[MBTI General] People, in general, are bad

[OrangeAppled]

I don't like either of the options....
I am religious, and I think people are endowed with free will, so ultimately it's a choice to be good or bad. I think morals are objective of course, so there is definitely a standard of good and bad, set by God.
I think there are other issues at stake, like an inborn conscience that everyone has (but which can be eroded or influenced) and the inheriting of sin, but I still think any individual has the capacity to be good or bad. I think people can change dramatically too....lots of "bad" people can become "good" and vice verse.

In true INFP form, I will say I am not up for arguing religion, and will state my personal beliefs and then make a quick exit.

 

[iwakar]

You forgot the "other" option.

 

[heart]

Most people are mentally lazy, too linear, ritualistic and selfish. Some people are psyhcopathic and the rest cow to them, that's the main problem. Too many good people allow evil to get away with evil, hence the problems.

 

[speculative]

People's personas are bad; their true selves are good but who knows if they ever reach their true selves? Thus, there is a lot of suffering in the world...

Edit: there's a lot more in the Enneagram on this sort of thing than the MBTI...

 

[Siúil a Rúin]

People are the product of their experiences, choices, and genetics. People chose and act constructively and destructively. Once a person's life has ended, they are the sum total of their influence on the world which can be positive or negative. In that way a person can be good or bad I suppose. The full measure of a person is probably impossible to gather since their perspective and motivation is unique.

People are also more often than not mildly insane. It sometimes seems like even many functioning people are quite "off". It's worse than with Siamese cats actually, more complex and bizarre.

 

[Jeremy]

People's personas are bad; their true selves are good but who knows if they ever reach their true selves? Thus, there is a lot of suffering in the world...

Wow, that sounded like it came straight out of Persona 4 XD

OT: I put that I think people are good. At the kernel of every action, at least from my point of view, someone is trying to do right - be it by themselves, by others, or by society. The problem is that everyone's definition of right and wrong differs so greatly, that the truth is that nothing is ever "right" or "wrong" - it is a spectrum that changes from person to person.

 

[CrystalViolet]

Just to be devil's advocatepeople are bad. Bad little boys and girls!
Or rather incredible selfish, and small minded (not every body),and did I mention greedy? I like some of you though.

In all seriousness though, Jospeh Fritzel anyone? You couldn't consider him inherently good. Ted Bundy?
Yeah I do believe in good and evil...but for the most part I think people are just people. We are so capable of becoming monsters, but we are capable of amazing things as well. I just wish more people saw the bigger picture outside of having kids, the mortgage ect.

 

[ColonelGadaafi]

No such thing as bad or good, empty subjective concepts. What we judge as bad or good is their motivation, the more damaging they are to other people, the more they lean on the "bad" scale.

I say humans are neutral by default, and remain so, even when they burn down the hole universe.

 

[BlackCat]

People, in general, are selfish, not bad.

This.

 

[ajblaise]

The average person is bad only when compared to the archetype of a great person. Since people depend on cooperation throughout society in order to maintain their standards of living, it's often in our clear best interest to be good and treat people well.

 

[Amargith]

people will do what gets them the greatest benefit= behavioral psychology 101

Self-rewarding behavior will always win out, no matter if it is viewed morally right or wrong. (yes, even for the morally righteous. It just means the temptation wasn't as rewarding as the feeling of self-praise you get from resisting it)

 

[IEE623]

geez... lets get on the same page with contemporary philosophy already.... why keeps asking these same old questions with a pre-defined answers in the questions?

why has to start from the two extremes then move towards the center? why not start from the center then move towards either of the extremes?

 

[speculative]

On the contrary, I think it's very possible to be bad yet unselfish. Evil loves company; where else do henchmen come from after all? Evil gets lonely and then it recruits, and shares the fruits of its evil generously...

 

[Domino]

Mentally ill people are frequently considered "evil" or bad. Is that any more true than the general populace being "bad"?

 

[nanook]

Mentally ill people are frequently considered "evil" or bad

you mean, considered bad, by psychopaths (i mean common people) who have no insight, and therefore deny and project the possibility that something about their own minds could be imperfect or even just mortal?

i had a girlfriend who was epileptic and ashamed about it. very sad. i always was rebellious about this stuff. never was ashamed.

 

[Nonsensical]

The human race, as a whole, is neither bad nor good. Aside from all outside catalysts, we aren't bad or good. We simply are.

 

[Domino]

you mean, considered bad, by psychopaths (i mean common people) who have no insight, and therefore deny and project the possibility that something about their own minds could be imperfect or even just mortal?

Charles Manson, for example. Is he "evil" or is he mentally ill?

i had a girlfriend who was epileptic and ashamed about it. very sad. i always was rebellious about this stuff. never was ashamed.

Epilepsy is a very difficult thing to live with, but certainly nothing to be ashamed of. It's not something one can always control. I'm sorry for her though.

 

[nanook]

charles manson is mentally ill. and a lot of evil is the product of so called illness. a lot of illness is basically projection, and projection is the source of a lot of evil. but projection is also an unavoidable feature of the human mind. a lot of political ideas are based on projections, and cause pain, like wars, but they are not ill, because they represent a stage in evolution. stages can not be skipped, and are necessary. under ideal circumstances we can fast forward through stages. that is to say, in the beginning, we are all in "full projection mode", and act out, and are very demanding to our neighbors and neighbor tribes, then we differentiate some more, and integrate stuff, and it gets better. its only ill, by definition, if this process is being stuck below his natural potential.

so, there needs to be some evil.

but if we are stuck, there will me more evil, than is necessary.

this is, why it is formulated that: evil is such abuse of power, that prevents spiritual (psychological) growth. it tries to "establish" evil for infinity. thats also by definition one (fairly common) variation of pathology.

 

[Poki]

What about bad with good intentions or when things turn out good with bad intentions. We all live in this world and we all have different views of bad so while one person is a good person to someone they may be a bad person to others. You can also be bad based in circumstance and as long as your in that circumstance you will continue to be bad and you may never realize a person is good because they cant break out of the cirumstance.

You also have to take into account perception. I was reading about virtue and a true golden mean. How do you reach that perfect middle ground without a complete picture. If you make a choice based on partials and it ends up bad are you a bad person? But if you are waiting for the complete picture before you act and it ends up to late are you bad for not acting when it was needed? In what cases are you a good person? How do you do something for someone without affecting someone or something else?

We are all bad and good in the same action at the same moment in history.

 

[disregard]

The meaning of bad is diluted when you attribute it to the entirety of the general populace.

What you are likely proposing is that people generally fall far below the expectations everyman has of his community. It is "everyman's" choice as to whether or not he wants to regard this as evidence of immorality or as evidence of hypocrisy and self-delusion within... everyman.