Final Blog Assignment

TEMPLATE


(1) Question:

Whether or not human beings have a natural tendency to do good or evil?


(2) Conceptual Clarifications:

The objective would be to determine whether or not humans can control their tendencies to do good or evil or is it ingrain in us from birth? Are we as humans obligated to do good or are we accepted to do evil based on the fact that we are creatures of the universe as are animals and that some evil actions are simply instinctual as means of survival?


(3) Answer:

I believe that humans do have a natural tendency to do good and evil. I do believe good out weighs the evil tendency more often than not, however we are not perfect beings and therefore are unable resist the temptation to do evil under certain circumstances. I also believe that life experiences can influence those natural tendencies as well. For example: If a person is subject to constant abuse rather it be physical or verbal, that person will likely have more evil thoughts than a person who has had a life full of love and praise. Additionally if a person has seemingly "good luck" in life and rarely experiences hardships that person will more likely have more good tendencies than that of a person who has seemingly "bad luck" and is unfortunate in having good things happen to them making them feel bitter and anger hence having more evil tendencies. Although these factors may play a role in a human beings natural tendencies, I also believe that the human mind is very powerful and can overcome the urges of evil with an innate desire to do so instead of giving in to the strong pull to do evil, however I understand that our minds can trick us into to believing we are doing good when in fact our actions are evil in which case desire alone may not be enough and psychiatric counseling may be beneficial for reiterating our moral values to do good.


(4) Example:

As per the writings of scadapaly good and evil stem from "dichotomy" that is the two-sided or opposite opinions. There were several examples given in this writing such as in/out, up/down, male/female, life/death and of course good/evil. Another example perhaps a more detailed one was the comparison of human tendencies and that of animals. It was written as follows: "Animals do not perceive good and evil. They do not dichotmize their existence. They just exist. They simply perceive reality as it is. They do not question their existence. They simply are."
Humans question everything. We judge everything as being good or bad or being lesser degrees of good or bad (shades of grey). We categorize everything in our existence and invent elaborate systems of symbols to help define the reality we perceive. Examples of such systems would be language, math, and the periodic chart of elements. We further break down atoms into protons, electrons, and neutrons which we break down into quarks which are theorized to break down into superstrings. As for a more personal example I have had many hardships throughout my life which includes growing up in poverty that resulted in being the underdog all throughout school which eventually resulted in becoming a high school drop out. Also having many illnesses that I had to overcome, including cancer that limited me in choosing to better myself as I was unable to go college until later in life, (just to name a few) all of which could have made me a bitter person and possibly having stronger evil tendencies whereas someone I know has had little to no known hardships and has had mostly pleasurable experiences in life (aside from wanting a proposal from a longtime boyfriend) cannot relate and would be more likely to have good tendencies.

(5) Word Count:


Sections 2 + 3 + 4. Must be at least 500 words. Throw those sections into Microsoft Word, and use the Word count function. :) For example, this entire post comes out to 479 words.


(6) Image:


Optional. Find a video or picture that relates to the question.


(7) References:


Ruggiero. (2008). Thinking Critically About Ethical Issues. McGraw Hill.

www.scadapaly.com/dichotomy.htm


*** make sure you add your additional sources here!!!