If we are born pure and innocent, at what point does evil enter a child or human being? Or are we born with these traits?

It doesn't take long! Actually, I don't think we are born pure and innocent. I think our DNA is riddled with all manner of complications, mischief, greed and the whole nine yards.

It's then left up to us to sort through it, and select and bring forth what we will be.
(IMHO).

We are no more "innocent" or "evil" than any other being which must struggle for food, shelter, mating, and existence itself. Where we do differ is that our big fancy frontal lobes give us the ability to conceptualize morality, questions of good and evil, etc. This is a beneficial thing because it allwos us to work together with each other in larger communities and to help each other in long-term ways. But the biggest drawback to having a sense of morality is that it sometimes runs up against the practical needs of survival and can't be reconciled with other parts of our psyches (drive for surivival, greed, lust, etc.). So we experience a kind of inner conflict of drives: morality on one hand and other more basic urges on the other.

All higher thought processes involve abstraction. This is true of morality: you can't have morality without generalization. This is what makes it "work" in the first place. But any abstraction or generalization will only be approximate at best to the underlying reality it represents. A map can do a good job of capturing a coastline, but it can't capture the placement of every single rock, piece of driftwood, grain or sand, and so on. The same is true of morality. It can be very useful, but on some level its not going to be able to reconcile itself with every bump and wrinkle in actual experience. This lack of reconciliation is the conflict we experience as the struggle between good and evil.

We become evil or rather influenced by evil when we know what is right, and still decide or choose to do wrong.
For instance, a small child sees a balloon and grabs for it, not realizing that if it belongs to someone else, he can't take it. As the child comes to understand possessions, individual space and respect for others and their rights of possession...and he still grabs for the balloon...then, at that point, the individual begins the struggle between right/wrong...good/bad. Unfortunately, some never learn these lessons at any age.

When we learn of evil, we become evil.
2nd

[edit on 7/2/10 by CHA0S]

the human mind is like a book, when we realize and experience the world for what it really is we become tainted and develop immunities.

It enters when they reach the age of puberty- typically around 13

That's when the major internal conflicts start.

Evil comes about because we choose to do something in which others will percieve as evil...ITs about the choices we make nothing more nothing less



[edit on 7-2-2010 by loner007]

You're born with only a few basic emotions. all other emotions and reactions to them are learned socially

It's all opinion correct?
So mine is, when you make your first conscience choice to harm and youre alright with that choice.

To me true evil is when you wish to always do harm to others for no reason except you are sadistic and get pleasure out of it.

Going by that concept of evil, I will say that it's a combination of genes, the environment you are raised in and the kind of morals the parental figures and others in your life taught you.

A person has to develop a conscience that tells him/her it's wrong to hurt others (thus feeling guilty) instead of a mindset that feels pleasure at the pain of others.

what a fun question.

as soon as someone claims the moral high ground, you can look at them and conclude that they are evil.

all kidding aside, evil does not exist...... so, never.

Why do I feel like we have discussed this topic before? I got caught up in this "evil" business another time I think...