Is the species homo sapiens inherently "evil"?

The more I look at what is happening in the world, the more I see evil, the more I see people acting in ways that hurt others.

Even if someone is not "evil" in the sense of committing hurtful crimes against others, I more and more have the view that people are incredibly self-centered, and often with very little regard to others and to nature.

Spoiler

Every time you watch the news, I guarantee you there is some sort of story involving humans being evil. Are humans evil?

Reply 1

Blackstarr

No one is born evil.

Evil comes from influence

Reply 2

M14B

Original post by brainhuman

Spoiler

Every time you watch the news, I guarantee you there is some sort of story involving humans being evil. Are humans evil?

Original post by Blackstarr

No one is born evil.

Evil comes from influence

In my opinion our species is constantly engaged in tribal war

Reply 3

brainhuman

Original post by Blackstarr

No one is born evil.

Evil comes from influence

Interesting point. But the question remains then.

Is the human race inherently prone to creating an atmosphere where people become evil?

Reply 4

chemistrybro

humans are naturally greedy

Reply 5

Retired_Messiah

There's a catholic line of thinking that humans usually tend towards evil, something to do with original sin. An overly dramatic line of thinking, IMO

I would say that the majority of humans are self-centred, or at least start in life that way (kids not getting their own way are often ******s about it until they learn about life an' that from their parents). That sort of core thing in your head does give many people the capacity for evil.

Reply 6

brainhuman

Original post by Retired_Messiah

Did you see that video of the people stealing water bottles from the marathon.

It may be a small thing. They may not even be "criminals". But it is exactly that kind of selfishness that makes me believe the human race is trash.

Reply 7

Thus-Spoke-Lara

I think humans are neither inherently good or evil, I think they have the seeds of both within them, but what is brought out depends on influence, circumstance and situation. Religions, on the whole, tend to emphasis that people are inherently Good, but this emphasis maybe more about nurturing and bringing out positive behavior and discouraging bad behavior. Of course, we may today argue that religion has at times brought out the worst behavior in people, that religious morality seems at odds with progressive liberal norms, but we must also remember that to reach a certain point we have to go through certain experiences, ideas about what is good and what is harmful is constantly evolving and they often arise in a certain context. In short humanity needs inhumanity to exist and there is an interdependence between the two ideas, we cannot ignore the positive influence that religious attitudes have had in shaping progressive attitudes towards humanism and what is good, just because there are those, or so we are told, who kill in the name of a deity.

Human nature is far from simplistic and much of the trouble we have arises from our attempts to box human nature into generalized categories.

Reply 8

SlaveofAll

Lack of self-sufficiency got us into the world of trouble from the get go, because it forces us to rely on one another as well as the environment for food, drink, shelter, company, sex, and so forth.

Yet, we are all reluctant to provide them to other people for fear for becoming servile, so we tend to withhold them, and that curtails their well-being, which forces them to resort to violence and fraud to have their way.

This happens because we start out in life virtually "empty".