A friend asked me recently if I had watched the news lately and I told her what l'm going to tell you. I stopped watching the news a long time ago. I just can't handle all the constant negativity that they show.
If an extra-terrestrial being was to judge the human race solely based on our various news media, it would think that we are a barbaric race of species that still hasn't evolved into anything intelligible.
Of course the reality that they show isn't the only reality and even that, is quite exaggerated in my honest opinion. But it still always makes me want to ask if we are inherently good or bad beings.
I mean, we all like to believe that we are good people, right? No one would go around telling other people that they are bad and out to get you! Well, except for a few cases anyways.
But even the self proclaimed good people are not completely free of wrong doings. So, is our species inherently good or bad? Or is the question redundant in its asking?
The State of the World
We are all aware of the state of the world and how dire things are worldwide. Don't worry, I'm not trying to be like the news. Just stating some facts here that I think will be important to answer our question.
It's a glaring fact that inequality is rampant in the world in every way imaginable! There is income inequality, there is educational inequality and even in today's world, there is gender based inequality.
There are people who waste food without even a second thought and some that even play with it just because it's fun and then there are people who aren't even able to fill their stomachs everyday.
There are countless wars fought for hidden agendas about which the public isn't informed squat! Millions of innocent people die and many more lose their loved ones in wars they had no part in.
Similarly there is so much damage to the environment going on and we are a huge reason for that.
What I'm trying to say is that, despite having the technology to solve the problems I've mentioned, despite having enough resources to satisfy every single person, why is the world in such a state, or rather, how come we let that happen? What does it say about us?
How I Look At It
I really like a saying that I had read somewhere that goes, "The world is in chaos not because bad people have made it that way, but because the good ones have remained silent for so long."
I guess if more good people would have been in charge of some really key areas, and if they had managed to keep the forces of evil at bay, this would have been a totally different world.
As to the answer of the question I posed, I believe that, there is a little good in bad, a little bad in good and it is the relationship between the two that determines how things are going to be.
The question now is, do we let nature's 'survival of the fittest' rule our very existence or do we change the rules of the game?
Good or bad is a perception of observer. Lets say that one commits murder, now from human point of view that person is bad. If we look, from perspective of a snake that murderer just helped a snake, one less that could threaten her existence.
Lets say that extraterrestrials come to earth. What do you think would happen? Many would say that we could come to an agreement and they would offer us their advanced technology. I ask you why?
How do we act towards ants. Do we offer them our help? Do we bring them food? No. We most of the time don't even see them. Sometimes we even intentionally step on them. I'm talking about majority of course.
Its all just a survival game where you have to live by the rules of society that you live in. Good and bad is defined by it.
It's all perception at the end of the day. Completely agreed!
This post received a 4.5% upvote from @randowhale thanks to @bachuslib! For more information, click here!
I just upvoted my comment. Many would call me bad. I call it a survival.
It is bad.
Then I've made a point in the definition.
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How much did he pay for the upvote?
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[More specifically] -> 'link or similar targeting of upvote'
If you haven't written this I would've written loads and loads of lines on what's wrong with upvoting your comments on other people posts, but since you probably know... Good Luck.
Who gets to decide these rules? the community? the one who rules them? anyone?... yes. after the rules are defined we can use them to define Good & Bad.
Your comment is way too interesting!!.. I agree, as humans (most of us) only care about
fellow humansclose people to us!! and I won't call this thing "Bad".Dude you just said what I was about to say lol
This was a wonderful read, I love this:
"I believe that, there is a little good in bad, a little bad in good and it is the relationship between the two that determines how things are going to be."
I think there is always something good that comes from something bad, and vice versa. When people ask if the glass is half empty or half full... its not one or the other, it is both. I think seeing the good in life but acknowledging that the bad also exists is a very important aspect of life.
We think alike!
"I think seeing the good in life but acknowledging that the bad also exists is a very important aspect of life." THIS!!
Life is always good, especially if you're rich!
Hahaha I have read several accounts of people who have loads of money and are still not happy!
Your opinions on media and news are absolutely correct , in my opinion these people do have the authority to judge the credentials of other human beings.
long live steemit @sauravrungta
Yeah they shape opinions like no other!
yes you are right i agree with your opinions ok i voted you
wellcome to my bolg @farhannaqvi7 :) always be happy
We cannot change the natural laws. The survival of the fittest is always how it is going to be, and that's why we realise, understand, get mature and keep on trying again and again to be amongst the fittest.
I liked the theory about little good in bad and little bad in the good. The symbol of yin and yang describes it quite well. Have a look at my philosophies as well, i can also rhyme whatever i want to write about. You would surely find some mind boggling stuff at my page. Keep up your good work :)
Yeah, nature will always have the last say. Natural laws are not something we can break easily. But as humans, I do believe that we can overcome that primal animalistic instincts and live as more than just another species on the planet, characeterised by morals and not the 'eat or get eaten' rule. That's my hope anyways.
It's decisive religion :D
excelente dato religioso
Thank you, you always have good posts!
Thank you :)
I think the way the media has announce the bad above the good news is making the world look like unpleasant place of existence
Yes, exactly!!
the old struggle. Is Bitcoin bad or good?
It all depends on actions and perceptions.
That is the way I see it too :)
I really like your post, it is so true. I hate the news but my hubby reads it to me so I can not be nasty.
I try to avoid any source of news I can :D
A splendid read. Yes there often is a silent majority that will not speak up and change the rules. They have become afraid to speak out. They have too many distraction in life - children, family, work tv shows, facebook and maybe even steemit. They are apathetic and have chosen to drink the kool aid or in our world fluoride in the water which has dumbed us down. If only 5 percent of them chose to rise up it would make a difference between good and bad. When good people do nothing bad people dance on the playground of life. The question what will it take? How do we motivate the silent to speak and take action? Any suggestions? Thanks for sharing. - Troy
I completely agree. Though Inbelieve that even 1% of them will be enough to bring change. I mean take a look at history. Sometimes all it takes is 1 person even to bring about a worlwide change!
That is so true however that must rise out of their apathetic state to make a difference. It can be done with a fearless conviction. I t is a matter of how much will people take before they rise up. At the moment they are too distracted to have the conviction.
Yes. It always takes somethIng major to make people motivated to change the world. Right now they are distracted but who onows what future event mightead them to wake up.
For me lies in the need of each person.
Good is a concept that is wide open. Yes I believe that people do bad things Why I dont know. I think it stems from not telling the truth to people from when they are small. Most are taught its OK to lie. You cant tell kids the truth because they wont understand. It is survival of the fittest don't kid yourself. This society is killing them off and dumbing them down is working well. Good? Bad??
Survival of the fittest is still the name of the game.
Good and bad are not real
Maybe!
Hahahaa
Follow me..
And..
please upvote my essay..
😊😊
We are unfortunate to carry the evolutionary baggage of paying more attention to warning signals of threats, than good news. If our ancestors walking the African savannahs heard whistles in the grass, they would be wise to assume the worst and react as if it was a lion, and not assume the best and think that it was just the wind. This natural tendency to pay more attention to potential bad news is exactly the psychology that the news media feeds into.
I strongly suggest you read The Better Angles of our Nature by Stephen Pinker, and the book Bill Gates would give to every new colleauge graduate entering the brave new world. It showcases quite eligantly how the world, despite all the negative press, is getting gradually better and how today is the most peaceful time in human history.
Myself I think it comes down to democratizing empowering global technologies. From the blockchain to open source softwares and free online education. It is also why I feel the urge to communicate so much on satellite applications and how to use the data. Because it's so cool to live in a time where a developer using the data can help out farmers, foresters and fishers, anywhere in the world, be more efficient, productive and sustainable in their use of natual resources. All from his laptop.
Great post, as always!
Incompletely agree that a lot of this can be solved through technology. If people had better access to education and information, I think a lot of the barbarism that still exists in the world would simply cease to exist as people would wake up to a newer reality. A reality where mankind doesn't need to function on those primal instincts anymore and could just work as one species.
Thanks for reading mate. I Always appreciate it! :)
Evolution is a bitch that needs a shorter leash, in my opinion.
Haha! What a way to put it! :P
I agree with you!
Thanks!!
Couldnt agree more the world is in chaos and you have to wonder are the elites at the top laughing at us, a big game is being played. Man against man , when the same people are constructing the madness.
I refused to get any tv channels whatsoever. I find my own news by digging myself more truth in that than on the mainstream. May as well be watching a puppet show.
Yeah! I always choose the news I want to read too!
I like the ying yang image you used in this article. I agree nothing is all good and nothing is all bad. I guess it all depends on your perspective and stance on the situation you are assessing. Something that I might think is "good" could be seen as "bad" in someone else's eyes. LOL not sure where I'm going with my thoughts... but I guess that it's just not black and white.
Great article like usual. Love that you make me think everyday! :)
Yeah, it's not all black and whote. All sorts of colors in between ;)
Crazy Librarian here, I think that the first step is to leave every one alone. If everyone did that following the non aggression principle there would be no governments to force people to give the money to support petty wars that kill innocent people. This way everyone would have equal opportunity (I'm gonna give you the benefit of doubt and assume that what you meant by inequality was that some people have less of an opportunity, like women in Saudi Arabia, or everyone in North Korea). Of course it still wouldn't be entirely equal because there would still be rich people who are born rich but they are an important part of the system because they create jobs, and its a little childish to dislike someone just because of they're class whether they are rich or poor. I'm not going to write an essay but in short I think we would be better off without government or at least very little local governments, I don't think that everything would be immediately better but it would allow in the long run for the advancement of good ideas like treating everyone equally , and bad ideas would die like that you should throw someone in a cage for smoking a plant (or are fined $200 dollars for it, I live in a decriminalized state)
Though Inthink that a lot of the wrong that happens in the world is just because of the different governments of the world not bein able work together for the betterment of humanity, I also think that without a govt. of some kind, there would ensue a chaos unknown to mankind ever before.
I'd take a look at the question and wonder if humans (plural) are good. Most think of them selves singularly and then try to apply ones own ethics to us all.
That doesn't work...
For starters there is the classic; take the average IQ of the group divided by the size of the group and you get the IQ of the group. Of course we know the higher the IQ the greater good right? That can be argued too. A higher IQ under stress just has an easier time of taking resources from the less capable.
A single human is not good, we are social primates. Loneliness and isolation is a modern day epidemic. Let us define good as a lack of suffering and a good decision is one that will cause less suffering in the future.
So we are back to the question; are humans good? Do we (more than one of us) try and reduce suffering for ourselves and others. Reducing the suffering of others implies altruism and a sacrifice. It's intuitive, but rarely expressed that our altruistic effort is directly related to our degree of affiliation to the other. Its also proven by scientific study, but these studies get buried. A few obvious examples is if two people were about to fall off a cliff and I could only grab one, one of them being my son I would grab my son. The same amount of suffering occurred in the world, the one I could not reach has a father..., just happens the suffering is not mine. I had a choice. Other interesting affiliation studies involve foster children and neglect, a biological child is treated better. Primate troops affiliation (Sapolsky) and studies of reaction times with different color skin types.
So we established good choices are based on affiliation. Teamwork, tribes, rock bands, all are better than one individual. You sacrifice being part of any group. Your individuality and your taxes.
Choices we constantly have to make due to lack of resources or, as is usual, desiring a better resource. We, WE, desire a better resource. Our team will win, make america great again, my God is your God too.
Were that our cultures were homogeneous. That we were all the same. That there were fewer of us. Humans as a species has replaced biological evolution with cultural evolution. Technology is giving the few, superpowers. The income disparity will widen, the few will prosper and perhaps move off this planet. The remainder will die off like a species that gives birth to a thousand young in the hope that a few survive.
So many different views.....truth be told we all don't live the same life. If you were to ask everybody in the world what life is you would get similar answers, but they wont be the exact same answers. Same with good and bad. The reason why it can't be defined exactly the same is because there's so many different views.
An example would be murder. Majority can agree on it being very horrible and taboo. Yet, the different types of reasons for murder (self defense, accidental, that person murdered another human being, etc.) would make people rethink whether it was bad in that situation or reasonable.
Hopefully that's a decent example that I posted, because I usually have trouble explaining why my comment(s) are what they are.
Yes you do make an interesting point. As i said, not everything is here or there. It's all perception at the end of the day.
good or bad... it is impossible to respond this question if one doesnt consider "human condition/ning vs true human nature" and I often have found out that many people confuse both.
Darwin is dying again right now. I have a few blogs on my page explaining this quite well I believe.
Look for,,,, and much more. :)
The fear of the possibility of Chaos is the fear of true Freedom!
The Problem With Power VS The Zero-Sum Game Economy
I am following, tnx