THAT Eternal, Moral Question

1. 83

   gmwilliamsposted 8 years ago

   
   Are there people who are predisposed towards evil?  Are there some people who are inherently evil?  Is evil the result of parental and environment upbringing?  Does childhood circumstances and situations cause certain people to lean towards and eventually become evil?  Or is childhood upbringing, circumstances, and situations irrelevant as to if some people are evil but there is inherently some type of genetic composition which makes them evil?

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   1. 78

      Kathryn L Hillposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      I would say they have severely distanced themselves from the love of their own hearts. Often this occurs due to substance abuse.
      My guess is that they enjoy their deranged sense of creativity. They may be proud of it.
      It serves their sense of accomplishment and feeling of power which they might not ordinarily feel ... at all. They are weak people with weak wills. Some might even unknowingly channel the dark side. Especially alcoholics.
      
      How to fix them?
      
      Step one, stop believing their BS!
      Step two leave them alone. Have nothing to do with them!
      Got it?

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2. 59

   DasEngelposted 8 years ago

   There is a theory is Hinduism, though it may not make much sense to some people:  They believe that their four castes come from the different parts of God's body. The lower castes were originated from the feet and thighs of God (and more!).
   
   The upper castes, they believe, came from God's torso. The highest of the Hindu castes, they believe, were originated from God's head.
   
   
   You get a starting point there don't you

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3. 0

   ahorsebackposted 8 years ago

   Once long ago I was in high school  reading and trying to understand the whole Nazi- Hitler  era of our past history ,   and in the end of the book  the author perfectly described the inherent  evil .   He said "......." perhaps it is the human heart , each of our hearts ,  that is divided  in some proportion between evil and good "........paraphrasing of course from memory ,    each of us has a molecule or so of darkness  in our hearts and souls . That  can be where it all begins ,  Some of us control that evil , others cannot but follow the course set forth  within or follow that one from outside of themselves.

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4. 61

   Live to Learnposted 8 years ago

   What is evil? Really. We rationalize the things we do. I see you used a picture of Hitler. The Nazis were not so different from the rest of us. They simply acted on their hatred of another ethnic group in the most heinous of ways.
   
   I agree with what ahorseback said. There is darkness in all of us. I think it just expands geometrically the more people who buy into any particular portion of it. They don't consider themselves dark or evil. They simply think they are doing the right thing in the situation they are in. Kind of like supporters of Donald Trump.

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      ahorsebackposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      What a Segway to Trump !   There is evil there isn't there .

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      1. 61

         Live to Learnposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         Segway? Not really. I doubt anyone knew where the Nazi party would end up when it began. Trump is dangerous primarily because he seems to be allowing people to believe their hatreds have a valid voice. That's the first step.

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5. 95

   wildernessposted 8 years ago

   What (who) is evil?  The man without the ability to discern right from wrong?  The woman whose desires override reason?  The man whose moral code differs from yours, or whose actions don't follow your code?
   
   Were the Aztec people evil because they practiced human sacrifice?  Were leaders or participants of the Crusades evil because they slaughtered people innocent of anything but not being Christian?  Are radical Islamists (ISIS) evil because they are convinced God has told them to murder (or the tribes of Israel in the OT, for that matter)? 
   
   Was Eve evil for biting the apple when she didn't know any better (didn't know good from evil)?  Is the Christian god evil for killing Egyptian infants that were truly blameless of any wrongdoing?

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   1. 61

      janesixposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      MOST people have an innate sense of right and wrong. Where does it come from? Did it evolve? Or is it innate to thinking beings?

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      1. 95

         wildernessposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         Most people do.  The same basic one the rest of their culture has, but one differing (widely sometimes) from the culture across the way.
         
         It mostly comes from the culture they live in.  It is NOT innate to thinking beings or there would be a far greater agreement between all peoples everywhere.  Yes, the sense evolved, as a survival mechanism for a specific group of people.  Same type of thing that produced, say, a wolves very definite sense of pack hierarchy.

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         1. 61

            janesixposted 8 years agoin reply to this

            What random mutation do you think makes you know right from wrong? What dna code is that?

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            1. 95

               wildernessposted 8 years agoin reply to this

               Couldn't begin to tell you - I'm no geneticist.  However, when a trait is that widespread there isn't much else that might produce it.  And "knowledge of right from wrong" isn't necessarily what it is anyway - more likely the ability to live in large groups seems appropriate.  Which means the ability to determine, and follow, the social edicts of right and wrong for the culture inhabited.  The same "random mutation" that makes a wolf accept its place in the pack, and which would explain why differing cultures have such differing mores.

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               1. 61

                  janesixposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                  But what I'm talking about is your "sense" of right and wrong. It's got to come from somewhere. I don't think it's an accident of nature. My sense of right and wrong doesn't come from my culture. My culture says it's OK to have abortions or put people in jail for using drugs. I sense these things are wrong.

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                  1. 95

                     wildernessposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                     But there is nowhere else to get it.  Not from a pretend god (and the gods morality have always varied as well, according to the society that created it) not from the lion eating its cubs, not from anything else.  It comes from the evolutionary forces that made you a "herd" animal and the desire to survive in that herd.
                     
                     I submit to you that if your society killed any person voicing any opinion against abortion you would quickly cease any opposition.  Your "sense" of wrong would quickly disappear, or at a minimum be buried deep under the professed agreement with the action.  Or you would die, which many did when slavery underwent its "trial by fire" in this country and the "rightness" of the action was challenged and changed.

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                     1. 61

                        janesixposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                        Of course I would pretend to be in favor of abortion if I were in that situation, mainly because i'm a coward. Not everyone would be that way, though. The sense of it's wrongness would still be there.
                        
                        I don't think it "comes from God". I think it is innate to the life force, just like the survival instinct.

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                        1. 95

                           wildernessposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                           But that's it; it IS a survival "instinct".  Which comes from evolution, not some undefined "life force"; without the desire and ability to reproduce (survive long enough to do so), a trait will vanish from the species.  And that includes both lack of a desire for survival AND the willingness to accept the "herds" definition of "right/wrong".

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                           1. 61

                              janesixposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                              Where did the instinct to survive come from in the first place? Life showed up as soon as it possibly could, as soon as the Earth cooled down. There wasn't millions of years for it to evolve.
                              
                              Life is the whole point to the universe. It's not a random accident.

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                              1. 95

                                 wildernessposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                                 Probably with the advent of competition.  I'm guessing, of course, but it sounds reasonable.  When survival is easy the the instinct to survive might not be so strong; when it is difficult and competition with many other species or individuals it would either strengthen or the species would die out.
                                 
                                 Your evidence that life is the point of the universe?  Or that it wasn't a random collection of chemicals that started it?  For there to be a "point" to the universe requires an intelligence; where is that intelligence if not in the life that came after the universe.

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                                 1. 61

                                    janesixposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                                    I have as much evidence for my theory as you do for yours-zero. Unless you can prove everything was an accident, you base your world view on belief just as much as I do. I would like to see you admit to that.

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                                    1. 95

                                       wildernessposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                                       Well, until you have defined "life force" and then shown it to exist, it's hard to think you have any evidence at all.  Along with, of course, the intelligence that gave "point", or "purpose" to the universe.  Just unsupported opinion.
                                       
                                       On the other hand, species DO evolve.  They DO live in groups.  And if they cannot get along (as herd animals, not those that live singly) they WILL die.  Different cultures DO have different mores, and if you changed cultures your sense of right and wrong WILL change (or you remain forever unhappy and unable to get along).  All these are at least some evidence and do support the theory that mores have evolved and mostly come from the society surrounding the individual.

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   2. 60

      Phil Perezposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      I agree with you, wilderness. As we have previously discussed, you and I, I strongly believe as well that evil cannot exist if a person cannot differentiate between what is right or wrong.
      
      60 (and more) years ago, Caucasians wouldn't let African Americans sit in the front of the bus nor let them into public facilities. Were people then evil, or ignorant? And are they evil now or ignorant now for letting "Blacks" sit in front of the bus and have access to public facilities?
      
      I believe we adapt with the laws. The more self-aware and conscientious we are, the better our laws become, thus, a higher sense of understanding. No law is absolute just like no living creature is absolute. Everything adapts, just like wilderness proclaims.

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      1. 78

         Kathryn L Hillposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         Evil is deliberately scary. I consider many movies to be evil. Evil creations are from hardened hearts and twisted minds.
         
         Evil deeds are done by individuals with a deranged sense of personal power or groups with a delusional sense of collective power. For instance, the Night Stalker and Manson committed terrible murders here in LA. People were murdered in Hollywood. Girls' dead bodies were found in the Hills of Echo Park. You think these men didn't know that what they were doing was wrong? Uh, they did and they didn't care. In fact, they justified them with UNCHECKED delusional imagining. That's evil.

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