil" can stem from a bad childhood or a mental disorder.
My friend disagreed.
I wondered what the intellectual users of Digital Spy thought...!
They said that they believed people are born evil, and evil exists. I disagreed.
While I believe someone can do something "evil", I don't believe anyone is born that way, and "evil" can stem from a bad childhood or a mental disorder.
My friend disagreed.
I wondered what the intellectual users of Digital Spy thought...!
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this question comes up often
i'd say no one is born 'evil'
i agree, a much bigger part
I'd say everyone is born evil.
Morals are taught according to what the society we belong to collectively deems to be good and bad behaviour.
If we were all left to our own devices without anyone telling us what was good and what was bad, we'd all be ripping each other's heads off for the last chunk of whatever dead animal we just found.
why do you believe that?
Fascinating. On about 2/3 weeks ago and concludes that one can be born evil due to a genetic defect. But, this can be compensated by a loving upbringing but be brought out by an abusive one.
I watched that; was the term evil actually used?
They seem to have used it in the title, anyway.
Did they define what evil was?
complete lack of empathy/ remorse when hurting/killing others
Yeah, I was going to say that I saw it as people who were incapable of empathy and committed acts of violence or abuse accordingly.
I suppose it could be possible that a lack of empathy was caused by some kind of defect in the brain caused by genetic mutations
yes, but it seems kindness and compassion trumps that defect
But I think we're all basically born a blank slate and we're shaped by our upbringing and environment.
But I think, for some people, "evil" gives them a way of understanding and reconciling a person's actions.
You mean through learned behavior in their environment/upbringing - a sort of nurture beats nature process? So people with the defect will grow to experience empathy if they're brought up suitably?
And if one is born with a lack of empathy, and say, a thirst for murder - is it their fault? Are we right to punish them for it - or are we locking them away for society's protection?
One example my friend brought up was Hitler. I'm afraid this might step into dangerous territory, but here we go - she said he was evil. I said, "No, he did evil acts.". Of course, I don't justify what he did, I think it was disgusting - but we pondered whether Hitler was mentally deranged, or if his psychology was warped due to a bad upbringing (we're not very well informed on his family background).
I said that I think he obviously must've had some kind of psychological/mental disorder (obviously), but I still don't believe anyone's evil. My mum always used to say, "Bastards aren't born, they're raised.".
Yes.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2011/sep/07/tv-review-horizon-good-evil
possibly, or it gives hope for better to those who are wired to only see hopelessness/ destructiveness
putting it simply...some are just more influenced by their surroundings than others and if their environment is a 'healthy' one then they're more likely to be 'healthy'
I used to think that nobody could be defined as 'evil', only the acts they committed. I have somewhat changed my mind on this, but I think we will all struggle to think of one person who's sole personality was truly evil.
No, I don't think anybody is born evil, but if I believe that then I have to believe that people aren't born good either.
I agree - this would suggest that morally we may be a blank slate (or something quite close to it) written on by nurture/experience.
Not sure I agree with this. From a purely evolutionary point of view, as social animals, there are advantages to us having empathy and exhibiting alturistic behavior towards others. In that case there we are probably built with an innate tendency to kindness and treating our fellow humans well (assuming there isn't too much cost to ourselves) that help towards the overall survival of the species
I'm not sure. This is why I posted this question, really, because I started to question myself.
Hitler, to me, is what you'd describe as 'evil'. On a irrational, emotive level, I'd say "Hitler is the human form of pure evil.". But when I try to think rationally, I think, "No, he's obviously a man with quite a ****ed up head."
Hitler's very strange, though - I hate to say this, but he did have some admirable qualities - for example, it's well documented that Hitler was an avid supporter of animal welfare (vegetarianism of course, was debated) - and especially of his pet dog, Blondie.
Now - to me, they are very admirable qualities. Not 'evil' at all. And yet, he's a man who could oversee the murder of over six million people... Very evil.
Fair enough
Not everyone wth the defect becomes evil and not everyone without it avoids becoming evil.
So no-one is born evil. Some, either by nature or nurture, will have an increased chance of becoming evil (or more accurately to commit acts deemed evil).