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Are humans born evil?
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Julie Send message Joined: 28 Oct 09 Posts: 34053 Credit: 18,883,157 RAC: 18 |
This is sensitive stuff, and the scientists are all keen to stress that the children they work with are not ''born evil''. Dadds is at pains to emphasise that ''psychopathy'' does not mean ''serial killer'' but callous disregard for the feelings of others - they could, as psychologist Robert Hare says in his book Snakes in Suits, find their place as easily in the corporate world as in the criminal. Even without all those terms, Hitler would still have been pure evil I think. We invented those terms, those 'diseases', those are the names we gave it. Evil is something that goes further than that and has a history that goes way back before those terms were even invented by us. rOZZ Music Pictures |
Sirius B Send message Joined: 26 Dec 00 Posts: 24879 Credit: 3,081,182 RAC: 7 |
Agree with that, so it still begs the question: What determines who gets what genes? |
Julie Send message Joined: 28 Oct 09 Posts: 34053 Credit: 18,883,157 RAC: 18 |
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Sirius B Send message Joined: 26 Dec 00 Posts: 24879 Credit: 3,081,182 RAC: 7 |
Agree with that, so it still begs the question: Okay... God: Isn't he/she supposed to be benevolent? Why create an "evil" gene? Great Designer: Really? Deliberately designing an "evil" gene for his/her amusement? Randomness: Again, the complexities of the brain disputes that. So where does that leave us? |
Bob DeWoody Send message Joined: 9 May 10 Posts: 3387 Credit: 4,182,900 RAC: 10 |
Agree with that, so it still begs the question: I'm afraid I must agree with Glenn. Depending on the genetic makeup of the parents, which genes get passed down to any one child is pure chance. If both parents have a certain tendency it is more likely that the tendency will be inherited but still not a certainty. Bob DeWoody My motto: Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow as it may not be required. This no longer applies in light of current events. |
Sirius B Send message Joined: 26 Dec 00 Posts: 24879 Credit: 3,081,182 RAC: 7 |
Agree with that, so it still begs the question: But then this raises its ugly head... What determines who gets what genes (& if someone mentions Parents, then the question still remains}. |
Julie Send message Joined: 28 Oct 09 Posts: 34053 Credit: 18,883,157 RAC: 18 |
Agree with that, so it still begs the question: That's something people have been asking themselves for ages now. If God is really that good, why are there things like war, or cancer, or car crashes, where innocent children die in (believe me, I asked myself that question over and over again after the death of my daughter) Unfortunately we don't know why and I fear we will never know. Where there is good, there must be evil, is what I think. Makes me think of that Yin Yang sign now... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yin_and_yang rOZZ Music Pictures |
janneseti Send message Joined: 14 Oct 09 Posts: 14106 Credit: 655,366 RAC: 0 |
Agree with that, so it still begs the question: Sometimes the evil genes and other bad genes seems to disappear. For instance. Svetlana Alliluyeva daughter of Joseph Stalin and Nadezhda Alliluyeva. Stalin needs no introduction. Nadezhda however killed herself. According to her close friend, Polina Zhemchuzhina, the marriage was strained, and the two argued frequently. She also suffered from a mental illness, possibly bipolar disorder; Molotov recalled that she suffered from mood changes that made her seem like a "mad woman". While she was friendly with Vasily, she was not close to Svetlana, and was stern with both children. And they gave birth to Svetlana:) http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/79/Joseph_Stalin_with_daughter_Svetlana%2C_1935.jpg "My Friend, Stalin’s Daughter" The complicated life of Svetlana Alliluyeva. http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/03/31/my-friend-stalins-daughter I dont think genes are 100% perfect all the times. Nothing is perfect in this world. Shit happens. So where does that leave us? |
Sirius B Send message Joined: 26 Dec 00 Posts: 24879 Credit: 3,081,182 RAC: 7 |
Thanks for throwing the day's schedule off kilter Bob :-( No, seriously, thanks for forcing me to pause & reflect as I've been furiously making notes of all my thoughts over the past 5 hours - all I can say is interesting (so much, I've had to e-mail Jay & ask him to put book 2 on hold as it's in for formatting & editing: If not then they can certainly be put in book 3). It's been said that we're born with certain genes & moulded by our upbringing, there's also a third part, that of control. Genes, I've already asked of those. Upbringing, well the day after that 2nd vicious beating in October 1969, the family doctor visited as I was in sheer agony. Not one piece of skin on my back was unmarked - every inch was covered in either bruises or large welts. The doctor wanted to call the police but how my mother prevented him from doing so, I'll never know, instead, he gave me an injection. Trust me, that was pure heaven as the sheer relief from the pain was awesome. Several days later, bringing my meal into the room, my mother had a sheer look of hatred on her face to which I calmly answered: should you or dad continue in this vein, one day I will have the satisfaction of putting a bullet in your heads. For months after that, they treated me fine. However, over time, they resorted back to their "normal" activities which continued until her death in 1997. That's a further 28 years during which I had legal access to weapons & live ammunition... ...so why did I not carry out my threat? It was not made in jest. I really meant what I said! Just what caused me to hold off? Was it... ...Control? Lost control Why didn't I lose control? What makes others lose it? I've never used drugs because I could not cope with life. I've never used drink as an excuse to drown my sorrows (for one thing, I have a sweet tooth & loved my rum & blacks, vodka & orange, Martinis, Gin & tonics :-) ), but always knew when enough was enough & returned home to sleep it off. Just what is it that really differentiates good from evil? |
Jim Martin Send message Joined: 21 Jun 03 Posts: 2473 Credit: 646,848 RAC: 0 |
Such a complex subject -- I hesitate to add the one on epigenetics. A rather "tame" example, I've read, not long, ago: The obesity epidemic, in the USA, anyway, might be traced, in part, to parents' (or, grandparents') exposure to DDT. How to respond, to the increasingly-preceived, complexities of life? Perhaps, the British have had the best motto: Carry-on, with a stiff, upper lip. |
Gary Charpentier Send message Joined: 25 Dec 00 Posts: 30651 Credit: 53,134,872 RAC: 32 |
empathy, a useful trait? Example: Honey Bees Example: Fruit flies Honey bees care about other bees and will act help each other. Fruit flies don't care about each other and will not act together. Both traits seem to work in the world. Humans seem to be in between. Both traits seem to be in us. Perhaps climate change will supply the stress to humans so that natural selection will change us so only one trait survives? |
Sirius B Send message Joined: 26 Dec 00 Posts: 24879 Credit: 3,081,182 RAC: 7 |
Now that is scary... ...Which trait? |
MOMMY: He is MAKING ME Read His Posts Thoughts and Prayers. GOoD Thoughts and GOoD Prayers. HATERWORLD Vs THOUGHTs and PRAYERs World. It Is a BATTLE ROYALE. Nobody LOVEs Me. Everybody HATEs Me. Why Don't I Go Eat Worms. Tasty Treats are Wormy Meat. Yes Send message Joined: 16 Jun 02 Posts: 6895 Credit: 6,588,977 RAC: 0 |
The NeoCortex has to Constantly Battle The Lizard Brain and The Old Mammalian Brain. If your NeoCortex is Damaged or Badly Formed, Evil can Take Hold. 'specially if you've Learned The Wrong Things. I'm Battling Right Now. Man 'O Live, What A War. ' ' May we All have a METAMORPHOSIS. REASON. GOoD JUDGEMENT and LOVE and ORDER!!!!! |
Sirius B Send message Joined: 26 Dec 00 Posts: 24879 Credit: 3,081,182 RAC: 7 |
The NeoCortex has to Constantly Battle The Lizard Brain and The Old Mammalian Brain. Now that I understood clearly. For the first couple of years in the army, while on the rifle range, I didn't see targets, just my parents heads... ...got strange looks many a time when I shot the targets in the head as if you aim right, they more often than not, caused ricochets... ... I got many of those :-) |
Julie Send message Joined: 28 Oct 09 Posts: 34053 Credit: 18,883,157 RAC: 18 |
Just what is it that really differentiates good from evil? Nothing, they complement each other to maintain balance in a Universe where balance is obligatory. One can't exist without the other. There have to be solutions to problems but there also have to be problems for solutions to exist. rOZZ Music Pictures |
Sirius B Send message Joined: 26 Dec 00 Posts: 24879 Credit: 3,081,182 RAC: 7 |
Just what is it that really differentiates good from evil? So you're saying that the planet has to put up with all the un-necessary death & destruction, pain & heartache until the sun dies? That is a gloomy future to contemplate. |
Julie Send message Joined: 28 Oct 09 Posts: 34053 Credit: 18,883,157 RAC: 18 |
Just what is it that really differentiates good from evil? No, the good has to have the upperhand at any time! A gloomy future indeed but if evil would have prevailed, we wouldn't be here anymore. It's a small beginning but if every individual would work with the good, evil would still be there but not as dominant. It looks though like a lot of humans only work with the evil these days plus they have quite a few 'followers'. I don't lose hope tho, never, otherwise evil would have prevailed with me. rOZZ Music Pictures |
Gary Charpentier Send message Joined: 25 Dec 00 Posts: 30651 Credit: 53,134,872 RAC: 32 |
Good v evil. Second law of thermodynamics? |
janneseti Send message Joined: 14 Oct 09 Posts: 14106 Credit: 655,366 RAC: 0 |
Just what is it that really differentiates good from evil? Hope you mean that the balance between real evil (serial killers, mass murderes) and good is less then 1000 to 10.0E+9. |
janneseti Send message Joined: 14 Oct 09 Posts: 14106 Credit: 655,366 RAC: 0 |
Good v evil. Second law of thermodynamics? First law of thermodynamics: Heat is a form of energy. Because energy is conserved, the internal energy of a system changes as heat flows in or out of it. Which means that the energy flows from heat to cold. Warm is good, cold is 'evil'. Second law of thermodynamics describes entropy. Everything changes from an ordered state to increasingly disordered state. |
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