Sunday, September 13, 2015

Nate Dutch Assignment 3

     Defining people as good or bad isn't just difficult, it is impossible. Let me take you through the steps and show why attempting to do so will only confuse and depress you. We can begin with the ridiculous task of defining good and evil. What's good and what's evil? Is good just helping others and evil is harming others? Well, it can't be that simple because the only people who do something
specifically with the intentions of harming others are clinically insane. What I think you mean by evil is selfishness. Almost all of what you consider evil is someone who does something purely for their own gain without thinking of the consequences for others, and what is good is actions for the benefit of others over yourself. So now that we have have transformed this into a more manageable discussion of selflessness vs. selfishness, we can start categorizing. But no we can't because no one is completely selfish or selfless. We are evolutionarily programmed to seek out for ourselves and also at times to look out for the group. "Good people" in our society are those that more often than not fight primitive urges to be egocentric. But these "good people" also have times where they are selfish. So, unless you want to make a metric comparing good to bad, no one is truly good or evil. Humans are complex and have the capacity for wonderful deeds as well as horrible ones. So, while you can never truly be a "good person" it is important to be the best and most selfless person you can.

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