Debate: Is man relatively Good or Evil?

[SunTzu123]

“Good and evil of this world of duality are unreal,
are spoken of by words, and exist only in the mind.”
- Bhagavatam, XI, ch. XXII.
Good and evil exists in our minds. That which fulfils our interests is called good, and that which brings to us misery or anything which we do not want, is called evil. When we look at the phenomena of nature piecemeal, without recognising their connection, we do not get the proper explanation of events. If we look at the same phenomena as related to one another and to the whole universe, then we discover the true explanation and we are no longer puzzled. Then the proper cause of good and evil is understood. It is limitation, the inability to recognize the relation of the part to the whole

[wpack10]

I have to agree with New Guy. Ethics, righ and wrong, etc. Are all Constructs of mankind.

[alkhest]

so im right man is good and bad .hey joe u forgot both on the poll

[WN1 Hit]

Filled with trash, no wonder why animals hate us. We trash talk to each other, just throw junk everywhere, what else can you imagine... oh yeah, play on the internet. BAD.

[joemanf]

so im right man is good and bad .hey joe u forgot both on the poll

No I didn't. That's why the "Many shades of Gray" is on there.

[alkhest]

ok right now i see it

man created a goverment it was good but the world was full of evil so man created peace but when man saw that peace was bad man created weapons when they did that war purged out and people died more killing more wars and evil

o and theres something else read my sig teh one with evil and albert

[WN1 Hit]

Nice triple post... next time edit your first post and add there.

[pialpha]

o and theres something else read my sig teh one with evil and albert

If you are going to quote Einstein at least do it right:

The actual quote is

The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it.

[Fallbreeze]

I think we'd like to be good. We're also the one's that are defining what are good and evil, so the definition shifts from person to person. So, I don't think we can really say that man is inherently one or the other.

[Yellow Submarine]

I answered "Neither - There are just many shades of gray."

People are born good, but it is in the environment in which they live that affects their overall personality and moral code. Their status, cultural beliefs, etc also come into play. Here's an example. Person A is born into a middle-class family in the US. Person B is born on the streets and no longer has any family. Person A's beliefs will most likely be different than those of Person B, and therefore they will most likely have a different moral code. Whether Person A is more "good" than Person B depends on each person's individual character. The family of Person A may be a pessimistic, nonchalant family that hates the world, while Person B has met people who have given him an optimistic outlook on life. Once again, environment comes into play. Or is it that Person B is could be naturally good, and Person A is naturally evil? I'd like to believe that theory, but how is one to know what is good and bad without learning to tell the two apart?

What is good and evil?

That's what makes this whole thread flawed. There is no universal good, and no universal evil. It all depends on each person's individual perspective. Person A might think Action A is terrible, while Person B sees nothing wrong with it whatsoever. Therefore, I believe this poll should be renamed "Debate: Does man usually adhere to the most common moral code, or not?" However, that title is a bit long.

I wish I could keep building a wall of text, but I'm out of discussion points.