do you believe there's good in everyone?

Robsweezie

Do you try to see the good? I try to, even though its hard to look beyond someone's ****tiness. You can still have a lot of bad traits, be selfish, inconsiderate, rude and still be a good person at heart. You could hire someone who's an arsehole to work with and unpopular, but works the hardest and gets the best results, so you focus on that and keep them on for that reason.

Or do you believe that some/a lot of people are just rotten to the core?

Cold War Kid

Definitely not everyone, but most people yes.

Mother Brain

I don't believe in good people and bad people.

Just people.

fermanagh_man

There isn't good in everyone.
Take Paedophiles + rapists for example

Eugene Norman

Mother Brain wrote: »

I don't believe in good people and bad people.

Just people.

Hitler was the same as anybody? A serial killer is just as good as the next man?

the evasion_kid

Too many people have an agenda....it doesn't take long to show itself

seamus

Of course there is. Everyone has the potential to do good.

That doesn't mean everyone uses it all the time. Some people are just dicks.

Cold War Kid

fermanagh_man wrote: »

There isn't good in everyone.
Take Paedophiles + rapists for example

Weirdly they could have good in them (although it's obviously cancelled out by their crimes) and there could be people who haven't committed crimes as heinous as that but have no good in them.

Timberrrrrrrr

Eugene Norman wrote: »

Hitler was the same as anybody? A serial killer is just as good as the next man?

Every single person no matter who they are wants to love and be loved. There are some truly bad people out there but no one is 100% bad.

cml387

I think that no matter who they become in the end there was once,and maybe deep down still is, some degree of goodness.

With the exception of Donald Trump of course.

jimmycrackcorm

I definitely believe that there's ****e in everybody.

Cold War Kid

Timberrrrrrrr wrote: »

Every single person no matter who they are wants to level and be loved. There are some truly bad people out there but no one is 100% bad.

I don't believe this (and I'm not a misanthrope - far from it. I believe most people are decent) but I think it's possible for a tiny few to be 100 per cent bad. I think it's more of a likelihood than being 100 per cent good.

Eugene Norman

Timberrrrrrrr wrote: »

Every single person no matter who they are wants to love and be loved. There are some truly bad people out there but no one is 100% bad.

The love thing is utter bollocks. Psychopaths neither need love nor give it.

Not that I said everybody is 100% bad either, hitler liked dogs. But he was bad nevertheless.

222233

Always even the most unbearable of people will have something to offer

The Backwards Man

Treat people like blackberries growing along a quiet country loning.

Take them as you find them, but be careful of the green and over ripe ones.

JustTheOne

Or is it their fault their bad?

Not really. It's all in the make up of our brains and we really don't have any control over who we really are.

Timberrrrrrrr

Cold War Kid wrote: »

I don't believe this (and I'm not a misanthrope - far from it. I believe most people are decent) but I think it's possible for a tiny few to be 100 per cent bad. I think it's more of a likelihood than being 100 per cent good.

Even killers on death row have cried out for their mother's. Not saying people are not bad but when it comes to it its human nature to want to love and be loved by someone.

The_Valeyard

There is some good in everyone,

has to be. Some sort of redeeming quality, may not excuse what they did in any shape or form.

Then again, what is 'good' these are mere human concepts we apply to certain social and moral norms which can change over time.

Hitler wasnt all bad, after all he did kill Hitler.

Cold War Kid

JustTheOne wrote: »

Or is it their fault their bad?

Once they're brought up to know the difference between right and wrong, their choices are of course their responsibility.

Mother Brain

Eugene Norman wrote: »

Hitler was the same as anybody? A serial killer is just as good as the next man?

Basically yes. In my opinion.

I personally don't believe there are objective moral truths or any real objective "good" or "evil".

The universe in my mind is just random physical processes playing out. Good and evil are human constructs as far as I'm concerned and don't actually exist.

There are things advantageous to human society that we consider to be good, but that's a different thing.

Timberrrrrrrr

Eugene Norman wrote: »

The love thing is utter bollocks. Psychopaths neither need love nor give it.

Not that I said everybody is 100% bad either, hitler liked dogs. But he was bad nevertheless.

A psychopath would probably be happy to murder the world yet go soft around a puppy or a kitten. Hitler was mentioned earlier, probably one of histories biggest psychopaths yet he had a wife and dogs. Are you saying he was incapable of love?

wakka12

Nope. There are people who have no good in them, psychopaths who feel no empathy. If they do any good deeds , its for their own benefit. So they'll be perceived as nice and benefit from that, not for the other persons good. So there is no good in psychopaths, they may act nice but are only feigning the 'good' in everyone

pq0n1ct4ve8zf5

By and large yeah. Most of the really shítty people I've known at all well, when I got to know a bit more about them they came from really rotten home situations and I think just genuinely didn't know how to give or receive kindness, they'd be the type that think if you don't dominate a situation/don't kick off when someone insults you etc, then you're a pussy. Mind you, two of the soundest, nicest women I know came from awful homes too, so I dunno. Mix of nature and nurture I suppose

whupdedo

The Backwards Man wrote: »

Treat people like blackberries growing along a quiet country loning.

Take them as you find them, but be careful of the green and over ripe ones.

Is there any situation you don't have a quote for :cool:

Eugene Norman

Mother Brain wrote: »

Basically yes. In my opinion.

I personally don't believe there are objective moral truths or any real objective "good" or "evil".

The universe in my mind is just random physical processes playing out. Good and evil are human constructs as far as I'm concerned and don't actually exist.

There are things advantageous to human society that we consider to be good, but that's a different thing.

That's an incredibly dangerous ideology.

Eugene Norman

Timberrrrrrrr wrote: »

A psychopath would probably be happy to murder the world yet go soft around a puppy or a kitten. Hitler was mentioned earlier, probably one of histories biggest psychopaths yet he had a wife and dogs. Are you saying he was incapable of love?

I'm saying pyschopaths aren't. They do like animals but that's generally because of the servility of domesticated animals -- animals treat humans as gods, or pack leaders.

zeffabelli

Cold War Kid wrote: »

I don't believe this (and I'm not a misanthrope - far from it. I believe most people are decent) but I think it's possible for a tiny few to be 100 per cent bad. I think it's more of a likelihood than being 100 per cent good.

Yeah I'm not sure and if I'm not essentialist about it.

When people are disconnected of don't have a sense of belonging or are alienated their actions tend to be self interested.

pq0n1ct4ve8zf5

wakka12 wrote: »

Nope. There are people who have no good in them, psychopaths who feel no empathy. If they do any good deeds , its for their own benefit. So they'll be perceived as nice and benefit from that, not for the other persons good. So there is no good in psychopaths, they may act nice but are only feigning the 'good' in everyone

I'm pretty sure a girl I knew in college was an actual psychopath. She's a social worker now...

Bongalongherb

A lot of folk think there's a lot of bad in Joan Burton but in all honesty she's not a bad woman at all, she's a nice lass and just doing her job of balancing the 21 billion each year. Other folk though, I think the majority have the ability to be good folk but not sociopaths. Psychopaths are just oblivious to the meaning of the word.

Whitewinged

Yes there is good and bad in everyone.

Some just lean more towards one, sometimes drastically so.

i think for people who are "bad" or do bad things to other people continuously, their thought process is so warped that they dont really believe or see that they are doing anything wrong. They somehow justify their actions to themself.

zeffabelli

Whitewinged wrote: »

Yes there is good and bad in everyone.

Some just lean more towards one, sometimes drastically so.

i think for people who are "bad" or do bad things to other people continuously, their thought process is so warped that they dont really believe or see that they are doing anything wrong. They somehow justify their actions to themself.

Yeah and the amount of stupid bad **** gone by well meaning people who think they are good.

Timberrrrrrrr

Eugene Norman wrote: »

I'm saying pyschopaths aren't. They do like animals but that's generally because of the servility of domesticated animals -- animals treat humans as gods, or pack leaders.

So they love the dog and accept the dogs love?

mohawk

Jacqueline Fluffy Tinsel wrote: »

I'm pretty sure a girl I knew in college was an actual psychopath. She's a social worker now...

Psychopaths are drawn to careers where they have power over people. So it makes sense.

Whitewinged

mohawk wrote: »

Psychopaths are drawn to careers where they have power over people. So it makes sense.

I always think that people who need power or control freaks at some stage felt powerless.

I know they say its a lack of empathy but i think with psychopaths there also seems to be a huge lack of trust in other people but i suppose without empathy how could you have trust.

pq0n1ct4ve8zf5

mohawk wrote: »

Psychopaths are drawn to careers where they have power over people. So it makes sense.

It does but it's still a scary thought!

Mother Brain

Eugene Norman wrote: »

That's an incredibly dangerous ideology.

I suppose it could be.

But I think reason alone is sufficient to exist happily enough with others in most circumstances, and can be generally relied upon to result in, if not moral behaviour, then at least ethical behaviour.

Its an unpopular opinion though alright.

Fox_In_Socks

Eugene Norman wrote: »

That's an incredibly dangerous ideology.

It's one interpretation of reality. I mean, the universe and us and our bodies are all just processes.

But yeah, I abide by a moral code but also recognise that it is partly genetic, partly societal construct at the same time.

efb

Eugene Norman wrote: »

Hitler was the same as anybody? A serial killer is just as good as the next man?

Talented painter. Scarred by WWI

efb

I don't believe this 'born evil' mantra- but some people may be predisposed to do evil acts.

KERSPLAT!

I'd like to think so, whether it is true or not I've no idea.

donegaLroad

I think that there is good in everyone, it might be deep down but its still there.

Oddly though, when a person who is known to be a relatively good person does something bad, that bad deed is what they are remembered for.

And on the other side of the coin, when someone who is known to be a bad character does something good, that one good deed gets more airplay than the bad deeds they got up to in the past.

joe_six_cans

i think most people would do bad things if need be , as george clooney said in the movie " THREE KINGS " the most important thing in the world is nesscessity

people are only as good as they are either allowed to be or need to be


ive only ever met one person who i would consider evil however , i still think about her nearly twenty years later despite only having worked with her for a relatively short time

RDM_83 again

Timberrrrrrrr wrote: »

A psychopath would probably be happy to murder the world yet go soft around a puppy or a kitten. Hitler was mentioned earlier, probably one of histories biggest psychopaths yet he had a wife and dogs. Are you saying he was incapable of love?

Was Hitler a psychopath though? He ordered a lot of things that were incredibly cruel and inhumane and massively illogical but I don't think he did that much dirty work himself or too people he knew.
He had the Stormtroopers liquidated in the night of the long knives, and he had the people that tried to kill him hung with piano wire* but I can't think of that much he did personally (maybe somebody else can think of more stuff).

I would be a believer in the "good" in everybody but I think that "good" changes a lot, if your an ancient irish warrior you could be very "good" if you were good at killing,slaving and raping the welsh or your rivals and thats not an usual idea, we have empathy but we also have always had inter group rivalry.
Whats weird about our society is how little violence there is if you think about it.

*Edit obviously this is pretty horrific, considering he had it taped to watch, but they had tried to kill him so is it psychotic or just vengeful

ThinkProgress

Good and bad...

They're just societal constructs we invented/developed to make it possible for large groups of us to co-exist in (relative) harmony.

I mean, when a lion kills a buffalo on the serengeti, do we consider it evil or bad in nature? We're not that far removed from other animals on this planet.

Society decides what's good and bad depending on what's practical. Murder is generally bad, because it creates instability and hostility.

Even this site makes arbitrary decisions on what's good and bad... or right and wrong, depending on what's practical for the majority and the majority consensus. They disregard their own rules if the general popular consensus out trumps it.

So yes, everyone has good and bad in them... just cross your fingers that you don't fall on the wrong side of that line when it shifts direction.

seamus

Eugene Norman wrote: »

That's an incredibly dangerous ideology.

Nah, I disgree. That's just reality. We just stick a facade on it that we call "morality" and pretend that we built the entire structure.

In reality "good" and "evil" are evolutionary processes refining the survival of the species - good deeds are advantageous, bad ones are not.

mad muffin

I don't believe there is good in everyone. I definitely believe there is bad in everyone.

Steve F

Freddie West was a lovely fella. help ya out with anything.Dig your back garden for free he would.

There IS pure evil in the world,believe me

zeffabelli

zeffabelli wrote: »

Yeah I'm not sure and if I'm not essentialist about it.

When people are disconnected of don't have a sense of belonging or are alienated their actions tend to be self interested.

The Nazi had a huge sense of belonging to a cause and an ideology and they committed unspeakable evil.

JustTheOne

Cold War Kid wrote: »

Once they're brought up to know the difference between right and wrong, their choices are of course their responsibility.

And if they make a bad decision like murder or something what makes them do that?

You think we have control over our choices when in fact its not true.

It's in our make up and there is nothing to control it.

Just like some people love pizza others hate it.

Or been homosexual or heterosexual, its not a choice its just who we are through our chemical make up.

zeffabelli

mariaalice wrote: »

The Nazi had a huge sense of belonging to a cause and an ideology and they committed unspeakable evil.

The Nazis didn't do it by themselves. They had a population desensitised to violence and a culture that felt disenfranchised.

NachoBusiness

Brings to mind the following from Midnight Run:

Jonathan Mardukas: There's good and bad everywhere, don't you think?
Jack Walsh: I'd say there's bad everywhere. Good I don't know about.

Guess it depends on the definition of good though. I'd define it as the ability to act from selflessness and no, I don't think everyone is capable of that.