Are people born naturally evil?

[ImSoCool599]

Or is it our environment that influences whether or not we will be a bad person? I guess along with that, if you believe we are inherently born evil, does that mean that it is our environment that we grow up in that keeps us good and respectful as we become older?

[Triple G]

Always the Environment.

Also because there is no natural evil.

People decide what´s evil or not.

[Hobbit XIII]

Originally posted by ImSoCool599:

Or is it our environment that influences whether or not we will be a bad person? I guess along with that, if you believe we are inherently born evil, does that mean that it is our environment that we grow up in that keeps us good and respectful as we become older?

Have you ever met a baby?
They are not evil, what kind of maniac asks such a thing.

[Mina]

The moment they become conscious maybe

[Andros]

I thought they did a study on this years ago.

Isolated babies and kids without showing them evil tendencies they ended up stealing the other kids toys and what not.

[ℭycaleo]

Originally posted by ImSoCool599:

Or is it our environment that influences whether or not we will be a bad person? I guess along with that, if you believe we are inherently born evil, does that mean that it is our environment that we grow up in that keeps us good and respectful as we become older?

Imo no. Some ppl born in good environment are the biggest assh sometimes.

[Triple G]

Originally posted by Hobbit XIII:

Have you ever met a baby?
They are not evil, what kind of maniac asks such a thing.

I mean they cry all day, and if You ask - politely - why they do it, they play stupid, and can´t give You a proper answer, but cry more. They only smile if You deal with their poop and whatnot, act like they´re handicapped or something. They want to see You suffer - and then they start giggling...

[Ghost Robertson]

Originally posted by ImSoCool599:

Are people born naturally evil?

No but a babies mind is easy to turn evil, Also to be good.

[AustrAlien2010]

People aren't exactly born. And they most definitely aren't born naturally. Let alone that they can be born "evil" or good.

The discussion misses a certain logic.
As in: Good and "evil" aren't on the same spectrum; they are not opposites. But the discussion seems to state them as opposites.


Simply put: Where there is good, there can be no "evil." They don't occupy the same sphere of existance.

[Hobbit XIII]

Originally posted by Triple G:

Originally posted by Hobbit XIII:

Have you ever met a baby?
They are not evil, what kind of maniac asks such a thing.

I mean they cry all day, and if You ask - politely - why they do it, they play stupid, and can´t give You a proper answer, but cry more. They only smile if You deal with their poop and whatnot, act like they´re handicapped or something. They want to see You suffer - and then they start giggling...

This genuinely made me laugh.

But being seriouzly...
There's a newer thing now where they do teach them how to sign language which cuts some of those problems down.

[Fried Brains]

We are born the same as animals, we learn to become human.

[Paratech2008]

Our nature is to be selfish and focused on ourselves.

Children have to be taught sharing and many other behaviors so they can function in society.

[mai72]

I believe its mostly zip code. You are going to react to your environment. Its why most young black males do not make it out from t he hood unless they have a mentor guiding their path. And even then its damn near impossible.

With that said, what do you make of people who were born in the correct zip code and who have had just about every chance for success, but yet chose to do bad. Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer for example.

[videogames10]

Originally posted by ImSoCool599:

Are people born naturally evil?

I suppose it's like being born any other color of the rainbow.

[Morkonan]

Originally posted by ImSoCool599:

Or is it our environment that influences whether or not we will be a bad person? I guess along with that, if you believe we are inherently born evil, does that mean that it is our environment that we grow up in that keeps us good and respectful as we become older?

The ol' Nature vs Nurture argument.

Some people are born that may have issues that cause them to... think differently. A psychopath is someone who can not see, or only with extreme difficulty, other human beings as "people" in any practical sense. They are much more apt to use other people to achieve what they wish, with means little within the boundaries the rest of society consider appropriate.

https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/what-lays-behind-the-hidden-suffering-of-the-psychopath

Are they... evil? They're born that way, but are they born "evil" too?

https://www.healthline.com/health/psychopath

Well, this is a behavioral disorder. (Antisocial Personality Disorder) Why? Because that is all that we currently have - behaviors. Psychology is the study of human behavior. Neuroscience is the more quantifiable study of "the brain" and stuffs.

So, if there are two different disciplines working on figuring out human behavior and how it all works, what discipline figures out "Good" and "Evil?"


I don't know that anyone is born inherently anything relative to "Good" or "Evil." But, they can certainly be created... It's a fact that subjecting children to abuse, and I don't mean just a spanking, and other serious childhood terrors, can have very bad results in terms of their behaviors and proclivities as adults. Of course, that's only higher probability of undesirable behaviors. "Undesirable" as far as the rest of stable society is concerned.

In some societies, taking children and marrying them to adults is seen by the culture as "good." In others, this would be reprehensible.

Beheading someone is seen as an atrocious crime in some places, but "Justice" in others. Even "The Death Penalty" is seen as a State going too far with its punishments no matter the crime.

I am not a moral relativist.

By that, and the above, I am not suggesting that Good or Evil are relative values that can change from culture to culture or as a point of view. I do not believe that.

I think it's best to view a standard based upon social needs, the desires of the individual, and the needs of "the other," or those people impacted by the actions of others.

If someone denies a person their choice of action, so long as that choice isn't harming another or themselves, that may be an "Evil" act. That's from stealing, murder, lying, defrauding, enslaving, dehumanizing, and on... Exercising power over another for one's own selfish purposes may be... "Evil."

In that sense, one person, alone, may actually not be able to be "Evil." And, if that is true and we judge such actions by how they impact others and the society at large, perhaps Good and Evil are developed traits, no matter what deficiencies or issues a person is born with.

[JolyJew СлаваУкраине]

humans are no less animals than all the others.
and just like animals, we have survival instincts and learned behavior.

without learning good behavior, humans act just as any other animal - only caring and survival and reproduction, which is naturally selfish and opportunistic

only by learning from their parents humans stop being animals