Do you believe Humans are inherently good or evil?

I think humans are mainly dumb.

Good and evil again. These are words best described by the observer. There is no universal definition. IF there is some kind of universal definition of good and evil then, it would be a spiritual type of thing...or some kind of divine voodoo magic type of spooky boogie man thing.

So when you ask a question like this, then you are BEGGING for religious nuts to come in and throw up all over the place.

But in any case, despite all odds against it, I will still try to answer this question because now I am actually interested by it.

As individuals, we humans have only one perspective, our own. We cannot, no matter how we might want to, see things the way another person does. We are therefore inherently selfish. As young children, we grow in phases. We want and desire. We have little concept of others. We fight with others and take what we want. We see a toy and we just take it. We cry when someone takes it away from us. This, the most base of our nature. As adults, this behavior seems to carry through, with all the power and influence that an adult mind can muster, sometimes with devastating results. Consider war and other intentional (or even not intentional) human-caused disasters.

Yet something else happens to humans as they mature. We DO grow a sense of others. We learn to care about people around us. One might make the argument that these feelings are selfish as well, merely genetic responses to perpetuate one's DNA. Yet how do we explain when a person should choose to risk their own life for a complete stranger, with no familial ties whatsoever?

I propose, therefore, that we humans have the propensity for both good and evil (in the general sense of the words). These traits are inherent in all of us. Thus, we can all become Hitler or Mother Theresa. It comes down to choices...but only to a point.

Some people don't have a choice. We did not discuss mental illness. Where is the choice in this? Is such a person evil or good if they don't even know what they are doing? But you did not consider that in your question, so I will not include it in my answer.

In summation, I answer that humans are both good and evil. It all comes down to our choices. What do you choose?

Humans by nature r curious but innocent, wants to know the surroundings therefore where we do not know right or wrong there we r trapped, so humans do not inherit good nor evil its the situation that compels us to do good or evils deeds, This is an absurd idea that we humans inherited sin because of what Adam and Eve did 1000 and 1000 years ago, as neither of them took the permission from me before eating an apple. So why should I be held responsible of the thing which I never did!

The difference, between a flower, and a weed, is a judgment."

(rough quote) No one can understand anything anybody says

without experiencing it themselves. People doing things, we

don't understand, are often, throughout history, labeled EVIL,

some of our greatest philosophers, scientists, artists,

Good people, in the past, committed acts, now considered EVIL

Someone called EVIL, are they less than human? worse than

worthless? Do they love there children too? It's a loaded word

something I noticed one day, pondering EVIL. LIVE, the other way, is, EVIL. LIVE EVIL, EVIL LIVE, we have all seen EVIL, that EVIL look, thought, mug shot.

Evil-shmeevelI I say,

I don't believe it. The answer is NO! to your question,

Humans are inherently good and evil. Sometimes however, depending upon family dynamics, one may dominate. Basically, most people are genuinely good. Those that are evil were made that way by life. Have you ever heard of a serial killer who had loving parents, loving siblings, loving extended family, was not deprived of the basics for living, and was treated well by all. No sexual predators in the family or drunks, bad tempered family members etc. Behind the evil person, is the evil that formed them, no one is born evil.

I believe that humans are an interesting mix of reason and instinct. Whereas the rest of the animal kingdom relies primarily on instincts to get through life, reason throws us for a loop. So at times, reason clouds our instincts, or instincts clouds our reason.

Now, we must define "good" and "evil." If one person is adversely affected by another's decision, then that is seen as "evil." If one person benefits from another's decision, that is seen as "good."

Therefore, "good" and "evil" are relative concepts, depending on the situation, the times, culture, etc. For example, there was a time when burning people at the stake was considered a good thing, to purge demons and witches. The Inquisition, during its time, was "good."

However, most people in our time and age consider these past events to be "evil."

People are born into cultures, and their sense of good and evil will depend on those cultural beliefs.

Thus, people are not inherently "good" or "evil."

I believe that we are all born with both good and evil etc etc in us, except since every person is different, some of these characteristics are more prominent than others.

For example, any person can be good or evil, it just depends on what is more prominent. It also depends on how you are brought up/parents. If you are brought up in a bad environment then you are more likely to have bad experiences and act in a different way, therefore you are more likely to act as you have seen from other people, which is bad.

I believe all humans have the beginning ability to feel good and evil and that God gave them the right to choose which way they wanted to go. I think we all know right from wrong except when we are babies and are Innocent. I think the things that happen to us in our life may contribute to our good and evil habits and we have the choice on whether we want to do good or become evil. I think some people have had such a terrible life that it has made them only see evil and they never were taught love and without love you have no conscience feeling of the good.

We are mostly evil in the sense that we do less good then evil. Society isn't perfect, we need things, and we find ways to get things even if we can't them in some way or another. So if all of us had nothing to get, I am sure we would be much better people.

If you want a philosophical answer, shouldn't you define good and evil? We are inherently without definitions.

Good and evil are terms best used in a religious context.