My observations regarding human nature.

To date, I have been alive for about 28.5 years. My earliest memories are from around the ages of 3 or 4. In my 25 or so years of life, I have observed the following.

Of Evil:

1) There are people who commit acts of evil because they want to (murder, rape, physical/mental abuse, etc.)

2) There are people who commit acts of evil because they think they have to (Crucaderism, Jihadism, Zionism, NAZIism, Communism, etc.)

These are the basic categories of Evil.

Of Good:

1) There are people who do good deeds to convince the outside world that they are good people.

2) There are people who do good deeds to convince themselves that they are good people.

These are the basic categories of Good.

Together, these 4 observations form the 4 Categories of Human Hypocrisy.

Why do we practice such a level of hypocrisy? Because we are arrogant by nature.

Our motive should be for Truth, not self.

a reply to: BELIEVERpriest

i have been alive for 37.5 years and here is what i observed

people suck.
of course i am talking the majority here but still
people suck
if they can get over on you they will

thats about it

a reply to: TinySickTears

Agreed.
2nd line.

a reply to: BELIEVERpriest

Why are Ideologies under the category of ' There are people who commit acts of evil because they think they have to'

Wouldn't Larceny and murder apply under that? And wouldn't Ideologies also apply to the above category as well?

And Good would be a mirror of the Evil category.

People do good act because they want to.
(Altruism, Charity, Samaritans, messiahs)

People do good acts because they have to.
(politicians, leaders, pseudo-empathetic people)

Just my critique.

ETA

Of course what anybody puts in the brackets is entirely subjective to begin with.

a reply to: NateTheAnimator

Ok, so there is ideological good and evil;
And motivated good and evil.

Ideological good/evil to appease an outside party.

Motivated good/evil to appease a personal desire.

Neither one exclusively seeks Truth.

a reply to: TinySickTears

yep

Some people do good because they believe they have a debt to pay. imo.

it is easier to do bad things than good
what stops the majority of people from doing bad # is the risk of punishment...jail. fines.
if the punishment did exist then everyone would be doing bad # to some degree. that is why there is punishment.

think about if there was an island with 2 people on it. those people have never seen another human. never seen each other. then 1 day for whatever reason they cross paths.
do you think they are gonna start hugging and holding hands? doubt it
1 of them will cave the other ones head in to steal their magic fire.

take away the punishment or risk/fear of it and you would see a whole lot more bad acts than good

a reply to: BELIEVERpriest

Generally there are good people and there are bad people.

Which ever group of people you fall in line with, which share your idea of a "good", may appear bad to another person's version of a "good" idea.

So, depends on what each believes, we fail to see past the beliefs that blind us and lead us astray. And anything to do with hate, fear, jealousy and greed are all emotions that are an indication of desegregation, while peace, love, joy and happiness are that which integrates and creates lasting bonds.

Peace

a reply to: BELIEVERpriest

I admit I used to do things just because I felt obligated to 'do the right thing', but I finally made the decision to 'be who I am' and am much happier. I don't pretend I am someone I am not anymore and will almost always just say what I think even if it gets me in trouble.

I spent far too much of my life trying to live up to others expectations and now I simply do what I feel is right for me and my family. I don't pretend to care about people and things that I actually could give a crap about.

Am I a bad person? Maybe, but I am being true to myself.

I think you should add a third option to good, people can do good things just for the sake of being good too, not just to convince others or themselves of something.

Not everyone is a hypocrite either, there are some who strive not to be hypocritical.

a reply to: BELIEVERpriest


Ah - Saturn Return time - keep living. Your thoughts on these issues will continue to change with an open mind and further experience.

I could disagree with every single statement but belief is a work in progress and it appears that you are doing the work.

I bring up the Saturn Return (the period where Saturn returns to the same location in the heavens as it was when you were born - a cycle of 27-30 years). It is a period of great peril and of great opportunity. We can become fixed at this time and never grow again or we can consciencly decide to continue to grow.

I can't spell even with spell-checker - sorry.

Of your four points - two on evil and two on good. I don't think the first - to paraphrase - that people do evil because they want to is the result of experience but rather the result of thinking and your definition of evil. It is very rare for evil to happen because people's motives are evil, evil usually happens as a result of good intentions not thought through. Only psycho/socio paths enjoy and want to do evil (maybe 7% of the population) most people want to be happy and do harm to others in the clumsy pursuit of happiness.

So no one is just a good person?

How cynical.

originally posted by: ketsuko
So no one is just a good person?

How cynical.

varying degrees of bad is what i think.

When I do a good deed, it is because I empathize with the person who is in need of help - I can feel their 'pain' (whatever emotion their 'need' is causing), and I don't want them to 'hurt' (be in need) anymore.

The hardest thing is that you can't help everyone, so I tend not to go places where I will see people in need, and I have had to learn to push information (like from the news) about such things out of my mind when I know it's something I can't do anything about.

In my 51 years of living, one of the most important things I have learned about 'bad' people is that there many of them who are deserving of a little compassion -
- often you will find that the people who are the most 'hurtful', are the ones who've endured being 'hurt' the most...

I try to look at people and see the innocent child that came into this world, not the person they became because of what was done to them as they grew up in it...

Now, I know that there are people who are 'bad' by choice, behaving terribly of their own free will...but I have learned that -

- for the most part, people who do bad things have either been driven insane (even if to small degree) by child abuse, or brainwashed by ideologies instilled in them by ignorant parents..

originally posted by: TinySickTears

originally posted by: ketsuko
So no one is just a good person?

How cynical.

varying degrees of bad is what i think.

I suppose there is always the tack that we all are sinners, but I prefer to believe that we can do good things without thought to why we do them. It just becomes what we do and who we are.

And how can you not see someone who needs help and go by?

1) There are people who commit acts of evil because they want "more"
a. calculated acts
b. emotional acts/acts of passion

2) There are people who commits acts of evil who just want to be entertained/are bored or just want the world to burn.

3) There are people who commit acts of evil because they think they have to (Crucaderism, Jihadism, Zionism, NAZIism, Communism, etc.)

These are the basic categories of Evil.

Of Good:

1) There are people who do good deeds to convince the outside world that they are good people.

2) There are people who do good deeds to convince themselves that they are good people.

3) There are people who do good deeds because they adhere to a moral code they have accepted as true. A non-religious example is the non-aggression principle.

The question is if good and evil are objective. I used to think they were not but I over time changed my mind. One phrase "I shall not coerce others" should pretty much keep one from most evil acts. coercion is generally an evil act. Combine this with the Golden Rule " One should treat others as one would like others to treat oneself " and one is going to have a hard time being evil.
Two phrases cover the bases.

a reply to: BELIEVERpriest

You forgot the people who commit evil acts but won't admit to themselves that they are evil acts.

In fact that's most of the human race.

a reply to: BELIEVERpriest

The problem in your observation is, that there's alot of grey area in between.
Ultimately, where do you see yourself in this and how do you see others?
See beyond the veil of complexity and admire the simplicity.

originally posted by: TinySickTears
a reply to: BELIEVERpriest

i have been alive for 37.5 years and here is what i observed

people suck.
of course i am talking the majority here but still
people suck
if they can get over on you they will

thats about it

Surely not all people I hope?
Don't be depressed by that, I'll give you a hug, in hope that you might see the shred of light in all of us, no matter how rotten the world seems to be.
"bad" people have a function too, they remind us of our goodness and they offer us a goal to educate them in other perspectives.
And if all else fails, at least you know who to avoid.
So I say and #'em!