Are people born evil ?

[arekathevampyre]

As a truecrime enthusiast , I love to watch shows and read books about criminals , especially serial killers (I am so keen in their psychology that people may think I am mad/creepy) . A question came across my mind , the cause of many of the criminals committing the crimes they did were mostly rooted in their past , however , some had normal upbringing or they are even kids (like say 11 years old for example)  when they do the bad stuff . So , in your opinion , do you think that people are born evil or not ? Regardless of the religious belief(s) you may have . No racism or stuff like that when giving your opinion .  

[patronusmagic]

I love crime shows and such too, and just like you my interest in serial killer psykologi makes people think Im a bit weird  

I do not think that people are born evil, mostly because to me evil is only a consept. However I think that some people may be born with more violent tendensies and other biological/ mental problems that make them do things that are considerd evil. I belive that nature and nerture both play a part in how one turnes out, but that nerture is the most important.

[arekathevampyre]

12 minutes ago, patronusmagic said:

I love crime shows and such too, and just like you my interest in serial killer psykologi makes people think Im a bit weird  

I do not think that people are born evil, mostly because to me evil is only a consept. However I think that some people may be born with more violent tendensies and other biological/ mental problems that make them do things that are considerd evil. I belive that nature and nerture both play a part in how one turnes out, but that nerture is the most important.

Hmm . Interesting , Glad to see another enthusiast  

[chair jockey]

Take a step back. Deprecating physical violence and glorifying emotional and other mental violence is to the personal advantage of those who lack physical power but have emotional and other mental power. That's the main reason we associate the word "violence" with physical things. Those whose strengths are emotional and mental rather than physical are the people who dictate our thoughts.

 

As for your specific question, what is "born evil" is the way the real world works. People are just as suitable to living in paradise as in the real world, so what really happens is that evil invades us from outside and takes over our actions and thoughts. This happens through pressure on us to commit evil acts for reasons of survival and avoiding personal loss, sometimes also for reasons of gaining personal benefit. Also, refusing to do evil often incurs reprisals from reality through the agency of other people and institutions. This is something you find out the first time you have a permanent job and have to do something evil in order to keep your job, which happens to everyone at every permanent job.

 

Serial killers are serial violators of laws. Many people are serially evil without committing a single criminal offense, but no one talks about them.

[YamiCake]

I don't watch these sorts of things but I don't believe we are born "evil" or "good" The world is not so black and white. Hate and love are things you learn, your experience in the world shapes who you are. A baby isn't even aware of what evil is. 
If anything, I believe we are all born neutral. It's what you do in the following years that determines whether someone would consider you "good" or "evil".

[kani]

26 minutes ago, YamiCake said:

I don't watch these sorts of things but I don't believe we are born "evil" or "good" The world is not so black and white. Hate and love are things you learn, your experience in the world shapes who you are. A baby isn't even aware of what evil is. 
If anything, I believe we are all born neutral. It's what you do in the following years that determines whether someone would consider you "good" or "evil".

That seems like the most logical answer to me too. I guess you could argue that neutral is still better than bad though.

 

I think people are just a lot more sensitive than we realize, so that people born in completely "normal" families do atrocities because something happened at the wrong time, in the wrong place.

[SorryNotSorry]

I do think it's entirely possible that some people are born evil, but fortunately for the rest of us, they're relatively rare. Most evil people are made, not born that way.

[drjohnhwatson]

I like that one philosophy that you're born as a blank slate.  Is it Rousseau?  I have a memory like a sieve, honestly.  But it basically states that everyone starts off with the same opportunities, abilities, etc. At birth and outside environments influence it, which I tend to believe.  Even if you are, say, born with a mental illness, if you're born to a household with ten other siblings living just above the level of homelessness, you have way less of a chance of getting assistance as compared to someone born into wealth or into a family that would understand the symptoms and signs.

 

I think the same applies to "evilness".  If you take a child and raise them in a life of abuse, then they're far more likely to continue that cycle upon their own later family.  If you take that same child and nurture and love them, the likelihood of abuse developing is most likely lessened. And a lot of crimes of murder, or rape, are often influenced by poor home lives as children.  I, too, consume a lot of crime media [glances at username] and it seems many times the criminals in question cite prior instances of abuse (in whatever forms) as being a major force or the determining factor in goading them into doing acts that would be considered "evil".

 

i don't believe that anyone is born bad.  Or good, for that matter.  We're all born neutral and life, in the end, determines how we are to grow and act.

[funfetti]

For St. Augustine, evil is the privation of good. Meaning that it is an absence.  This is what you normally see in science (e.g. cold, dark).

 

However, the effects are real. Just because it's an absence doesn't mean that the factors aren't real.  That being said, I agree with a neutral approach as opposed to just merely given (+) or (-) at birth. Children aren't born with empathy as they are not born evil. It is a learned process that evolves over time given an array of situations, environmental influences, birth in specific time and place etc. There are tons of psychological experiments that delve into this, particularly after WWII. These were mainly social psychology experiments looking at obedience. You can learn more by the Zimbardo prison experiment and the Milgram experiment.  Dr. Zimbardo has since started the Hero Imaginative Project, where he tries to analyze the flip side of the coin--when/how/why do certain people do heroic acts? He has some podcasts/talks around. A good summary is his current interview with Tim Ferris in the Tim Ferris show. 

[Scottthespy]

In my opinion, very little that is real is evil. Things can be bad, messed up, frightening, unhinged...but evil requires informed, intentional aim to hurt simply for the sake of hurting. If there was any other motive...curiosity, vengeance, a 'world would be better without these people' philosophy, it's not what I would call 'evil'. Just...really bad. 

 

And as it requires informed intent, and people are not born informed, I do not believe people are born evil. To answer the philosophical question, though, I think most people are born generally good, or blank. Often being 'bad' takes more effort, takes having the idea to do a thing, while the 'good' thing to do is just nothing. Starting a fight: bad. Not starting a fight, good. Of course there are also many cases where 'good' requires action, but in many of THOSE cases inaction is merely neutral, not bad. Donating to a charity, good. Not donating to charity, meh. So 'good' and 'neutral' are often easier than 'bad', and the human brain has evolved to look for the path of least resistance, so by that standard most people are just 'meh'.

 

Some people do seem to be born genuinely 'bad', those that hurt things from a young age despite being brought up normally, and have no medical or philosophical excuses for their actions, but these people are very rare. Most people who are 'bad' in this manner had lackluster upbringings or some form of mental issue that specifically messes with empathy. Can it be called 'bad' if they didn't even understand that it was wrong? When a baby smacks another baby with their rattle, not out of anger, but just because the notion to swing their arm crossed their mind, is that 'bad' of the baby? Or is it simply a lack of understanding leading to an unfortunate situation? 

 

In short, my thoughts are that most people are born good or neutral, most people who seem 'bad' are either being brought up to act that way or have some sort of medical issue interfering with their empathy, and true evil requires informed intent.

[Anthracite_Impreza]

Evil isn't even a real thing, it's a moral concept we invented, so no, people can't be born evil. They can be born with things that make negative actions more likely, but that doesn't make them a 'bad' person.

[Sylvastor]

1 hour ago, arokani said:

That seems like the most logical answer to me too. I guess you could argue that neutral is still better than bad though.

 

I think people are just a lot more sensitive than we realize, so that people born in completely "normal" families do atrocities because something happened at the wrong time, in the wrong place.

I agree – and want to add that good and evil are highly subjective.

People are born as egoists though (otherwise they wouldn't ever be able to survive). Only at a later stage they grasp the concept of other humans with own wishes (the moment they stop looking at the object "mother" as a provider which fulfills needs and view her as a person with own needs).

Whether a human is considered evil or not at birth depends on how you view (natural) egoism.

 

Everything else is upbringing and environmental factors. Some people are more prone to get influenced by this than others though.

 

[RK800]

Morality is subjective, so such a question is also highly subjective.

[Roardova]

Yes.  I was born evil.  I was also born to mind my own business.  I don't act on my evil unless I'm provoked, I have violent tendencies that come up at random but I've learned how to curb them because of anger management.  I don't feel like I have schizophrenia or any personality disorder that will beckon me to become a serial killer; but I do feel like I want to become one because I have this love for serial killers.  Criminal Minds is literally one of the best shows ever created; but I can't normally sit down & watch a documentary about real life serial killers.  I'm very weird like that.  But not to digress, I was a very violent child when I didn't get my way.  I would strangle my peers, use any kind of weapons against them, my tongue was even dangerous & I rebelled with out a cause.  I'm still naturally going against the grain because that's naturally just how I am.  I have never been arrested, thank goodness; but my mother put me through anger management, psychologists & the like to give me a fighting chance in life.  I'm forever thankful for that, but my joy for violence is a lovely thing & I do think about it a lot.  Freedom is a hell of a drug; so I'll continue to curb my evil enthusiasm.

[Guest]

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[NerotheReaper]

As someone who is interested and fascinated by serial killers, and crime and the psychology that exists for it. This is my take on it: 

 

I think everyone is born a blank canvas, but some people do have some rough genetics in their family. Making them more likely to be diagnosed with a mental illness. In some families depression runs in the family. So genetics do play a role in making someone who they are in a sense. If you look at serial killers early life almost all of had some messed up childhood. Some of their childhoods you feel a little bad for them. That a child would experience the horrors they did, and instead of fighting the monsters they became one themselves. They change and develop to survive.

 

Thing is life isn't black and white, no one is pure good. We all have good and evil in us, some more than others. And some people hide it better than others. 

 

[Yatogami]

No such thing as good and evil. Since heros and psychopaths have more things in common than with your average Joe. I say there are people who have failed to see/do not recieve chemicals of positivity when dealing with their fellow man. So they don't bother involving themselves with them. Capable of seeing humans as nothing more than tools. All it truly is, is altruism vs greed. 

[SithAzathoth WinterDragon]

The way someone is raised in their early lives plays in a major roll of who they are as they get older. Either they become a better person over riding their fear/doubts and seek help they need or they become part of what they went through and harm others. Family history also plays a roll on both sides, and they can become that way on their own depending on how they spend their time. 

[arekathevampyre]

good to hear all sides of the story . very well , lets continue to make this thread a better one okay ?  

[DazzlingGirl16]

Some people are evil when they draw their first breath. (Had to quote Speedwagon from JJBA)