Are some people simply born evil??

[Procrustes Stretched]

That's the point of Mt. 13.24-30...

... the parable of the wheat & tares...

... and where the term 'bad seed' comes from.

Granny says, "Born different' - or born bad?...

The Bible has made more people become evil than any book I can imagine.

 

[Procrustes Stretched]

I don't think so. I think babies are born with an empty slate, their upbringing and circumstances pretty much determine their personality by the time they're 10 years old. I do think people can change after that, but it ain't easy.

agreed. Even counting flaws in brain chemistry and development, evil is a human concept.

 

[Procrustes Stretched]

It depends ... it's a nature versus nurture debate.

If the child was abused and didn't know what love was ... that will help in him or her becoming a criminal.

People have negative genes in them when they are born... and if they grow up in an atmosphere conductive to crime ... yes .... they will become serial murders probably.

negative genes?




methinks you misspeak

 

[Procrustes Stretched]

"We first kill people with our minds, before we kill them with weapons. Whatever the conflict, the enemy is always the destroyer. We're on God's side; they're barbaric. We're good, they're evil. War gives us a feeling of moral clarity that we lack at other times." Sam Keen

Children are not blank slates...Evil though requires context, experience and a whole panoply of interactions and development. It requires especially background as the Holocaust should demonstrate to anyone.

Consider too Racism. Remember Cain and remember too the concept of Original sin. Now explain empathy and its opposite. Or the Golden rule.

The other. Us versus them. God. Moral clarity? I detest and despise most all self-appointed moralists.

The concept of original sin helped make mankind into a killing machine. It allows us to blame others for life gone astray. It demonized women. It demonized symbolic rituals and myths that used to celebrate the snake and nature as anything but evil and dangerous.

Evil is a human construct and concept. It's evil.

 

[Dreamy]

That's the point of Mt. 13.24-30...

... the parable of the wheat & tares...

... and where the term 'bad seed' comes from.

Granny says, "Born different' - or born bad?...

The Bible has made more people become evil than any book I can imagine.

How do words in a book make anyone become evil? Do you believe music has that same power Mrs. Gore?

 

[KudoZ]

Evil is a discriptive word which is open to subjective analysis. I'd rather use the term anti-social. Yes, abosoutely it is an inborn trait. I've watch 3 generations of children grow up and right from the start you can see the agressive ones who have no remorse for anything that they do. And you cannot teach how wrong that is to them.
I walk pass schoolyards full of bouncing, lively children and ask myself...which ones will be the thieves, the robbers, the killers? You can't tell, but you know they are out there right in front of you.

 

[skye]

It depends ... it's a nature versus nurture debate.

If the child was abused and didn't know what love was ... that will help in him or her becoming a criminal.

People have negative genes in them when they are born... and if they grow up in an atmosphere conductive to crime ... yes .... they will become serial murders probably.

negative genes?




methinks you misspeak

What I meant is... some people are predisposed to become criminals because of their genetic disposition.... if we add to that an abusive childhood and all what that implies .... then all factors will lead them to become a murder, a serial killer or worse.

This all has been scientifically proven.

 

[AquaAthena]

Like hitmen.

You could never pay me enough/any money to take another human life.

Except in self-defense or as a soldier in a war.

This video addresses your question and was recently aired on 60 minutes, and I learned much, from it.


[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRvVFW85IcU]Born good? Babies help unlock the origins of morality - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Bill Angel]

Two Headed Infant (good and evil)​

“In each of us, two natures are at war – the good and the evil. All our lives the fight goes on between them, and one of them must conquer. But in our own hands lies the power to choose – what we want most to be, we are.” ― Robert Louis Stevenson

“We've all got both light and dark inside us. What matters is the part we choose to act on. That's who we really are.” ― J.K. Rowling.

 

[waltky]

Dante wrote: The Bible has made more people become evil than any book I can imagine.

Granny says you should know...

... takes one to call one.


Sherry wrote: Everyone is born with the potential to commit evil acts.

Some more so than others.

 

[midcan5]

http://ec.libsyn.com/p/0/b/1/0b15a3...1ce3dae902ea1d01cd8334d6cd5815d5&c_id=1778986


"If the Lord must be disappointed in us men and our ways, so must be the Devil in the face of such courage, love, and companionship as plain people show." Norman Thomas

 

[jan]

It depends ... it's a nature versus nurture debate.

If the child was abused and didn't know what love was ... that will help in him or her becoming a criminal.

People have negative genes in them when they are born... and if they grow up in an atmosphere conductive to crime ... yes .... they will become serial murders probably.

Negative genes? Okay...we'll call it that...but I'll go on record right now and say that I believe some kids are born bad. I know that's not a politically correct way to think of children...but what about people like Jeffery Dahmer and so forth? Doctors have stated that his parents were pretty normal, all American, middle class folks and that Jeffery had a pretty normal upbringing. That flies in the face of nuture only. Nature has to have something to do with it...negative genes or whatever.

I think evil requires a knowledge of right and wrong, and no one is born with that.

Neither would we say a child is born good for the same reason. But that is too simple and sometimes we need to look at extremes. Consider gays or transsexuals or any number of behaviors that are rooted in the person and not some learned or reasoned behavior. What is the source of these behaviors? What leads to good or bad people and if it is only learned then can we say anyone is good or bad. Nature v Nurture returns.

Consider Capgras or the person who feels their leg does not belong to them and they must get rid of it or psychopaths. In some cases brain injuries cause these actions but why in this particular form. Here's a piece to ponder.

VS Ramachandran: 3 clues to understanding your brain | Video on TED.com


Apotemnophilia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I think sexual preference is more likely to be a genetic disposition you're born with. Not so sure about socio- or psychopaths, but it could also be genetic. But that leads to a question about evil - is it evil if you don't realize what you're is wrong?

If sexual orientation can be genetic...and a tendency to certain diseases genetic...why not a propensity towards evil as well? I see no difference with calling it genetic...although I can also understand how environment may aggravate a sitiation with a child as well.

I think sexual preference is more likely to be a genetic disposition you're born with. Not so sure about socio- or psychopaths, but it could also be genetic. But that leads to a question about evil - is it evil if you don't realize what you're is wrong?

I will answer that later with a reference to Hitler, our favorite evil.

It may be that there are propensities rather than specific traits or genes. I have read that many CEO have psychopathic type personalities. Their behavior presents, by some interpretations a kind of careless, thoughtless activity that forgets moral boundaries. Having meet a few ceos I'd have to disagree, but then how do I know deep down where they get their emotions and ideas from? I was fascinated by how quickly Americans lost their sense of reflection after 911. 'Turn the other cheek' may be in the bible but few consider it. Any study of history shows fear, intolerance, excessive faith in one's own beliefs, dehumanization of others, victimizing, group think, ethnocentrism, xenophobia lead to bad places. When does empathy enter the conversation, I was listening to a conversation the other day on the so called fiscal cliff and the importance of a balanced approach. Now consider what that means morally. It means that some handicapped or poverty level children must give up some care and the wealthy person must forgo another Bentley. Exaggeration yes, but who suffers more.

"Evil is not to be traced back to the individual but to the collective behavior of humanity." Reinhold Niebuhr

Why should humanity take the blame for a child being born bad? If we limit reproduction among "at risk" people with "iffy" genes...that's playing God. I kind of think of it as a hit or miss thing.

I don't want anyone to think that I'm excusing the parents...cause good parenting is essential in raising productive human beings. But I also think that parents can bang their heads against the wall trying to do everything right and low and behond that child turns out to be a Jeffery Dahmer. Go figure! I think it's something in the genetic makeup.

 

[RoccoR]

ginscpy, et al,

This "may" (repeat "may") be more genetic than moral or ethical in your conscience. It might be amplified by your environment.

Like hitmen.

You could never pay me enough/any money to take another human life.

Except in self-defense or as a soldier in a war.

(COMMENT)

These are just two examples (MAO-A and VMAT-2) that, in conjunction, they could produce a religious fanatic or terrorist. In some measure, they may produce hundreds --- out of millions --- a cadre of spiritual followers ready to activate.

We "may" be all hard-wired to be what we are; amplified by our environment and teachings. The clergyman, tinker, tailor, soldiers, or terrorist.

(QUESTION)

• Are some people simply born evil?

Answer: It is very possible; built into your genetic code.​

Most Respectfully,
R

NOTES:

Abstract:

Monoamine oxidase A gene (MAOA) has earned the nickname “warrior gene” because it has been linked to aggression in observational and survey-based studies. However, no controlled experimental studies have tested whether the warrior gene actually drives behavioral manifestations of these tendencies. We report an experiment, synthesizing work in psychology and behavioral economics, which demonstrates that aggression occurs with greater intensity and frequency as provocation is experimentally manipulated upwards, especially among low activity MAOA (MAOA-L) subjects. In this study, subjects paid to punish those they believed had taken money from them by administering varying amounts of unpleasantly hot (spicy) sauce to their opponent. There is some evidence of a main effect for genotype and some evidence for a gene by environment interaction, such that MAOA is less associated with the occurrence of aggression in a low provocation condition, but significantly predicts such behavior in a high provocation situation. This new evidence for genetic influences on aggression and punishment behavior complicates characterizations of humans as “altruistic” punishers and supports theories of cooperation that propose mixed strategies in the population. It also suggests important implications for the role of individual variance in genetic factors contributing to everyday behaviors and decisions.
SOURCE: Monoamine oxidase A gene (MAOA) predicts behavioral aggression following provocation
​

Entrez Gene summary for MAOA:

This gene is one of two neighboring gene family members that encode mitochondrial enzymes which catalyze the oxidative deamination of amines, such as dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin. Mutation of this gene results in Brunner syndrome. This gene has also been associated with a variety of other psychiatric disorders, including antisocial behavior. Alternatively spliced transcript variants encoding multiple isoforms have been observed. (provided by RefSeq, Jul 2012)
SOURCE: MAOA monoamine oxidase A [Homo sapiens] - Gene - NCBI​

Vmat2, or the God Gene: Reading Spirituality in the Human Genome:

As the research is still premature, it is difficult to formulate an opinion regarding the matter. The discovery of vmat2 seems to imply that spirituality is equivalent to a genetic phenomenon, such as eye color or the inherited predisposition for a particular disease. Incomplete penetrance could account for why some individuals are more spiritual than others, Mendel's 1st law of segregation could account for why spirituality may skip a few generations in a family, and genetic mutations could account for religious fanaticism.
SOUrCE:

• Vmat2, or the God Gene: Reading Spirituality in the Human Genome | Serendip Studio
• SLC18A2 Gene - GeneCards | VMAT2 Protein | VMAT2 Antibody

 

[lizzie]

Like hitmen.

You could never pay me enough/any money to take another human life.

Except in self-defense or as a soldier in a war.

I don't believe that people are "born" evil, but rather become highly dysfunctional as a result of negative experiences, bad parenting, and predisposing factors which bring out a higher tendency toward horrendous actions.

 

[Samson]

brain wiring.

yes some people are born with improper brain wiring for human compassion.

I don't suppose you'd like to address the issue of "improper wiring" for logical thought?

 

[Connery]

I do not believe anyone is born "evil", rather, depending on a variety of factors they simply have disregard for the rights of others. That "disregard" can manifest itself in severity depending on what societal mores are. For example, polygamy may be considered evil by some cultures and may be the norm in others. In the society that condemns polygamy the person may be considered evil.

Good and evil are very subjective measures for which society has punishment and reward systems.

 

[Brawd]

Like hitmen.

You could never pay me enough/any money to take another human life.

Except in self-defense or as a soldier in a war.

No, people are not born evil.

 

[waltky]

Granny says lil' babies is like a blank slate...

... it depends on what kind of environment dey is born into...

... an' what dey are taught an' experience in dat environment...

... an' what dey are allowed or not allowed to get away with.

 

[auditor0007]

Like hitmen.

You could never pay me enough/any money to take another human life.

Except in self-defense or as a soldier in a war.

Some people are born mentally unstable. This may lead them to not have a conscience which could lead to a career as a hit man. They just wouldn't care. Some people turn evil because of abuse. I don't know what the numbers are, but I do know that the majority of rapists were sexually abused themselves at some point, usually as children. As for being born evil, I don't think so.

 

[Liberal.Scott]

The real question for me, is what is evil?