Monday, November 19, 2012
For Periods C & F: Is man essentially good or evil?
NATURE VS. NURTURE: A lot of our reading deals with characters failing to live up to our standards of morality, civility, or generosity. Does our reading truly reflect how people are, at their core? Are men and women born with evil in their hearts, or is it shaped by the environment in which they are born and raised? Due during the first 10 minutes of class.
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I do believe that man is shaped from its nurture. You cannot tell me that people that grow up in the nice parts of Lincoln act the same as those who live in the Bronx of New York. Children are not born to be cruel. They take after what they see in their environment, and build off of the example. For example, if you see your parents arguing and swearing, chances are, you are probably going to grow up taking after them. A baby is not born evil because they have not learned yet. Nurture is a great piece of the puzzel to why people act the way that they do.
ReplyDeleteKaelyn Zak
I don't think that men and women are born with evil in their hearts, I think that they are shaped by the environment in which they are born and raised. This is because if you are born with abusive parents, you will have a damaged heart and this could drive you to do something evil, but you were not born evil.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the location in which you grow up in can control whether you are evil. This is because if you grow up in a dangerous city with evil people doing bad things around you, you may grow up to want to be like them before you even realize what they are doing exactly.
I definitely don't think people are born evil. People may think this if someone was known as evil for a long time, but maybe that's just because they have had a bad environment for a long time. I also think that someone who is not evil can become evil because of a drastic change of events But someone cannot be born evil; evil people only come from how they grow up and live.
I believe men and women are shaped by their environment. This is because people copy and take after other people's examples. When a child is growing up, they will mirror what they see other people around them doing. They grow up with the evil that is in other's hearts and learn to be that way as well. By setting an example to be evil, people create a negative enviornment. This environment shapes the children that are born and raised there.
ReplyDeleteI believe that men and women are born evil. Some may be able to suppress the darkness inside them but everyone, no matter how perfect they seem to be, is evil inside. People generally act fine and normal, but everyone is far from it. We lie and cheat each other; all with a smile on our face. We may have pure intentions as a whole, but we are dark inside.
ReplyDeleteA person is born evil, but depending on their environment they turn out differently. Those who have an untroubled upbringing are usually far better people. Although, every rule has an exception; someone who has come from a well-to-do family might be great at crushing others who get in their way and taking everything they want. Also, if a person has a troubled childhood, they may want to get as far away from that evil as possible.
I think that our reading is a prime example of how we truly are. The Lottery shows how savage people can be purely because those before them were just as savage. The people in the story show that all they really care about is themselves. Mrs. Hutcherson only protested the draw because her husband drew; which meant she might get picked to die. She only cried out against it as people stoned her to death because she thought it was unfair she was the one chosen.
I belive that a man is neither good or evil. A man can be capable of great good but at the same time, he could have done something wrong. everyone does something wrong at one point in time or another, making mistakes is a part of life, and growing up, and even when you're grown up.
ReplyDeleteI also believe that where someone grows up also helps define how much good and bad a person does. I don't believe however that it's the place itself that defines someone but, the person's family. If a person comes from a happy, loving, caring family, the person will grow up and accomplish much good, If the person comes from a horrible, mean, abusive family the person probally (not always) will grow up like said person's family. Either way though each family will at some point do good and bad.
When we are reading and and characters fail to live up to our standards, it's usally because our minds are set in such a way, that what is good and bad in our society must be the way, which isn't always true. An example of this is salvery; a couple hundred years ago having a friendship with someone with dark skin was frowned apon and that was because our society had defined them a wrong. These days we find that way of life wrong. We are all capable of good and bad, and how much good and bad depends on our sosiety, and our family lives.
I believe men and women are born with good in their hearts because you start your life as an innocent. As you start to get older and experience more things is when true colors show the goodness or evil in your heart. If you are raised in a good home with parents that teach you good morals, chances are you will have good morals and will live your life with kindness and an open heart. If you experience bad things in life early on there is a good chance you will believe the world is bad and that it is evil.
ReplyDeleteI believe that people turn evil on their upbringings and their surroundings. If everybody was nice to one another there would not be as many mean people there are in the world. People do mean things to one another and the victim may want to get revenge and think there is nothing wrong with that because they were hurt first. It is a never ending cycle of cruelness.
If you grow up in Lincoln opposed to the Bronx of New York chances are the people from Lincoln act very different than the people from New York. It is all just how you are brought up and what you are expossed to as a child.
The idea of human nature has been discussed by many philosophers throughout history. Many people like to believe that humans would have a naturally good instinct but others disagree but this is not true, humans are naturally evil from birth. It is in a human’s instinct to be selfish and do anything they can to survive. Throughout history when anarchies have taken place it has been shown that it is not natural for people to care about others. When humans are set free to do as instinct tells them, they are evil. The only way to be a truly “good” being is to never hurt or harm others. This is something humans will never be able to accomplish. We kill animals and plants to feed ourselves and to build shelters. We don’t have sympathy for the helpless beings we kill, which is what truly makes us evil.
ReplyDeleteOn the positive side, humans can be shaped by their environment to be better people. No one can be shaped to be a purely good person, but with the help of laws and others a person can become less evil. When people are surrounded by others who are civilized, they too become civilized. People can learn to be selfless sometimes and to become a person who will help others. People can learn to follow laws and to eventually become nicer people. Unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be a way to rid the human from the evil they are born with. This is similar to how you can never truly tame a wild animal, you can only calm them. Humans too can never be ridden of their evil instincts to only care of themselves.
The short stories we read are about the true evilness of humans. The story “The Lottery” shows the way that people will blindly follow others even if the traditions are cruel. The tradition of the lottery started back when their village believed in human sacrifice and now it has continued although it has no true meaning. This horrifying tradition demonstrates how cruel humans can be even in a normal seeming society. The other story, “At the Barber” shows how people can be selfish people can be. The man who is seeking a free hair cut doesn’t care that the barber he goes to was in love with his daughter. He just wants a free haircut. This shows he only thinks of himself. Both of the stories show the cruelness and selfishness humans possess.
It seems most possible that people become what they are through influence. People aren’t just born with evil in their hearts, because when people are born, they are innocent. They have no reason for hate, because they don’t even know what hatred is. As we grow and become more influenced by people in the outside world, we are also start to be shaped by the evils of the world. The responsibility that we humans take on is whether or not to accept the evil, or avoid becoming evil.
ReplyDeleteAs seen in our readings, people can be evil without even knowing it. In “The Lottery”, the townspeople were evil only in the ways of their traditions. The people in the story were completely unaware and ignorant as to what life would be like without the lottery, because they had been doing it for so long, and it had never caused any ‘problems’. Everyone in the town had been brought up with that evil, so they had become acceptant to it, because they didn’t know any better. The people of the town were not born with the evil of the lottery in their hearts, yet their hearts had been raised around it since they were born.
With people being raised around evil, there has to be some source of all the evil. Where did the evil originate from? There is no definitive answer to this question, yet we know that people can’t be influenced by something that didn’t exist in the first place. My best guess is that evil comes with the threat of survival. The first evil must have come with a threat of death for humans, in which they figured that in order to live, others had to die. With this threat of survival, the first evil was born. After the feat of survival was overcome, more evils came with it, because people started wanting more than just life; people became greedy.
The new paragraphs start at "with people being raised", and "As seen in our readings". Sorry, it never lets me indent.
DeleteOur reading of The Lottery reflects how people are evil but I don't think that all people are necessarily evil at their core. In The Lottery, the tradition everyone follows is very cruel but that doesn't mean that the characters in that story are evil at their core. The people are just engaging in such a cruel activity because that is their tradition and they have been raised with it. They find that it is a normal part of their life, and they don't want to change it since old traditions are usually kept even if there is really no reason behind them.
ReplyDeleteI think that people are only evil if they chose to be or if they're environment causes them to be. They are not born with it, but it is shaped by the environment in which they are born and raised. From when they are born, how they live their life everyday and their actions determine the kind of person they grow up to be. In The Lottery, the children grow up with the terrible tradition of stoning a person from their town every year. They have never been exposed to a different lifestyle so that is what they're used to.
The environment that a person is raised in determines what they will become when they grow up. A cruel environment shapes you into a cruel person and a kind evironment shapes you into a kind person. It is not possible for someone to be born evil because, as we researched, everyone is born innocent. Throughout life they change and lose their innocence. If someone is innocent they cannot be cruel at the same time.
There is no definite answer to the question about humans being evil. Both sides can legitimately be argued, and both sides are correct. We have just read stories that include people who do have evil in their hearts; we have not yet read anything with people who are good to the core. The Lottery and At the Barber’s deal with characters who do not have love in their hearts for people they know or care about. Whether they are just ignorant or actually evil, is a matter of opinion. Sometimes people do bad things to help other people. This also could be right or wrong depending on opinion. People have different views of what is morally right and what is evil.
ReplyDeleteOne could definitely argue that humans are evil beings. They are the only creatures that kill their own kind, not for food. Humans kill for power, wealth, and even entertainment. How evil does someone need to be to go out into the woods and shoot animals for fun? When it is thought about, the realization is that there is no justification. On the other hand, humans have had to adapt to their surroundings. Sometimes, if someone is attacked, they absolutely need to fight back. The first violent or angry person in this world is responsible for the human race being evil. They made other people upset, and it started the on-going struggle of battles and fights. Not all humans are evil. Some try their absolute hardest to create peace, and care about other people more than themselves. These people, are the good people in the world, that everyone should strive to be like.
No one is born evil. There is no two-week old baby that is evil. They have not experienced anything to make them good or bad. They do not yet have a personality, and they do not have an opinion on things. Depending on what happens in someone’s life, they can turn evil or bad. If they have abusive relatives or friends, or even if something really traumatic happens in their life. When people turn evil, they do not have love for anyone or anything anymore. Being truly evil takes a low of hate, and most people that are considered evil still do have a little bit of hope or love left inside them.
Our reading does reflects how people truly are. People are not born with evil but they acquire it through experiences that drive them to turn evil. Nice and kind people become that way because of how they are raised and if their family are nice people.
ReplyDeleteEvil people become evil because of family or mental problems. People are not just born this way. It develops over years of time and is probably developed because of a tramatic event.
I feel that i am a nice person. My parents are good parents so they have taught me the right things to do and how to be charitable. I always volunteer and donate money to charity. I am a kind- hearted person and i wouldn't hurt a fly.
Evil can sometimes be from the area they live in. Someone who is born in the tougher part of the city or town can have an effect on how they act/feel towards others. They can think everyone is bad in that part so they act evil, or they can feel since they live in that area, they have to act a certain way. Someone who lives in a beautiful nice part of town should act evil because they have n o reason to. They have a nice house, food on the table, and they have a home. Acting evil can have something to do with where you grew up.
ReplyDeleteSome people just act evil because they are born that way. Someone who has a nice life has no reason to act evil towards others. But someone who maybe doesn’t have everything you have may be jealous and act differently to people because of the jealousy. Some people just think it’s fun to act harsh towards others, these people are usually born with it in their hearts.
It depends on what kind of person you are. People shouldn’t be evil, for the most part they have no reason to be evil, and if they did, they shouldn’t take it out on others.
Madison Hayes
I believe Men and women are born with only good at heart. I believe that the evilness is shaped by our eviornment in which we live. Some parts of town are good some are bad but at birth we are all born with goodness.
ReplyDeleteIn my oppinion people turn evil because of their surroundings. If someone does something mean to you, you might get mad and want to do mean things to other people. If that person had not affected you you would not be evil. People are not born with evil because they have not been influenced from their surroundings.
Different people in the world aquire different qualities. Someone who grows up with bad suroundings is likely to turn out evil too. If they fight hard enough they have a chance to be good at heart. I feel lincoln is a good place at heart and there will be good people. This is why i feel your surroundings affect how you act.
Myer Hussain
ReplyDeletePeople are certainly shaped by their environment. I know this because when a baby is growing up, they can do no harm, and they do not do anything bad on purpose. But, when the environment is bad, the child gets influenced in a negative way. The child can grow up to be just like his parents, fighting, cursing, or drinking, or the child learns from his parents mistakes and becomes a better child.
If the child grows up with cursing going around him, he will probably curse at a very young age. Same thing as drinking and gambling and smoking. The baby is always watching the parent, and is subconsciencely learning and looking up to the adult figure. If there is a lack of an adult, the child will suffer from the lack of knowledge.
A baby's main goal is to survive. If it looks up to a thriving adult who is doing bad things, then its instinct is to follow the adult's footprints and to thrive. The baby will get influenced at a young age, and throughout its life, it will be the same unless an outer force steps in and stops his actions.
Men and women are not born with evil in their hearts; it is from the people around them as well as the society they are raised in. When a child is born, they have innocence and do not have much knowledge on how to act so they take after the people around them. When people around you are rude and cruel, others take after it and grow up to have the same outlook on things. A lot of our reading does reflect on how people are in their core. However, the stories take it to the extreme to show the characters true cruelty.
ReplyDeleteIn the short story The Lottery the characters have a tradition of stoning someone for the better of their crops. This is cruel and strange to do because they are killing a member of their own village. Their village’s ritual is what will make the children of the village evil because they are being raised to kill a member of the village they live in. By being raised with such an environment, they will learn to have hate towards others and to have a bad outlook on how to survive.
The stories we have read show the reasoning for a person’s cruelty. The main reason people have an evil heart is because of the environment they were raised in. A person cannot just one day decide to be evil unless they have an event or background to be the reason for it.
I believe that the reading can reflect how people are at their core depending on how well they are described in the story. I think that depending on what the author has experienced and seen in life. People with more experience of cruel people will be able to portray an evil person because they can base it upon a real-life person. Where as someone with little experience would have to make a character seem evil based upon what they think an evil person is like. People who may have experiences the worst may be able to portray their characters the best because they know how those certain people act.
ReplyDeleteI think that all people are born innocent. Something has to make a person become evil. Bad experiences like abuse can cause a person to rebel. A person who is raised right with a good life wouldn't want to purposely do bad things or hurt people intentionally for no reason. I think that a person who isn't raised right and is treated badly may want to treat other people badly to take out their anger.
To conclude I believe that people are not born with an evilness inside them. I believe that people cause other people to be evil by treated them badly and hurting them intentionally and even obliviously. Many things can cause people to be hurt and after being hurt multiple times that have the urge to hurt others.
Our reading truely reflects on how people are at their core. For example, when we were reading To Kill A Mockingbird everyone had thought that Boo was crazy in the first part of the story. By the end we figured out more about him and he ended up being a really nice man who was just trying to help out the children. Also during the Lottery we found out that people aren't always who they seem to be like with the towns people. They seemed to be normal people just having fun at a town get together but they ended up being "crazy". When we read At The Barbers the man who was getting his hair cut seemed nice in the beginning. As the story went on, when he was getting his hair cut by the barber he ended up being mean and rude.
ReplyDeleteI think men and women who are evil become evil because of the environment they were born in raised in. No one is evil from the moment they are born. The environment they are raised in makes them who they are and if it's a bad one they may end up becoming evil. Everything that someone goes threw in their live makes them the person they are. Some people go threw a traumatic experience in their life and they end up becoming a better person because it makes them appreciate the life that they have. Others however, end up becoming worse people because of things that happen to them like traumatic experiences.
People are evil because of the way they are raised they could have had a bad or good childhood. Their parents could have been rich and spoiled them too much. This would make them into bad people. One of their parents could have abused them making them worse people. They could also become respondable people at a young ages because their parents are always at work and they need to take care of their younger sibilings. Everything that you go threw when you're being raised makes you the person you are.
The readings we have been doing talk a lot about how people are followers until they have so much on the line they might even die or until they are personally done wrong. This supports the fact that people can be morally wrong and not live up to the ideals of what most people think a civil society should be. The people in the “The Lottery” brutally kill another simply because of a tradition that does not even have its original meaning. This is not how people that we interact with on a normal basis would perceive as plausible means for death in a society. Furthermore, ”At the Barber’s” reflects it as though family takes advantage of one another and that what they do for each other is not being generous but out of obligation. That is through the barbers godfather bullying his godson to give him a free haircut and then saying he cannot marry his daughter. It is not until the barber, Makar stands up for himself that he acts right. Therefore, it is also expressed that people will not stand up for what is right until they actually have an issue involving themselves.
ReplyDeleteWith all of that being said, these stories, depicting people as selfish, brutal, and manipulating does not show how they are at their core. I think that people can be caring about one another. Even though it sometimes gets covered up by outside influences pressuring people to act a certain way there are at least a few in this world that are good. How would we ever have nonprofit charities or hospitals without a least one person caring enough to start them. People who are actually good family and friends stand up for one another as well without having to almost die. It is true that there are some wicked people in the world, but there is also a large portion that are different from the stories we have read that are good.
Furthermore, I do not think that anyone is born with evil in their hearts. A baby as we discussed in class is at total innocence. It does not know that there is evil in the world and that there is an option to be good or bad. Yet, this also means their minds are very malleable and can be effected by their environment. This could lead them to thinking stoning people is a game that is okay to repeat year after year. Even as people age they can still be influenced by others to think certain actions are okay to do even if they are not. Humans in general fight to fit in even more than they fight for what is right as shown by Makar taking years of having to deal with his wicked grandfather and the whole community agreeing to the lottery. People are not born evil, they are just influenced to be that way.
Matthew Albanese
ReplyDeleteMan's nature and his nurture both have an affect on how we act. Man's nature is usually to do the right thing;but when affected by others while growing up it makes us have conflict in choosing the right decisions. Man's nurture, however, affects how the person acts altogether. People only act badly or make the wrong decisions because they grew up in a bad environment. It is possible that they could have been bad once they had a horrible experience, such as seeing someone die. Men and women are not born with evil in their hearts. When you are born as a child, you are completely innocent. Children see the good in everyone and everything, and they don't think anything bad until they learn better. Men and women do not begin with evil, but it is possible that they end their lives with evil. As you grow up, you experience many things, and it can affect your entire life. The way that people are nurtured does affect the way a person acts, but it does not make them evil.
The way that people are does not prove that they are evil at the core. They could just be scared from a tragic event, and locked the world outside away from them, so they could not be scared again. They could be selfish and evil because of this, and it does not mean they are evil at the core. In many of our readings, it shows man's inhumanity to man. In "At The Barber" by Anton Chekov, the barber wanted to propose to one of his clients' daughters. The client wanted his daughter to marry a rich man though, so he betrothed her to a man she did not love. He did not even take a second guess as to what the barber thought of his daughter, and now he could never be married to the one he truly loved. This story shows how the client is evil when he forces his daughter to marry someone she did not want to marry. It also shows how he did not even give the barber a chance. This man is evil, but not at the core, because he truly feels sorry for what he has done. He does not show it, but it is certain that he does. This reading does not reflect what is in the client's heart at his core, but how he acted because of what happened in his life prior to this. The way that people are nurtured does affect the way a person acts, but it does not make them evil.
The environment which people grow up and were nurtured in affects how the person acts in the future. People can be evil if they choose to be, but how they act depends on how their environment was when they were growing up. Men and women are shaped by the environment of which they are born and raised, because how they act reflects it. Our reading reflects how people were born and raised, and not what is at their core. If people were evil at the core, no "kindness" would exist. We would not give presents at Christmas, and we would not give thanks at Thanksgiving. Men and women can't be born with evil in their hearts, or else all children would be from the start. They could attack people if they did not want to be held instead of throwing tantrums. Men and women are only evil because they choose to be, and because of events that happened in their life early on.
Human nature has been a topic that many philosophers are familiar. Every human has the instinct to be selfish and to provide for themselves/ do whatever they can possibly to help them survive and people close to them.The killing of innocent animals to create food for us and clothing makes us all evil.
ReplyDeleteWhen people born around evil, there is a foundation of all the evil. Even though there is not a definite answer you can infer evil is generated when people are in danger of loosing something of value or their lives. This causes them to be selfish and do anything they can to help themselves.
The short stories we read are evilness of humans. The story “The Lottery” explains how people do everything others say even if the traditions are harsh just to fit in. The story, “At the Barber” represents peopleand their selfishness.The man who wants but doesnt need a free hair cut avoids the fact that the barber was in love with his daughter. He was so selfish and just wanted the a free haircut. He simply ttried to take advantage of the innocent barber.
-Maya
Jon-Luc Jarboe
ReplyDeleteOver the years man has had coutless wars with itself over weapons, land, and freedom. However did man start these wars for other reasons? I believe man started these wars because at his core man craves to destroy and kill. This is the reason why we have criminals and serial killers around. We have them around it not because they are different.It's because their wanting for the destruction is greater than ours. However there are more reasons why man is evil.
A reason why man is evil by nature is greed. Man has come accustomed to the wanting of large quantities of money, a huge house, and a lot of other better things. However sometimes thse people want these things so bad they would kill people, steal it, or terrorize people to get what they want. Another reason is that man or a person does not always have a perfect life. Man may want something to fill that boredom or wanting for something, with destruction or killing. This is another reason why we have criminal everywhere. Even in history man has used destruction to fix problems in his life.
At the end of World War One, Germany was in an economic crisis. People were poor, homeless, and hungry until a man named Hitler came and told them it was the Jews fault and the germans believed him. This is yet another example of how man's destructive nature takes advantage of him, because man is evil by nature and man was in serious trouble man believed that if they killed the Jews life would become great again. Another example of Man's destructive nature is slavery. When man discovered he could control other people such as slaves he loved it and it made life much easier for him. However when thses slaves rebolted asking for freedom he would say no because he wanted to be lazy and perferred to control these people instead of letting them go. Man has grown from an uncivilized chaos and evil to a more cvilized version of it however this has not changed the fact that man is evil and has seven deadly sins in his basic nature.
Evil is present in all of society. It doesn't really make a difference if you are a man or a woman. If someone is raised to be a killer, they will be. People who are brought up evil, are more likely to be evil.The world has had many wars over the centuries.Usually, their a mastermind behind these plans. Evil started a long time ago. Someone decided to be mean and other people followed. Other people started to bully other people and evil was born. Its sad that people have to be this way but they are. Jason Hopkins
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI believe that men and women are not born evil. I feel as if the only reason we have evil in this world is becuase of the way society makes us feel. When a child is born, they don't know anything. They learn from their surrondings. There's a lot of pressure on people to choose different chocies. Some take on the harshness of society and become evil while others try to battle it and make this world a better place.
ReplyDeleteIf people grow up is an evil society, then they will be evil-hearted. For example, people who grow up in a racist society are more likely to think that being racist is normal, and the right choice. This is becuase they grew up with their community being racist. I feel if people grow up in a harsh community, they will most likely become evil-hearted. But, it doesnt have to be in the persons community,it could be in their house, family, or circle of friends.
The people who grow us in a good society, that teaches only good would probably live a good life without evil in their hearts. For example, if someones parents wanted to only teach good, then their child would probably only know good. If people only learn about good, then they won't know about bad, and won't do it. I believe that people aren't born with evil in their hearts. It's just the way society had control over peoples emotions.
Although we read a book and find out multiple details about the characters and the setting, we truly do not know characters in their core. We find out characteristics and traits of the characters, but we do not truly know their personality. In order to understand a person at their core, we must know a person inside and out. We can't just read a book and understand a person fully.
ReplyDeleteMen and Woman are not born with evil inside of them. I believe that personalities are formed from the society around them. For example, the person I am today is from what my friends and family treat me like. I am treated with respect from the people I know, so I feel the need to respect those people back. I was not born evil, but I have become more friendly because of my friend and family that reminds me of the person I am every day.
People shouldn't be judged or thought of as a certain thing because of what others hear. They should be judged once a person knows them inside and out. Too many people in our world today "judge a book by its cover". This is wrong, and people should change their attitudes about meeting new people in our world.
-Jake Burlingame
Nurture Versus Nature,and age old question to why people are like who they are. Nature has more to do being born into your personality. Nuture has more to do with growing up into your personality. Nurture is definitely a much more reasonable way of explaining why people are like who they are.
ReplyDeleteThe nature side of the argument is that people are like the way they are since birth. For Example, if you're a horrible person, you were like that since birth. The nurture side of the argument is very different. The reasoning of this side says that your surroundings form who you are, and that being evil from birth is just ridiculous. For example, a child born in Greenland learns a different culture and way of life then say a person in the United States. Where they were brought up plays a giant impact on them. But it's not just where they were brought up. Who teaches you and how also shows what nurture is. A good parent is more likely to raise a nice child then a bad parent who let's their child run rampant. Nurture is what brings a child up. Even if your child wasn't a very good baby, you could pound lesson upon lesson into them and teach them how to be a good child. Nurture doesn't agree with this.
Although nature may play a part into who a child is when he's born, it doesn't mean he'll be like that forever. Nature is a more definite way of explaining why a child is who he is like, for your environment determines many factors in your life.
~Joshua Tyler
I believe that man is essentially good, but they are corrupted by today's world. Then they go on to do bad things yet they think that what they are doing is good.
ReplyDeleteTake a child for example, when the child grows up he learns throw what he see's and he will most likley see people smoking and drinking. And then, he will grow up and start to do these things, but it is only because he is subconciously learning these actions.
Due to this, man is corrupted and is "bad" yet in his mind, it is good. Which just might be the reason to why we have so many people that drink and smoke in this world.
I believe that there are many things that can make or break you as a human being. I think that the actions that you make later on in life are based on the environment that you grow up in. We have all heard of stories of people that grow up to have nothing and grow up to become billionaires. But truly I believe that is truly a one in a million chance so all in all I believe that some people are bad but most people are good because of their good environment.
ReplyDeleteThere are many reasons why I personally believe this is true. One reason is because if you live your life as a drug dealer and you have a child, then that child will learn from you and end up doing the same thing that you do. A young child always learns from his or her parents and if you put bad influence on them then they will do exactly what you do. Another reason why I believe this is because of the influences with neighbors or friends. If a child grows up with good friends and a good family then hopefully the child will grow up to be the way that they are. This is why I believe that the way you are is influenced by your environment.
There are many reasons why a child grows up to be like the people in their environment. This is why I believe a child's life is depended on by his or her environment, which I believe for "man" is good.
Through life peoples ideas change. They can begin to become more generous or more kind. With that said people can also become more evil. I believe that what people experience can make people change perspectives on things, in a good or bad way.
ReplyDeleteThroughout my life there have been many times that made me act differently. An example of this is when my mom said she would take me and my brother to a Red Sox game. This for a few days made me act completely nice, because of how I was thankful for what my mom did. What makes us act different are either things people do for us that get you exited or happy. While there are things people do against us to make us unhappy or sad.
Lastly I believe that how people are treated can make people act nice or act evil. I believe everyone is born with no problems and with ought troubling situations everybody would always be happy. The times that make people sad bring out the evilness or bad actions that change them to think more evil.
Many people in this day and age don't live up to their standards. I personally believe people make themselves a form of their parents, but that they make themselves who they choose to be. Many people in this society today CHOOSE to be lazy, and not do their work. I also believe that people are born innocent, not evil. People can mold themselves to be who they want and do what they want, regardless of what everybody else says.
ReplyDeleteIn one myth, a queen has a dream that her son is going to be the downfall of her city, and becomes afraid that it is truly going to happen. She gets two other people to tell her what they see about her child, and they say the same thing, that he is going to be the downfall of their city one day. So this queen gives birth to the baby, and she abandons him in the harsh environment of the mountains. Many people today believe in many things, and people will do as this woman did if they think something about a child. They don't want to be held responsible for the downfall of their city because they raised the child. Really, how can a child, risen as a prince become evil unless they choose to be evil, like their "visions" say? The woman chose the "easier" choice in the situation, leave the child to die.
Many people, as I said before as a personal belief, can make themselves whatever they want, regardless or what people say or do. Really, how can somebody who is raised in a good society, become evil? Many people don't think that they can be whatever they want, and do whatever the want, because they think that they will be shunned from society, or pushed away, or picked on for it. What I say to it? Be your own person, do whatever it is that your heart wants you to do and DO IT! Many people ignore their standards for life and just live it like whatever they want.
Evil is everywhere in society. It is present in everything we say and do. I do not believe that we were born with evil in our hearts; I believe that it has been brought into our lives as the years have passed. People can be evil for what seems to be forever, although, there has to have been a time before evil was present. It is ultimately dependent on how people are brought up and raised.
ReplyDeleteReadings do not portray how people are at their core. That is because every person is different and everyone’s "core" is different. It is extremely difficult to portray all the different cores that people may have and it can also be rather impossible. Thus saying, reading do not portray how people are at their core, mainly because there are so many different types of cores.
Since evil is shaped by the environment it is extremely important that people try to avoid evil. However, it is in the environment which makes avoiding evil rather impossible. What is possible is not allowing the evil to get to you. If you don't let evil get to you. you can be successful and happy with yourself. If everyone just let evil go then evil would pretty much eliminate itself from society. When no one has evil or shows evil, society is a better place where people can communicate happily. Society would be a much better place if evil was not in it and if preventing evil in people was possible. Since people were not born with evil in their hearts, preventing evil is almost possible.
Zaynah Kalaoun
ReplyDeleteMan can be good and evil at the same time . They can be good and evil at the same time due to the way man learns things and how the answer meanings in life. We humans can do morally wrong just as animalscan aswell, animals can even be good sometimes. I beilve that it is in our nature but if we learn to control the bad and good and balance them out we humans could become a peacful race.
The way that man can be good is by interacting with people or animals and learning to respect each other in a peaceful way. With man interacting with all kinds of people from ecthintys to the peoples personalitys we can learn how to repect one another for who they are and how their way of life can be beautiful and unqiue living styles. Interactions with animals can even teach man on how peacful nature and the earth is and we even learn to respect the land and learn how to give the animals thier freedom as much as we humans want our freedom.
Man can be evil just as much as good. Man can be evil by harming people or by the turst of something they want. For example if you look at Adolf Hitler he was evil by harming innocent people for being different like Jewish people or evn people who weren't blond hair and blue eyes. He lust for power and in the end it consumed him with how he tried to fight everyone and become king of the whole world. Even in the situation in Gaza and Irasel people are killing innocent people due to silly issues that the innocent shouldn't have to pay for.
If we humans learn to balance good and evil we can become peaceful with each other human and animal and learn that man is not evil nor good its that man is balacned in a way. What I mean by that is there are good people in the world who have learned how to control the evil inside them. Then the bad people who a scraced and worried on how their living will destroy them and thats why they do evil.
Man cannot be born into this world as either good or evil. They cannot be born this way not because humans are born innocent, but because good and evil are just words. Words that we use to classify each other based on our actions. Man is incapable of deciding whether or not he is good or evil. We can decide our actions, but we are simply not able to decide to be good or evil, not because we are incompetent or unaware, but because the ideas of good and evil are imaginary conditions. Nothing in this world is labeled when it is created. Objects, organisms, and even people are labeled by people. Labeling helps us to comprehend the nature of behaviors and phenomena that are far beyond our levels of understanding.
ReplyDeleteMan began to label things to help associate some sort of humanized meaning with the object, or some sort of purpose with an object. Cattle are not created with the sole purpose of producing food and leather, but humans have labeled them with that purpose in our world. The same goes with the behavioral nature of humans. The act of murder itself is not evil, as actions are not done with a predetermined label. Murder becomes evil when it is deemed so by man. Man views the act of murder as destructive and sees it as a threat to his well being. So, naturally this would mean that man would stick it with a label that designated it as an evil act. And since this act was carried out by a person who intended for the act to occur, this person would receive the same label as the action. The murderer was not born knowing that he would be considered evil. The people labeling the man did not know to label this man evil. Only after the act is committed did the people have a reason to label.
And labels can be interpreted differently depending on the person who is judging. Most of us have labeled Adolf Hitler as a vile, genocidal maniac for his murder of six million Jews during the 1940’s. However, there are plenty of people around the world who would label Hitler in a different way. Some people, for whatever reason, have labeled the Jews as an inferior race that is unfit to roam the Earth. For example, the current President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmedinijad, does not believe that the Holocaust happened and wants the Jewish race to be destroyed. So naturally, he would agree with the actions of somebody like Adolf Hitler. He would not label Hitler as evil, but would view him as a champion for cleansing the world of a destructive race. He would label Adolf Hitler as good, much the same as most of us would view a volunteer helping in the aftermath of a major disaster like Hurricane Sandy as good. The two actions could not be more different, and yet they receive the same label. Another aspect of the diversity of mankind is our differing views. We tend to disagree with those who believe in the complete opposite of what our mind as told us, and as a result we begin to label those people as wrong, misguided, or even evil. We cannot distinguish between right and wrong for ourselves because we are biased toward whatever belief that we happen to agree with. So man cannot be good or evil. It’s all a matter of labels, opinions, and the many grey areas of right and wrong.
I believe that everyone is born with a natural instinct to be bad. Depending on your upbringing, this side may not come out at all. A middle class person may be more forgiving and kindhearted than a lower class person. They may be bitter and mistrusting of people since their life turned out worse than others. I feel like it’s a sort of natural instinct for humans to be bad because of the earlier days of history. This is when it was “every man for himself”. You would have to hunt and gather your own food if you wanted to live. When forced to be good, everyone will be. But if you let people be completely free, they are definitely bad. For example, Americans kill animals for food, shelter, and other materials. Most never show remorse.
ReplyDeleteAlthough humans can be horrible to each other and the environment, they can also be good. For example, United Nations works to bring peace to the world. Most people try to work together and end war. However, multiple countries are in war. Some humans dedicate their whole lives to helping those who are less fortunate than them. These people have so much good in them. This could have to do with how they are raised. Some could have been raised in a bad environment, and decided they wanted to change it. Others could have been raised in a very loving family, and could want to give back to others.
There are always ways to be good. Humans are evil in nature, but there are ways we can make up for it. For example, helping an elderly person or just being there for someone during a rough time. There are no bad people, these people just rely on the natural human instinct.
Allie Fish
I personally believe that men and women are not born into the world with evil in their hearts. I think that the environment that they are brought into shapes them into the person that they are. I think that the environment also brings evil into their life. In a way, everyone learns to be evil. When you are younger, you learn that if your mom doesn’t let you have a candy bar, then you can hide it in your room and eat it later without your mom figuring it out. Humans learn the tricks, and the tricks cause them to have evil in them.
ReplyDeleteHumans have an evil that they weren’t born with. The world itself is a cruel place to live in, and the environment that you are brought up in affects who you become. For example, if you were brought up in a bad neighborhood with many crimes and violence is surrounding you, then most likely you will become like those people. If violence is surrounding you every second of the day, then violence is the only thing you know. Another example is when a father beats and abuses a mother. As a child, you think that would be the normal thing to do. You may not know it is evil because that is all you know. You haven’t experienced anything else other than your dad beating your mom. That is the case for many people.
Men and women aren’t born into this world with evil. They learn it and pick it up from the environments in which they live in. You come into this world knowing no evil and not knowing what the world is capable of. However, as you grow you come to become more prone to the evils in this world and evil will forever be in your life.
Overall man kind is evil. We were not always evil. Yet, as time progressed and man became more powerful we began to turn into a more stubborn and selfish species. As a human grows up they never mature or truly learn from their mistakes. This can be seen when observing the issues we face today. These conflicts include warfare, poverty and finical crisis.
ReplyDeleteWhen you look at the issues of poverty, violence and financial crisis they all have one major similarity. The root of these problems are greed. Humans by nature want as much as they can have. Typically, humans do not enjoy sharing. Although this practice is common in our society it is still morally wrong.
Therefore humans are not giving creators. Although we are not cruel people we are greedy. We may not be mean to others but we show apathy towards their problems. In order to live in the society we have set up this is required.
I think our reading truly reflects how people are at their core but it all depends on how an author characterizes them. To us, the character may not live up to our standards of morality, civility, or generosity because everyone has different meanings for those words. Some people may think being generous is like offering help. To some people, they get annoyed when someone wants to help them so it would be more ignorant to them rather than generous.
ReplyDeleteI believe that men and women are not born evil. I think they gain evil by the people who surround them and the environment in which they grow up in. For example, if you play a lot of violent video games while you are younger, you could possibly become violent when you grow up because you would be used to violence ever since you were young. Another example is if you grow up in a violent neighborhood or a neighborhood that isn’t very good; you would be used to seeing violence all the time. You would be influenced by it and you could become violent.
You could also grow up to be very nurturing and responsible if you grow up in a good neighborhood with a good family. If your parents or guardians discipline you well, most likely you will know the right thing to do and you will grow up to be responsible. I think everyone is born loving and caring. The world and the society today shapes us to become evil.
No man or women can be born with evil in their heart. When people are first born, they are so innocent that they do not know what is right or wrong and do not intend to do harm to anyone or anything. They learn what is right and wrong while growing up, based on the lessons they are taught by their parents and community/environment.
ReplyDeleteHowever people live their lives everyday and their actions determine the kind of person they grow up to be. In The Lottery, the children grow up in a terrible town and it is all that they know, so they don't realize that it's wrong. Another example is if kids live in a town where constant crimes are being committed. They will grow up to think that committing a crime is fine, so they will also commit crimes when they grow up. You will learn the way of life depending where you grow up, so if you grow up in a bad area, then the 'evil' could very well be shaped into you.
Therefore, no one can truly be born with evil and hate already in their heart. When you are born, you are neither good nor evil because you know nothing. But you can become evil based on your environment when growing up, however they may believe in their head that their evil lifestyle is really good, because it is the only lifestyle that they know.
The idea of man being either evil or good has been studied by philosophers all around the world. Man itself is not evil. But it is our differences that have people perceiving mankind is evil: different race, different ethnicity, different religions, and different culture. We are ‘evil’ to one another because even when we are born we have an instinct to hate others that our different from us. On 60 minutes the other night, they were doing a study about babies and their reaction to different situations to see if they would like the ‘good guy’ or the ‘bad guy’ better. In one of the scenarios, a baby was asked to chose their favorite cereal. Then a bunny was shown choosing a cereal, but the bunny picked the opposite one from the baby did. Then, the same bunny was seen trying to open a box. The dog to the right can and slammed the box down as the bunny was trying to open it. When the baby was asked if he or she liked the bunny of the dog (that slammed the box down) better, almost all of the babies picked the dog. This shows that we are born with an instinct to hate others and be evil to others who aren’t like us. However, as individuals, as we grow up, we should learn that just because someone is different doesn’t mean that they aren’t as ‘good’ as we are. It doesn’t mean they are any less. However, if you grow up in a place in which people say things like “People who aren’t like us are bad!” or “ People who have a different religion then us are liars!”then you will truly grow up thinking that and in that instance, take it with you to adult hood. So, what we can learn from this is that mankind itself isn’t evil but the differences within mankind cause us to be evil to one another. We can also learn that the environment and the people in which you grow up with have an effect of what kind of person you become and how you will treat others.
ReplyDeleteThe book To Kill a Mockingbird does paint an accurate picture of the people back then and their opinions towards blacks. However, I don’t think that the jury’s decision reflects them as individuals. Some people on that jury probably thought that Tom Robinson was innocent however since everyone wanted him to be proven guilty, their verdict is guilty. So maybe what society wants has an effect on whether people are evil or not.
Overall, people aren’t born evil but our differences make sure evil against one another. Evil can be taught ‘away’ or taught to ‘stay’ which depends on the environment person grows up in. However, mankind is evil today due to the differences and the thirst for power.
From what we have read so far, through out this year, I think our reading reflects upon who/what people are like on the inside. You can tell a lot about someone by how they act or what they think. I feel as though people are able to reflect their insides by what is shown on the outside, to their best capability. Although, people might not turn out who you thought they were. What you see on the inside isn't all that makes up a person's personality. This is like in "To Kill a Mockingbird", and how most of the town of Maycomb feels about Boo Radley. Everyone kind of excludes him, their mostly scared of him, only because of how little they truly know about him. After Scout and Jem take the time to try and get to know him better, whatever way they could, they realized his true character. At heart, Boo is kind-hearted, and one of the greatest friends anybody could ask for. People like Boo Radley, who have truly good souls, will just stand out; so I believe our reading does in fact reflect how people are at the core.
ReplyDeleteAlong with this, I also believe that men and woman aren't born with evil in their hearts. The hatred some people carry is inflicted upon them by the environment they are raised and live in. For example, criminals aren't considered evil since the day they step into this world. This takes place over time, each having their own reason to commit crimes. I feel as though they are driven to it; like someone might rob a bank only to try and end the poverty in their own life. Its not like they did it all on purpose to truly be a horrible person. All in all, I believe that all men/women are essentially good.
(sorry its late, it deleted itself by accident towards end of class)
It would seem that many books that we read in class try to bring out the true values inside a person, whether they are good or evil. When authors of fiction write a story, they are expressing a certain character or event, be it reality or not, and they express it through their own eyes. I do not believe that the works of literature I have read so far even begin to describe the complexity of the inner workings of the human emotions and thoughts. That being said, I do not believe that the books truly reflect the true "core" of people.
ReplyDeleteMost works of literature have good and bad characters, however these characters were given their traits and qualities to express a certain theme. However, by simply portraying a certain set of characters does not represent us humans as a whole. Not even an average statistic or poll could even measure who all of us are. It is only possible to measure us as individuals, and people in themselves do not have a good, or evil nature.
You see, there is really no such thing as good or evil. It is simply a label that one faction shall place upon another. depending on who you are with and what your environment is like, one person may consider something great and the other, evil. But good and evil isn't simply based on surroundings. If you take all of the people and influence of the world away from peoples' minds, they wont be what we consider good at all, and you can't exactly consider it evil. If you take away all memory from someone, they will rely purely on human instinct, and that is to survive. If you were in this sort of Neanderthal-like state, you would not know your mother, brother, or any friend. You would most likely do whatever you'd have to to survive, even if it meant harming those you love. In this society today, we would consider that evil, wouldn't we?
Well, we would, and it has something to do with a thing we call maturity. There are in fact five levels of maturity, going from stage one, the "need" stage (where you only care about what YOU need), and stage five: the empathetic stage. We as humans start at stage one, and that is our nature. We are naturally selfish and what we today would consider pretty much evil. By doing good, you are actually rebelling against your instinct as a human. So when it comes down to whether we are truly good or evil, think about this: If rebelling against who you are is considered bad, but by rebelling you are becoming good, is there really such a thing as good and evil?